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Come laugh in the face of death at UCBT’s We Know How You Die, currently playing at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C.
Each night, our veteran improvisers summon a willing victim from the audience. Donning Grim Reaper-style robes, our performers interview the night’s sacrifice about his or her work, hobbies and experiences. After extracting this detail from their subject, the performers conjure an improvised enactment of the volunteer’s life, and death.
It may sound grim, but the result is quite the opposite. We’re pleased to see the rave reviews our colleagues have received so far! Congratulations to our stellar cast -- Brandon Scott Jones, Shannon O’Neill, Connor Ratliff, and Molly Thomas -- and thank you to the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company for hosting our three-week run.
See what the Washington Post has to say here! Be sure to catch the show by July 31st, with tickets available here.
Psychologists see many similarities between their work and improv comedy.
Mental health professionals provide their patients with a safe space to discuss problems and find a treatment without criticism. But therapists and social workers are only human, and sometimes they may have difficulty working through a patient’s problem without wanting to jump straight to finding a solution. This is where improv comes in to help.
“Sometimes you have this desire to fix it with a client — they are having a really difficult emotional state, you just want to fix it, but the improv rules say join them in it,” said Lisa Kays, a social worker and improv instructor who leads the class. “For depressed people, the hardest thing is when someone tries to make you be undepressed. It’s a subtle reminder to join when the instinct is to get them out of it.”
Kays found that there was an overlap between the tools used as a mental health professional and those of an improviser - both require listening, trust, and support.
Improv teaches these professionals that it is important to listen without judgment and follow your partner’s lead.
“What I hope improv will do for me is to allow me to build a program for people in recovery to find freedom to laugh at themselves, participate as equals, show there is no right or wrong and to find joy,” Kays said in The Washington Post.
In a classroom in Washington D.C., a group of mental health professionals worked with Kays to overcome their reflex to say no, and instead to reply Yes, And. These people learned how to treat their patients like a scene partner and follow them, instead of trying to immediately fix them. A patient would have a safe space to express emotions, discuss problems, and maybe learn to laugh at themselves with the help of their therapist.
“Improv provides a playground to try on that spontaneity, for therapists to be free and explore their own reactions and get in touch with their own feelings and reactions and to learn how using them can be so valuable,” Kays said.
In a professional setting, improvisation skills help with creative problem solving and better communication of ideas. Improv helped these professionals be more vulnerable, empathetic, and emotional with their patients, and showed them that sometimes a problem has to be worked through before it can be solved. For students of any occupation and age, improvisation allows people a judgment-free space to get outside their comfort zone, accept mistakes, and become more comfortable with the unknown.
Want to ‘Vlog’? Make the Internet Your Scene Partner
Upright Citizens Brigade spoke to aspiring video bloggers at YouTube Space NY.
Video blogging – vlogging as they say – is the modern Dear Abby. Every day, millions of people click on YouTube channels for advice, how-tos, or just to hear what someone ate that day. The best vlogs are unscripted, unfiltered, and give viewers a glimpse into your unique reality. No matter what kind of vlogger you are (or aspire to become) improv training can give you the tools to engage an Internet following.
That’s why YouTube asked the improv gurus at Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) to co-host an event about vlogging. Here’s a cheat sheet:
Be Real!
Don't invent things to seem more interesting - the truth is interesting! For an improv scene to be funny, it first has to be a genuine conversation in a believable reality. A Vlog that feels "fake" - delivered in a way you don't really talk or about things you don't really care about - won't connect with viewers. Whether you're opening your laptop to talk about your day or stepping out on stage to deliver a monologue, you have the same goal: tell the truth.
Don’t Force Being Funny!
The best things in life are free, and the funniest things in life are not forced. In the session, we told employees to have rapid-fire conversations with a few different partners. The goal was to have an honest, direct interaction (i.e. not cracking jokes). And when done right (which the groups did), those real interactions got funny very quickly.
Another way to get people laughing (while being real) is to talk about a pet peeve aloud for about three minutes. It’s great material for good improvising and good vlogging. In the exercise, the participant sticks to a single theme and backs things up with specific details. When you’re telling an honest story about a pet peeve, you won’t have to think about building momentum – you’ll already be doing it. (You’ll also be telling the truth!)
Watch The Pros!
