As it is early on in the improv ‘term’ I think that it is important to talk about a subject that can effect a lot of people who are performing the comedy form. It is something that a lot of people do even without realising it and it can make the environment you work in with improv feel toxic.

Comparing yourself to others.

It is something we all do and sometimes we can get ‘imposter syndrome’ when we are around others that we think are doing improv better then we are. However, it is something that we must try and stop doing, the key thing about improv is that one day you will have a good day and then another you may have a rough day and get stuck in your head. Well, today we are going to look at an interview with Joseph Gordon-Levitt which I think we can learn something from.

The actor was a guest on the podcast In The Envelope and there is a section where he discusses this whole topic and if you have a chance to listen to it, I highly recommend it as he gives a lot of good advice also things that are relevant to improv.

On the topic of comparing himself to other actors he came back with this response:

‘…It’s a waste of my time and my life and I wish I could train my brain to stop doing it. There is a part of my brain that goes ‘no, it is important for me to be competitive, it drives me to compare myself to other – Bulls***”

joseph Gordon-Levitt, In The Envelope Podcast

Comparing yourself to others is so easy to do, especially when you start performing improv and you see others on stage. It can be easy to get inside your head and then find it difficult to perform good improv as it can naturally make you block in a scene without you realising it.

What we can learn from this quote by Joseph Gordon-Levitt is that the feeling of comparing yourself to others is such a common thing to do. We can spend so much time comparing ourselves to others and with the access to social media this means that there are even more powerful ways that we can do it and it is a waste of time. The reason why it is a waste of time is because all of that energy that you are putting into comparing yourself to others you are not able to have fun and enjoy the moment of performing improv.

Just like everyone else, I am the biggest culprit of doing such things, I will see someone on stage that is performing amazing comedy or improv and then I start to question whether I am good enough, whether I am a good improviser or whether people will find me funny. I try to get out of it and a lot of the time I do however sometimes it is not possible and you have to fight it off.

Here are a few techniques I have tried to use over time to get rid of this feeling:

+ Shake It Off – The most sensible way is to try and in the words of Tay Tay, shake off the feeling and basically get over it. The more you think about it, the more it is going to eat you up inside. So try and get rid of that feeling before it gets more intense.

+ Think about it and face it full on –Sometimes the best way to deal with an emotion is just to deal with it face on – why do you feel like this, why are you allowing yourself to feel like this. Empower yourself and embrace the improviser that you are.

+ Try and turn the emotion into something positive – Instead of thinking about they way it is making you feel why not praise the improv that you are seeing and try and allow it to inspire you to do something different.