The Pain of Learning Improv: What to Assess, How to Respond

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[MUSIC PLAYING]

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Hey, everyone, and welcome back.

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So this might be true for some of you.

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Sometimes learning improv and acting can hurt.

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I'm talking about that feeling of frustration, of plateauing,

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or regressing, of thinking I'm just failing at this thing.

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But I'll ask you this.

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What if that pain and the frustration

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in getting better at performing isn't really

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a sign that you're doing things wrong or failing?

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It's a sign that you're doing things right,

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because those feelings are certainly

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a sign that you actually care about what you're doing.

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So today, we're going to talk about that pain.

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But more importantly, we're going to ask a really important

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question.

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How do you know if that pain that you're feeling

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while learning improv and learning how to perform

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is productive?

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How can you tell that this struggle is actually worth it?

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And by the end of this episode, you'll

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have a clear framework for answering that question

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yourself for you by allowing yourself

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to re-engage with improv, with your performance,

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re-engage with a greater purpose, and more confidence.

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And I have a special note for the neurodivergent performers

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that are listening to this too.

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Hi, I'm Jen deHaan, and this is Your Improv Brain.

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I've taught improv at several different improv schools,

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and I run a podcast production studio called StereoForrest

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that specializes in improvised comedy audio fiction series.

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I also have a website called Improv Update

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that has a couple of newsletters attached to it

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and a lot of resources for learning improv and comedy

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performance.

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So let's get back to that framework now.

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That feeling of getting frustrated,

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of feeling like you're not just stuck,

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but you're actually getting worse.

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It's a deeply human part of learning.

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And improv, as you might know, is absolutely no exception.

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Now to be really clear before we get started,

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in this episode, I'm only talking about the pain that

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comes from the practice and the process of learning improv

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itself.

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If you're experiencing pain from, for example, mistreatment

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or a toxic environment, that's a separate and also very serious

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issue, but it's a separate thing.

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In this episode, we're going to talk

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about the pain of learning and performing improv itself.

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OK.

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So I recently experienced this kind of reframing practice

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in a pretty intense way.

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I lost my dog of 16 years and the grief is still going on.

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That big grief after spending nearly all the hours of every day

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with her for a very long time.

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And as with previous dog losses, I find personally

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that I need to really consciously reframe that grief as being

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worth the pretty amazing opportunity of getting to live

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with and love a dog for so long.

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I find that when you really love the activity, kind of like how

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you love a dog, certain types of pain

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that come with those things can sometimes be worth it.

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So in improv, this is a really important part

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of answering this question and doing that reframing.

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I like to assess the pain itself.

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I will ask what parts of this pain or what types of pain

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are worth it?

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Are there parts of this improv practice

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that I'm doing that are causing pain but actually aren't

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moving the needle?

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Maybe, for example, I don't need to master that one specific style

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that has been frustrating me for a year now,

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because I understand the skills that I need from it already.

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Maybe it's time to try a new format.

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Or maybe I give myself permission

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to ignore that note that has caused way too much rumination

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and isn't helping me out at this point.

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Maybe I assess that a communication style that a coach has

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is too different from my own to benefit me, so I drop a team.

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Because removing unnecessary sources of pain or frustration

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can help lead us towards a lot of clarity sometimes

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and also a lot more happiness in our comedy practice.

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And to help answer these questions further,

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I also look to my why.

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Your why will not necessarily match mine

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or your teammates or your coaches.

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So look inward and answer honestly.

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Here are a few things that I might ask myself

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when doing this kind of analyzing.

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Why am I doing this practice?

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What do I want out of it?

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Why did I choose this style or this theater?

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What type of show do I want to do?

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Am I having fun with these people in my life?

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What are my creative goals?

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Is this the right style or the right theater

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for those goals specifically?

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Am I still growing or is it time to develop

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my own comedic voice at this point yet?

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And then return again.

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Apart from some learning frustration,

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am I having fun?

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Because who knows, during this analysis,

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maybe you end up sticking with a coach,

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that one with a frustrating or different communication style

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because you really like and want to grow with the people

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on your team, which is a great choice too.

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Or you might identify some ways to make things easier

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or drop the frustration and just do the scene.

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If you know that you're making progress

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towards a goal that you really care about,

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a bit of learning pain along the way is okay,

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especially knowing that it's temporary,

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that regression or that plateau will end.

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If you assess that it's worth it to you,

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so look to that why too,

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because that why can help you adjust

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what you might need to change up.

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Also know that all the pieces of learning and work

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do change you, so they're not lost if you give something up.

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I learned that when I lost my business

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teaching dance fitness and building out

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a custom fitness teaching format.

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It was a huge project and I lost it to the ongoing pandemic.

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And it was a really painful loss for me,

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but I didn't really lose it.

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I used so many of those skills now in improv

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and at my podcast production studio Stereo Forest.

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So many of those performance and business skills

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were just repurposed.

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I had all of that learning, all of that muscle memory

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ready to apply to this new thing in my life.

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So the pain is often the learning itself.

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It's a signal of your growth.

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So listen to what it's telling you.

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And in the end, it is all your choice.

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You can choose where to put your focus.

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You can choose what to accept

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and what to walk away from and what to walk towards.

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And for my fellow neurodivergent improvisers,

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ADHD or autistic like me,

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let's think about all the things we have been through.

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We can get past so much by just trying.

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We sure as hell know how to try, right?

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Because we often have to with the world working against us.

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We have to try so hard every single day.

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We're planning, we're strategizing or rehearsing,

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we're focusing on self-awareness,

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we're improvising sometimes just to make it

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through a mountain of misunderstanding.

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And so many people simply don't try.

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So now I want to acknowledge a lot of pain is often involved

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and often not the useful kind

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like being discussed in this episode.

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That's the unfair, unjust kind of pain.

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But I want to say that remembering those hard experiences

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of trying as a neurodivergent person

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and what that can lead towards

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can be something that we can reference in this framework

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that I'm talking about in the episode.

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And hopefully it's a lot easier than what we experience every day.

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So let's get back to the question that we asked at the beginning.

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How do we know if the pain of learning improv is worth it?

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I will propose this answer.

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It's worth it when you consciously decide it is.

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It's worth it when you can connect the struggle

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to your love for improv, for performance.

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When you've assessed that this pain or frustration

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in learning something, even when you plateau

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or you feel like you're regressing backwards, is productive.

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You remove the pain that's not productive

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and what remains can be reframed as the necessary price

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of learning something that you love.

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What remains is actually worth it

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because those things lead towards your growth.

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And now because of your careful assessment,

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you can see that pain as growth.

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I'd love to hear how you've approached reframing your struggle

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in your own improv practice.

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Share it in the comments below if you're watching this on YouTube

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or join our improv update discord community.

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There are many channels to discuss improv, including one for this show.

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The invite link is in the description and the show notes.

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Subscribe to this YouTube or to the newsletter at improv update

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for more resources just like this one.

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So thanks for tuning in and I'll be here next Monday.

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You have been listening to Your Improv Brain,

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a StereoForrest production.

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This show is created and is written, edited and produced

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by jendhawnofsterioforest.com.

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You can find show information, show notes, transcripts

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and contact information at the show's page

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at stereoforest.com/improvbrain.

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Thanks for listening.

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