The great thing about YouTube is that there is an infinite number of skilled vloggers to take notes from and potentially interact with. We had a celebrity vlogger at the session – Lex, the host of Madeyewlook – who joined in for an exercise we call “The Best Coach Ever.” The objective here is to talk your way out an uncomfortable situation while agreeing with every suggestion (no matter how ridiculous). When done well, as Lex showed the group, her natural responses became spontaneous, creative, and hilarious. In improv, we call it “justifying the unusual,” but it’s the same as learning to think on your feet.
Check out what YouTube creators said about the session:
“It was one of the best workshops.”
“Improv was amazingly fun and useful.”
“[I’m] probably going to sign up for UCB in the next 3 months.”
Want to join that anonymous YouTuber? Join a class.
Want us to come to your office? No problem.
Something weird happens to your brain when you start improvising
Business Insider reports that surgeon and otolaryngologist Charles Limb has been studying what happens in the brain when jazz musicians and rappers improvise and freestyle, and what he’s learned is two-fold:
Results showed that when someone is creating something new, parts of the brain associated with self-expression (language and at times, especially while freestyle rapping, parts associated with visual imagery) are highly active.
At the same time, and perhaps more interestingly, another part of the brain associated with inhibition quiets down. At a TEDx talk in 2010, he said it looks like it does this “so that you’re not inhibited, so that you’re willing to make mistakes, so that you’re not constantly shutting down all of these new generative impulses.”
The graphic below illustrates how, while improvising, the parts of the brain involved with self-monitoring quiet down (shown in blue) while those connected to expression and language become very active (shown in red):
Authors of the study also noted that there are many similarities between the brains of improvisers and the brains of people in REM sleep — while they were dreaming.
“It’s tantalising to think some connection exists between improvisation and dreaming, which are both spontaneous events. These musicians may in fact be in a waking dream,” [co-author Allen] Braun told Hopkins Medicine.
As much as we know about the human body, the workings of the mind still remain mysterious. But evidence like this suggests something improvisers already (anecdotally) know - improvising, creating in the moment, helps us bypass the internal critic and awaken our expressive selves.
"Monty Python" funny-man, John Cleese, journeyed to India to discover: what is this new phenomenon Laughter Yoga all about? On his way, he met and interviewed a doctor who argues that laughter lowers stress and improves the immune system.
“We all know what a good laugh feels like” [John Cleese] tells the camera. “But what struck me was how easy it was to get started. When you have a lot of warm, friendly, funny faces coming at you, you respond very naturally…I’m struck by how laughter connects you to people. It’s almost impossible to maintain any kind of distance or any sense of social hierarchy when you’re just howling with laughter. Laughter is a force for democracy."
The best part? Even if you don’t feel like laughing, you can trick the body into releasing those beneficial endorphins just by faking it. And once you start, you’ll probably find that the laughs soon become real.
Watch the video:
Read the full article here: http://www.openculture.com/2015/04/john-cleese-explores-the-health-benefits-of-laughter-yoga.html
The following is an excerpt from an article in Law360 by Lisa Ryan.
Seasoned lawyers often view continuing legal education courses as dull and obligatory, so several top firms have started offering out-of-the-box programs — from improv classes to game sessions — to condition their younger attorneys to not dread these professional development courses.
"For lawyers, CLEs can feel like having to do your taxes or getting your teeth cleaned — an obligation that's painful and something you have to do," said Carey Bertolet, managing partner for North America for international legal recruitment firm Laurence Simons. "These programs rebrand CLEs so lawyers feel like they’re something more valuable.”
Here’s why your firm would benefit from unique CLEs.
Young Attorneys Will Associate CLEs With Fun
Attorneys who have been in the legal game for a while are used to tedious online courses or potentially boring in-person professional development classes. But for new associates, some firms are introducing the concept of CLE courses as interesting and exciting.
"It's a good conditioning exercise for young attorneys, and it's getting young lawyers in the habit of doing it," Bertolet said.
Law firm Labaton Sucharow LLP opted to forgo drab CLE tradition and instead recently recruited famed improv troupe the Upright Citizens Brigade to lead its associates through a number of skits and lessons to learn about the art of improv.
Michael W. Stocker, a partner at Labaton Sucharow, had been familiar with UCB's work thanks to the bevy of famous comedians it has produced, but when he discovered that they actually offered improv classes as professional development for lawyers, he jumped at the chance to bring them in to teach associates.
