“I’m not funny enough,” is the second-most common imaginary obstacle I hear for people resistant to taking improv classes. It’s second only behind, “I’m not quick enough.” Hogwash. I’ve said it so many times. I’d rather perform with an “unfunny” person who is good at improv than a “hilarious” person who stinks at improv.
Improv is a Team Endeavor
Improv works best when the troupe is creating the set or scene together. Being “the funniest one” in a set isn’t always a good thing. It’s just as important—if not more important—to set up things happening in the scene as it is to land punchline after punchline in a scene. In fact, if you’re playing for laughs or jokes in a scene, you’re going to annoy your scene partners.
Punchlines have a tendency to disrupt a scene. If a moment in a scene calls for an honest response and my scene partner is determined to get a laugh, the odds are pretty decent that they’re not going to do what the scene needs. They’re going to do what they want.
Improv is a collective endeavor, and is not a space where selfish people are going to flourish.
Honesty is Funny
There’s a good reason that “truth in comedy” is a common refrain among improvisers. Often, the honest, true, real response is funny because we aren’t used to hearing it. We’re used to having things sugar-coated and having our feelings protected. So, the “real” response is often a delightful surprise.
Your goal should be to play a scene as honestly as you’re capable of playing a scene. It’s likely to be funny because of that.
There are a Lot of Reasons We Laugh
Humans start laughing at three months old, which is far too young to understand your cleverly satirical comment about climate change. Apes also laugh, and they definitely don’t get your sketch about the Jonas Brothers working on a space station. There are many reasons we laugh, including the social connection that comes with laughing in a group.
So you don’t have to try to make people laugh. By connecting with them, you’re going to have a good chance of eliciting laughter through that connection.
Improv Doesn’t Have to be Funny
Improv is often linked to comedy, and most improv shows you see are going to be funny. But the art of improv came out of dramatic theater. Improvisers are actors first, comedians second. If you’re putting in the work and doing the improv to the best of your ability, that’s all you should worry about doing.
I can’t count how many times I’ve asked a student to stop chasing jokes and rather to focus on what’s happening in the scene. In the thousands of hours of improv I’ve seen, I’ve found that the “funny” comes from investing in the scene far more often than it comes from one person telling jokes onstage.
Dare to Invest
I challenge you to focus not on getting laughs in a scene, but to lose yourself in a scene. Your commitment to a character, a situation, and a scene will be far more appreciated by your scene partners and the audience than you’d think.