Doing Scary Things

Last night was the first night of my beginning improv class at Boutique Theatre Basel . This is a straight improv class--it's not designed for business leaders or anything like that. It's just improv comedy.

I had ten students, eight of whom looked terrified.

This is normal for beginning improv.

This class is, of course, voluntary. No one forced these adults to be there and they even paid for the privilege. And yet, most of them were very nervous.

Nervous is normal

For some reason, we tend to think that while we are nervous to try new things, other people are not. While there are some people with no fear, in my experience, most people are nervous about trying new things. Nervous is normal.

Improv is a scary skill because it's so unpredictable. Last night, we did a group "yes, and" story where each person gives a line that begins with "yes, and," so you build on what happened before. It began with "Yesterday, the temperature in Scandinavia was minus 40" and ended with pink and purple polka-dotted polar bears starting a fashion empire. Everything about it was glorious.

Completely unpredictable and impossible to plan for. Of course, you're nervous about that. And for life. Because, let's face it, how many of us are living the lives we thought we would be living? I'm certainly not.

Not letting nervousness win.

The best way to overcome nervousness is to be all in. If you're going to do it, do it. Take the job, give the presentation, cross the street, eat the new food. Give it a try.

You won't overcome your fears if you don't do the thing. Whatever it is. And the best way is to be all in.

What does being all in mean?

Being all in.

To give a simple example, if you are all in crossing the street, being all in means you don't turn back. You keep going. Maybe you pause to avoid a car, but you keep going. Turning back isn't an option.

Being "all in" in improv is the same. Perhaps you stop to think a bit, but you keep moving forward. And because one of the rules of improv is "everything you say is right," you just commit and say whatever. This is how we got confident declarations that apricots were the most popular snack in Denmark and that green carrots taste like dirt. Both of these statements are correct in the improv world.

You're committed to the scene. If the audience said you were the world's foremost expert in shoelaces, by golly, you are the world's foremost expert in shoelaces

This sounds a lot like being a pompous, know-it-all. Why are you advocating this?

While in improv, anything you say is right, in the real world, we know this is not true. But being committed is. You don't accomplish anything if you are wishy-washy about it. You don't get the promotion, start the business, or win the game by being half-hearted about it.

Yes, it's nerve-wracking. I get it. My class got it. But do it anyway. Being nervous doesn't mean not going forward.