UCB stopped by the firm's offices for two 3-hour classes this spring to help associates learn how to deal with the unexpected, from unusual turns in depositions, to judges that ask questions that seem to be out of left field, according to Stocker. The classes included funny skits, including one in which a "mayor" tried to sell the benefits of living in a town infested with alligators.
"Associates quickly learned how to handle the anxiety of extemporaneous speech with a team consisting of an experienced lawyer and comedian. They also laughed a lot in the process — all for three points of CLE credit," Stocker said.
Other reasons included were that creative CLEs teach new skill sets and improve team-building through fun and relaxed professional development. Read the full article here.
UCB may be one of the most successful talent accelerators in the industry. How do they do it? Here are 5 lessons that startup accelerators can learn from their success.
Thanks to Paul Chen for using UCB as inspiration for this post!
The dilemma: Networking often feels stressful and awkward, if not downright dirty. But a strong network can be a major asset throughout your career – whether you are looking for a new client, an investor, or advice. If you are unconvinced, consider that 65 to 80% of all jobs are found through networking.
Do you think it may be time to upgrade your LinkedIn game? Here are 5 quick tips to make networking feel like fun.
1. Listen
This one may seem like a no-brainer, but active listening requires most of your attention. Especially when you’re nervous, it’s easy to begin dividing your attention between listening and strategizing what smart idea you’ll say next.
Listening grounds you and your conversation partner in the present moment, and naturally instills confidence in your counterpart. Plus, you are much more likely to discover an interesting connection if you are hearing each word. Your curiosity may even affect the other person, which will make the conversation more fun for you both.
2. Yes, and…
“Yes, and” is a short-cut to collaboration, where you make progress by building consensus. When an improviser’s scene partner presents an idea, we don’t think whether we like the idea or not. We immediately agree with the idea and build on it. If someone says, “It’s raining cats and dogs,” we enter the scene with an umbrella.
You can apply the same approach to continue a conversation – even when differences of opinion arise: “Commuting is the worst.” “I love having a long commute.” “(Yes,) you love spending 2 hours a day commuting. (And) I bet you like taking long flights.” “(Yes! And) the 12-hour flight is my favorite part of any adventure.” “(Yes, and) I’m the exact opposite.” “(Yes, and) we’re like Jack Spratt and his wife.” “Yes! We are exactly like Jack Spratt and his wife.”
A hard “no” can stop a conversation in its tracks, and it can be challenging to get the momentum going again. It’s often simpler to “yes, and” past our differences until we find consensus. With this mindset, networking can feel like a game where “yes, and” is your Ace in the hole.
3. Don’t invent, just say what you know
There’s no need to invent or exaggerate details to impress our conversation partner. Authenticity is disarming and interesting, and it’s easier to manage than constantly inventing on the spot.
On stage, improvisers are aiming to be funny. But if that doesn’t happen, being interesting is the next best thing. In a coffee shop scene, a performer who has real-life barista experience is a pleasure to watch, because their real knowledge seeps into each part of the stage.
Similarly, your unique collection of experiences, passion and knowledge only exist in you, which is interesting. Trust your knowledge and be confident that you are impressive in who you genuinely are.
4. The conversation is always salvageable
In improv, a scene is salvageable at any moment, no matter how off-track it seems to have gone. It’s the same for a conversation. If you feel your dialogue petering out, all you need to do is take a step back, listen, and “yes, and” again.
Just as improvisers wouldn’t give up on a scene, don’t give up on a conversation. Refocus and reconnect. Not only are you likely to find richer conversation on the other side of an awkward pause, your commitment to the conversation demonstrates to your partner that they are worth your time and attention.
5. Have fun
We learn “the rules” of improv so that we don’t have to think about them. The whole point of the rules — in improv, but perhaps in life too! — is to give us an environment in which fun is likely to happen. When you’re networking, allow this advice (listening, saying “yes, and,” resisting the urge to invent) to live at the back of your mind, but don’t measure every action against it. The goal isn’t to do everything right — it’s to have a good (and dare we say, fun?) conversation.
With practice, “the rules” simply become habits, and then a great scene is as easy as walking on stage.
