Don't Judge Your (Improv) Self

By Sonnjea Blackwell

I had a lot of time over the 4th of July weekend to ponder deep thoughts about improv and life and stuff, and I came to several important conclusions:

1. I really need some sushi soon
2. It feels like it hasn't been summer for about three years, so I'm happy about the heat
3. Red wine goes with everything, and
4. Being self-judgy* is counter-productive and, well, bad

In improv, as I may have mentioned one or forty-seven times, it's important to commit. You have to be in the scene 100%, however lame or stupid it may seem, and it can't be obvious that you think it's lame or stupid. For those 3 minutes that you are on stage, whatever is coming out of your mouth (and your scene partner's mouth, too) is the most brilliant, fascinating thing ever.

It's better if you don't even think the idea is lame or stupid. Judging yourself (or being "self-judgy," to use the technical improv terminology) puts you in your head, takes you out of the scene, and lets the audience know how you feel about what's happening. You can't be acting in and committing to a scene while you're judging, critiquing and/or analyzing it. To be focused and in the moment means you can't be multi-tasking. All you can do is listen to your partner and respond. Period. Having a running commentary going in your brain simultaneously means you are not 100% committed to listening and responding, and the scene will reflect that. And I've seen plenty of scenes that were going great until one of the improvisors starting judging themselves. Then, sure enough, the scene became lame and stupid, even though it hadn't started that way.

I will go out on a limb here and suggest that the same is true in real life. Being self-judgy can undermine your confidence, inhibit your creativity, stifle your willingness to take risks and make it damn near impossible to make decisions. And that's no way to live! Learning not to judge yourself can truly help you accomplish more in your work, and become more confident in your abilities and choices. And the only way I know of to learn NOT to judge yourself is to take Held2gether improv classes. I mean, you could try hypnosis I suppose, but with improv classes you also get to make friends and laugh your ass off weekly, and I just don't see that happening with hypnotherapy. Just sayin'.

*Thanks to Lisa for coining the phrase "self-judgy." I'm not saying she has too much time on her hands, but when was the last time you had an hour to sit around and make up words?