ADVICE: Lessons from Improv 201 at UCB

NYC comic Matt Ruby of the excellent blog Sandpaper Suit offers some notes from his Level 2 UCB improv class, some which apply to stand-up. The ones that especially make sense to us:

Whatever scares you, do it.

Specificity is our friend. Add it.

Honesty is our safety net. We can never go wrong if we speak how we honestly feel at the time.

Whatever you feel uncomfortable doing is exactly what you should try doing.

Go from A to C. Leaving the B out is often the interesting part because it lets the audience's brains make the connection.

First laugh line is often the audience telling you where the game of the scene is.

Be ahead of the audience. If you just thought of it, go for it. If they already know where you're going, you've lost.