Margaret Heffernan on the professional pecking order and improving collaboration
Drawing on an experiment with chickens, entrepreneur Margaret Heffernan discusses how our cultural obsession with individual success threatens our potential for collaboration and productivity. She focuses on the importance of building social capital — meaningful relationships between employees — and increasing productivity and employee satisfaction in the workplace. She points to collaboration, diversity of ideas, and empathy (three critical components of improv!) as key indicators of success.
“Even when things seem to be falling apart around you, try to find time to smile and laugh.”
Is this folksy advice delivered by A) a grandmother serving cookies; B) a yoga instructor’s Twitter feed or C) The State Department’s Undersecretary for Management?
The correct answer is C, or possibly “All of the above.”
Beth Payne is the person who teaches ambassadors how to be resilient, and to foster resilient teams. On her short list of activities that enhance emotional agility, “Laugh” is number 7.
Since Secretary Kerry named resilience on his Top 10 list of Leadership and Management Principles for the State Department last year, Payne has been busy. Research shows that laughter makes us happier, but this isn’t how she convinces ambassadors to take her training seriously. “Happiness doesn’t work for us,” Payne says. “They don’t want to be happy. They want to be successful.”
If you want to be more efficient at work, consider incorporating laughter into your daily routine. And if your colleagues give side-eye when you stress that Jimmy Fallon’s YouTube channel is very important for your success, you can share this knowledge:
In a 2007 study, employees were guided to laugh for 15 minutes over 15 consecutive work days. The result: participants felt more optimistic and effective at their jobs.
Scientists can explain this result in a few ways.
On a physiological level, mirth stimulates dopamine and endorphin activity in our brain, and triggers relaxation. A.K.A. Laughter = Positive Emotions. If we’re feeling optimistic at work, we’re more likely to be agile when we face an unexpected challenge.
And positivity has some major, measurable benefits to your work. “Your brain at positive is 31% more productive than your brain at negative, neutral or stressed. You're 37% better at sales,” says Shawn Achor, author and positive psychology advocate in a 2012 TEDx Talk. “Doctors are 19 percent faster, more accurate at coming up with the correct diagnosis when positive instead of negative, neutral, or stressed.”
As a side note, avoid grumpy doctors!
As for the social benefits of laughter: we laugh most frequently (and often hardest) when we’re with other people. When we’re “in” on a joke, it increases our sense of belonging and deepens our bonds with the people around us. And laughter is just as contagious as yawning. Seriously.
On a cognitive level, laughing at ourselves or our circumstances requires some psychological perspective. As Charlie Chaplin said, “To truly laugh, you must be able to take your pain and play with it.” When faced with adversity, humor gives us the space to press pause on our negative emotions, which allows us to opt for positive actions.
Humor is a strong tool for upgrading our resilience at work, so long as we’re using the right type of comedy. Researchers caution that aggressive or self-defeating humor can be counterproductive. Sarcasm and hurtful teasing can undermine well-being, both for individuals and communities.
Sticking to inclusive, light-hearted humor in your day-to-day can upgrade your effectiveness in the office. So, you can literally laugh all the way to the bank.
Mastering the art of listening is also about mastering conversation. With help from the world of improv comedy, you'll learn how to take your listening skills to new heights.
Only Human, NPR’s new health podcast, recently embarked on a week-long quest to help their followers become better listeners. They capped everything off with an improv lesson at UCB’s Training Center in NYC.
Tune in to learn how “Yes, And” unlocks next-level listening, with guidance from UCB instructors Molly Lloyd and Achilles Stamatelaky.
How a sex toy company uses comedy to deliver pleasure
The $15 billion sex toy industry is booming, and it’s expected to grow an additional 250% by 2020 according to business site TheStreet. But despite its success, the sex toy industry faces numerous marketing and communications challenges due to the adult nature of their products.
That’s why sex toy company We-Vibe took the unique approach of “[engaging] people in a way that they can feel more comfortable with,” says Denny Alexander (a marketing communications manager at We-Vibe parent Standard Innovation) in a recent article in PR Week.
In order to engage its consumers in a fun and playful way, We-Vibe partnered with Upright Citizens Brigade (the comedy theatre, school and video juggernaut built by Amy Poehler, Matt Besser, Ian Roberts & Matt Walsh) for a bunch of sexy, funny events. UCB hosted shows in its New York and Los Angeles theatres that used audience Q&As with guests from We-Vibe to inspire improv by some of their premier performers. We-Vibe also sponsored some of UCB’s performances at SXSW last March, including the massively popular Asssscat.
