Your Improv Brain
Episodes
Steamrolling and getting steamrolled: Three exercises for both sides
20 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Steamrolling is one of those improv topics where everyone wants to talk about the people doing it to them, and almost nobody wants to consider whether...
Receiving improv notes: How your brain rewrites feedback
06 Apr 2026
Contributed by Lukas
OUT NOW! Get my latest guides, all about getting and giving improv notes! Find them and what's inside the guides at https://improvupdate.com/notes. 50...
One skill at a time: a rep-based approach to changing improv habits
30 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
You know that thing where you learn a skill in class, you can explain it to someone else, and then you get into a scene and your brain does the old th...
Build an evidence archive: a better approach to improv confidence
23 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"Just be confident." "Trust yourself." "Ya got this." You've heard these things, and you might have even said them. And for a lot of brains, especiall...
Special: How well do you actually know your improv teammates (offstage skill building)
18 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
This is a special extended (podcast-only) episode of Your Improv Brain on neurodivergent inclusion in the improv community. These episodes will focus ...
Metacognition and improv: how to use your monitoring brain in a scene
16 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
"Get out of your head" is advice that sounds reasonable until you try to follow it. When you do, you end up monitoring whether you're monitoring the s...
Emotion in improv: when to start big and when to stay grounded
09 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Emotion connects you to your scene partner, your character, and the audience. It gives a scene depth and grabs attention fast. And if you use it at th...
Your brain went blank? Try this scene start instead
02 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Initiating a scene can be stressful at any level, and when your brain goes blank up there, it's easy to panic. In this episode I talk about a simple a...
Assume, don't ask: how to start better improv scenes
23 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Questions at the top of a scene are an advanced move, and if you're still building your skills, they can stall your scene before it gets going. In thi...
You don't need backstory: starting scenes in the middle
16 Feb 2026
Contributed by Lukas
SURPRISE! I'm back. Hi! :) Starting a scene with two people standing there asking "who are you?" or explaining a bunch of backstory is one of the quic...
Five Vocal Exercises for Better Improv Characters
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Get the PDF "Vocal Basics for Improv" with all the exercises and concepts from this episode at https://improvupdate.com/downloads. This episode is al...
Own Your Weirdness: A Guide to Really Good Improv (Performances)
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I explain how to commit to your authentic self in your improv practice. You will learn to reframe perceived weaknesses into compellin...
Four Ways to Give your Characters a Clear Point of View
01 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, I'm really getting into what I believe is the most important element for creating a compelling character: their point of view. I’ve...
The Power of Silence: 3 Exercises to Improve Your Acting
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Alt title: Get to Skin Suit Town: 3 Exercises to Improve Your ActingIn this episode, I'm diving into one of the best acting exercises you can give you...
3-Step System & Exercise to Manage Self-Criticism in Improv
18 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Your inner critic might be a key reason you feel stuck, anxious, or in your head during an improv scene. But trying to fight it or ignore it doesn't w...
An Improv Workout: 6 Exercises to Build Your "Failure Muscle"
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We know that failure is the engine of learning, but how do you actually practice it in a safe and productive way? In this episode, I provide a full wo...
Clear Mind = Get Out of Your Head in Improv
04 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We are often taught that forgetting is a weakness, especially in improv where details seem really important. It's what we practice all the time!Howeve...
Fail More to Learn More (Plus Seven Hacks to Help!)
28 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
What if the key to becoming a great improviser is the number of failures you accumulate? That moment when you feel like you have failed in a scene, or...
Improving Communication Skills So You Can Improvise With Anyone
21 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
To be a successful improviser, you have to communicate effectively with everyone on your team. But what happens when people think, communicate, and ex...
Mind Blank on Stage? A 3-Step Reboot for Your Brain
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
That feeling of your mind going completely blank on stage is a top fear for any performer. But what if it's not a personal failure? This week, I expla...
The Pain of Learning Improv: What to Assess, How to Respond
07 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Feeling frustrated, stuck, or even like you're getting worse at improv? This episode reframes the struggle. Discover the difference between productive...
A Source of Great Improv Ideas (bonus: Get Out of Your Head)
30 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
If you struggle to come up with specific or original ideas in your improv scenes, there's something you can do between scenes to help with that strugg...
Improv Burnout? Prioritize Yourself for Better Improv Performances
23 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Are you sacrificing your well-being for your improv team? This episode of Your Improv Brain challenges the myth that good improvisers must be comedy d...
Beyond "React Like Yourself" - Level Up Your Grounded Improv Characters
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tired of being told to "just react like you would in real life" to ground an improv scene? This episode of Your Improv Brain explores advanced techniq...
Is an inner monologue useful for improv comedy? (ft. NYC improviser Sabrina Banes)
09 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Tired of being told to "get out of your head"? This episode of Your Improv Brain explores a different approach. Discover how your active inner voice, ...
