How to Use Improvisation to Change Your Life, With Ed Herbstman and Hannah Chase
This week in The Upgrade, we’re going beyond script and talking about improvised comedy. Even if you don’t think of yourself as a comedic or theatrical character, there are many lessons you can learn from an improvised scene.
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This Week’s Discussion: How to Apply Improvement Concepts in Your Daily Life
Even if you’re not a comedic nerd like me, chances are you know a little about improvisation. In a typical improvisational show, a group of performers act out parodies based on suggestions from the audience. Depending on the shape, a good improvisational sketch takes a small detail and builds it into an entire scene with fleshed out relationships and characters. This is a daunting task that requires several key skills that you can apply in your life and work.
To learn a little about the basics of improvisation, we spoke with Ed Herbstman, co-founder of The Magnet Theater in New York, and Hannah Chase, an improvisation instructor and performer. In addition to teaching in theater, companies sometimes hire them to teach how improvisational concepts can help in a professional setting.
For example, you may have heard of the concept of “yes and …”. All of this means that you should avoid saying no as often as possible. We tend to be skeptical about everything and think of new ideas in terms of how they might fail. It doesn’t work in improvisation. Rather, you should try to say yes and add to ideas instead of cutting them off right away or giving up on something of your own.
And another important part of improvisation is the so-called “active listening”. It seems obvious – of course, you need to listen to someone in order to answer them – but most of us just half listen in normal conversations or just say whatever is on our mind, without any relation to the person we are with. talking. … Onstage, active listening is critical; Scene improvisation depends on your awareness of your partner’s intentions, and everything you say and do should be a reaction to them, not inaction. But it’s the same in real life. Take time in your relationship to really listen to what the other person has to say. At work, don’t get distracted at meetings; take a look and see how you can contribute.
These are just a couple of the principles of improvisation that Ed and Hannah taught us. And stay until the end of the show to hear Hannah and Ed perform a hilarious parody woven out of thin air.
Our weekly updates
Every week to add some minor enhancements to The Upgrade . Here’s a quick recap:
- Andy: I usually fill my desk with toys so I can tinker with them while I work. One weird thing that I sometimes get my hands on is the Zippo lighter. I don’t know why – it has a nice metallic click. It looks like one of those fidget block toys .
- Melissa: Melissa just got a toilet bidet and her world has changed. Plus, it saves toilet paper, so the bidet also helps the environment.
- Hannah: Hannah decided to restrict internet usage at the end of the day and goes off at around 10:00 pm. “It helps me not to feel like I want to kill someone,” she says. It sounds good.
- Ed: Ed started doing what he calls the “technical shabbat.” His family takes a full day off from technology to shake off their current notions of tech addicts and connect with each other. He is also more mindful of his posture when he leans over his phone.
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Try to keep your questions as short as possible. That means 3-5 sentences for emails and 30-60 seconds for calls and videos. Your questions may be specific, but broader questions are generally better because they apply to more people. Anyway, we look forward to hearing from you!