One of the most exciting events of the partnership was a Google Hangout event titled “Ask a We-Vibe Sexpert All Your Burning Questions,” in which UCB comedians Fran Gillespie (SNL) and Nicole Byer (Girl Code) talked to We-Vibe “Global Passion Ambassador” Tristan Weedmark about audience-submitted sex questions. In addition to being informative and educational, the conversation between the three women was predictably hilarious. The hangout was hosted on Jezebel.com and garnered 509,000 impressions.
We-Vibe & UCB’s successful collaboration is a great example of how businesses can use comedy to connect with their customers and build positive brand awareness. Not to mention some great buzz. (We’re sorry, we had to.)
7 Tips For Pitching Ideas from Improviser Jason Mantzoukas
Fast Company’s Joe Berkowitz talked to UCB comedian, actor & writer Jason Mantzoukas about how to make people believe in your vision and deliver a great pitch.
There isn’t anything much worse than an awkward silence with a room full of blank faces staring at you as you pitch your idea that you know is great, you just don’t know how to sell it. “Mantzoukas is good in the room. Any room,” writes Berkowitz, whether it’s on stage with other comedians or in an office in Hollywood.
In addition to the screenplays he's written, like the currently in-development We've Got Your Girlfriend, Mantzoukas has also been busy behind the scenes selling pilots to HBO, NBC, Comedy Central, and FX. Part of his success in making executives believe in his vision each time out is undoubtedly due to skills he learned making audiences believe in whatever random fabrication an improv scene he was in demanded.
Switch Up Your Pitch
It shows when you're just selling the same bill of goods over and over. Customizing for each individual audience helps forge a connection.
"Mostly what I want to do when I go into a room is I want to talk to that person and have that individual conversation, so that for that meeting, that is the version of the pitch that exists. One singular version that is just me and that particular room of executives," Mantzoukas says.
Getting that word-perfect pitch out that exactly expresses your vision isn’t nearly as important as having a conversation that knows who you’re talking to.
Be Agile And Read The Room
It's not enough to merely prepare an original pitch for each situation; you have to also have the spontaneity and flexibility to respond to what happens once you're idea starts landing.
"It’s a very improvisational process," Mantzoukas says. "Even though I know loosely what I want to talk about, I let the people’s responses dictate how I proceed.
Be Collaborative
“More than anything I want, when I walk out of that room, I want people to feel like we together just had this great meeting where we talked about this show that we’re all excited about. Rather than, ‘Oh, I just heard someone talk about something at me.’ I want it to have been more of a ‘with me’ conversation.”
Pitching is more like a scene than a monologue.
If It Seems Like You’ve Lost Them, Acknowledge It
Anybody can invoke an attention span snag, but not everybody has the wherewithal to rise above it and win the audience back.
“Sometimes the audience just checks out in improv shows, and sometimes that happens in meetings too,” Mantzoukas says. “So I will call it out, in a way to be like, maybe I’ve gotten off-track, let me dial back in to what we should be talking about.“
Honesty can be a huge relief in uncomfortable situations.
If The Idea Needs More Explanation, Bring Proof Of Concept
In the early 2000s, Mantzoukas had done a stage show with then-comedy partner Jessica St. Clair, called ‘I Will Not Apologize.’ It became so popular that they both got agents and managers from it, and soon had an opportunity to pitch a show around it.
"We wrote a TV pitch, we filmed a little four-minute teaser of what we wanted to do, with a bunch of friends at UCB at the time, and then we took it out and pitched it all around town. We played the video right in the room. We would talk about what we wanted to do, and then we would show this little video as an example of how it could work. It was partially because the idea was a little bit confusing to explain...So we just shot a couple of scenes to show how [it] would work. And Comedy Central bought it, so we wrote a pilot for them."
Sometimes “Show, Don’t Tell” is the best policy.
Relate Your Pitch To Their Experiences
Another show Mantzoukas and St. Clair performed together, called "We Used to Go Out" received similar attention, and earned the pair another opportunity to pitch a TV show.