Suggestions for Protecting Your Mind While Doing Comedy
05 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode provides general suggestions to comedians, especially neurodivergent ones like us autistic and ADHD actors in comedy and improv, to prote...
New Podcast Name for One Year Anniversary
29 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This marks one year of making podcast episodes! There are some changes happening next week, and here's what those changes are. And the things not chan...
Inclusive and beneficial icebreaker exercises for performers
22 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Icebreakers. They're common in an improv class, at the top of a jam, or maybe when a team is just getting to know each other.Some people love them.Som...
Emotional Processing, Acting, and Improv (Alexithymia) - Part 2
08 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In part one of this episode series on emotions in improv, we looked at what alexithymia is, who experiences it and the variety of expression, and how ...
Emotional Processing, Acting, and Improv (Alexithymia) - Part 1
24 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Alexithymia involves how a person identifies and experiences emotions, so it has a lot to do with an improv practice.Part one of this two part episode...
Giving Notes and Feedback to Comedy Students - Part 3
10 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Notes (feedback) can be confusing for some student performers because of communication differences. This episode discusses what teachers can do to hel...
Getting Notes and Feedback You Don’t Understand - Part 2
27 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to part two of this three-part series of episodes about receiving notes as neurodivergent improvisers. (Note: This episode is offered as an ea...
Getting Feedback & Giving Notes in Comedy Classes - Part 1
13 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This three-part series of episodes is about receiving notes as a neurodivergent improviser. This episode covers WHY getting notes is hard in improv, p...
Introduction to Season 2 of the Show
30 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome back, improvisers! Season 2 of the Neurodiversity and Improv podcast is coming your way. Every two weeks you can expect a new episode about th...
Visual Imagery and Improv: How it Affects Memory and Recall
08 Mar 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Most humans have some amount of mental imagery, or visual imagery. You might find that you use the visuals to help you build and remember improv scene...
How Neurodiversity Affects Improv And Comedy: Being Misunderstood
21 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Neurodivergent humans might communicate in a different way, a way that is difficult for neurotypical humans to understand. Different social communicat...
Communication in Improv Scenes: Finding the unusual thing
05 Feb 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Last week I promised an episode about finding the unusual thing: how you find what’s weird at the top of a scene when you’re setting up the base r...
Neurodiversity and Observation: How it can improve your scenes
29 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
You’re getting an episode that gets real.So this week I experienced something related to last week’s episode (ep 10). I wrote all of the notes for...
Your visual Imagination & how it affects improv scenes
22 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
So in this episode you learn about the spectrum of visual imagination, from lots to none, and explore how you imagine visual details in improv. I cove...
Masking and Improv Comedy: Being the voice of reason
15 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Masking is a common behaviour for autistic and/or ADHD people. It’s a trait that can be subconscious or conscious, and one we take on to suppress na...
How to Commit: Honouring YOUR unique brain in improv
08 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We’ve all heard those sayings like “do not compare your chapter 1 to their chapter 6.” But that can be pretty hard to do. Especially when we get...
Fast and Slow Edit Moves in Long Form Improv Comedy
01 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This episode was inspired by a discussion I had with another improviser about fast and slow edit moves. They were told by a teammate to edit faster. T...
Masking and Improv: Character Matching (Peas in a Pod) Scenes
18 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Masking is a common behaviour for autistic and/or ADHD people (or those of us who are both). It's sometimes referred to as camouflaging, mimicking, or...
The Intersection of Misophonia & Improv with Sabrina Banes
11 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Very excited about this ep! This week I am joined by Sabrina Banes, an improviser who has a condition called misophonia.Sabrina Banes is an improviser...
Top-down thinking in improv (for bottom-up thinkers)
04 Dec 2023
Contributed by Lukas
If you are a bottom-up thinker, there are certain techniques in long-form improv that might work better if you try to do top-down thinking instead. Wh...
How Bottom Up Thinking can Affect Dealing with Plots in Improv
27 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Bottom-up thinking or bottom-up processing is common way for autistics to process information. It’s wired into our brains and affects EVERYTHING. Ho...
Thoughts On Being Perceived (on the Improv Stage & In Class)
20 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
The sense of being perceived is all about the activity you are doing when you are being looked at by other people. Having strong feelings about this k...
What is Neurodivergence and How it's Relevant to Improv Comedy
12 Nov 2023
Contributed by Lukas
This episode details what neurodivergence is, and why it’s relevant to improv. I include a couple of examples in there. Check out the transcript to ...
Hello, Neurodivergent Improvisers
31 Oct 2023
Contributed by Lukas
Introduction by Jen to the new FlatImprov podcast. We're starting with the intersection of neurodivergence and improv.Note from 2025: This episode was...