"This show was about a breakup, a whole hour of just this couple breaking up. And it’s really funny, but it’s also really sad and heartbreaking, so every meeting we walked into, all people did was tell us their breakup stories. Like, I was in two meetings where people cried in the meeting. Because something in our show resonated with them, and it made them want to tell us their story.
Be Aggressive When Necessary, And Make Choices
Auditions are like pitches where the idea you're selling is you.
Read the full article (including Jason’s account of auditioning for The Dictator with Sacha Baron Cohen) on Fast Company.
What Can Improv Workshops Teach Advertising Agencies?
Laura Jones of Y&R shares her insights on some of the techniques she learned from attending our workshop “The Art of the Pitch,” presented in partnership with ABC during New York City’s Advertising Week earlier this month. We customized this workshop to blend comedy fundamentals that double as professional skills to give advertisers a competitive advantage. On the Y&R blog, Laura highlights some key takeaways:
Spend Time Nurturing Other People’s Ideas
Take time to play out other people’s ideas before you pitch your own.
“By the end of the session, assess which paths have the most potential and then collaborate to flesh those out. Bonus, if an even amount of time is spent nurturing everyone’s idea then when it’s time to walk away from some of them, people will be more willing to work on someone else’s idea if they feel like they’ve been heard.”
Remember The Phrase “Yes, and”
Affirming and building on others’ ideas is powerful.
“You’ve probably heard this one before, but it bears repeating for the simple fact that it’s just more fun to come up with ideas with people who say ‘Yes’ than people who say ‘No’”
Don’t Downplay Concerns
Downplaying someone’s question or concern is like saying “No.”
“According to the UCB, people stop listening once you tell them they are wrong. Instead, acknowledge their concern and then think of a solution that doesn’t diminish [it].”
Brain research finds that you shouldn’t try so hard to be creative
In a new study linking creative problem-solving to heightened activity in the cerebellum, Researchers at Stanford University studied participants’ brains while they attempted to draw pictorial representations of words (à la a game of Pictionary).
They found that when subjects “shift[ed] the brain’s higher-level, executive-control centers into higher gear” - activating the left pre-frontal cortex - their drawings were less creative.
“We found that activation of the parts of the brain that enable you to plan, organize and manage your activities is negatively associated with creative task performance,” said the study’s senior author Allan Reiss.
“Creativity is an incredibly valued human attribute in every single human endeavor, be it work or play,” he continued. “In art, science and business, creativity is the engine that drives progress. As a practicing psychiatrist, I even see its importance to interpersonal relationships. People who can think creatively and flexibly frequently have the best outcomes.”
When we teach improv, we stress that the point is not to try to be funny. The best, most creative scenes evolve organically through listening and responding honestly to your scene partner, not from trying really hard to be creative all on your own. “Getting out of your head” is a common phrase employed in improv, meaning “stop thinking so hard about what you’re going to do, and instead be present in what you’re doing.” This is essential for group communication and collaboration.
“As our study also shows, sometimes a deliberate attempt to be creative may not be the best way to optimize your creativity. While greater effort to produce creative outcomes involves more activity of executive-control regions, you actually may have to reduce activity in those regions in order to achieve creative outcomes.”
The study’s lead author, Manish Saggar, put it more bluntly: “The more you think about it, the more you mess it up.”
Amy Poehler one of Fast Company’s Most Creative People in Business
UCB founder Amy Poehler is an actress, comedian, producer, and a multimedia entrepreneur whose background in improv and willingness to “make herself uncomfortable” by taking risks has earned her a place in Fast Company’s 100 Most Creative People in Business, alongside other creative luminaries and CEOs of the world’s most influential companies.
While many creative people in Hollywood are floundering in the media sea change, Poehler is surfing—which is what she’s been doing her entire career, starting with her earliest days as a member of the Upright Citizens Brigade, the comedy troupe she helped form in Chicago in the 1990s. "It all goes back to improv," she says. "It’s all about flexibility, about not knowing what’s going to happen next. You have to listen and stay in the moment. You have to play with people who will support you. You have to get comfortable with being uncomfortable."
And, of course, you have to be willing to risk it all.
And what about when those risks fail? "I’ve failed a million times,” Amy says in Fast Company. “The question you have to ask yourself is: How do you want to fail? Do you want to fail in a way that feels like it respects your tastes and value system?"
