by
Jessica Fishenfeld
Job interview. Wedding toast. First date. Public speaking. Cocktail party. Teaching a class. Pitch
presentation. Talk show guest. Crowd work. Any of these situations causing your stomach to
churn a little (or a lot) just thinking about them? Congratulations! You are a human being! But
wait… what if I told you I had a cheat code for being superhuman and conquering your crippling
fears of ALL of the above? Hear me out. Hi, I’m Jessica Fishenfeld, and I didn’t make the high
school improv team. Womp, womp. I immediately wrote off improv as “not my thing” because I
was trash at it and was not a funny person. It bummed me out, but I took the L and moved on.
Little did I know, I would later become a professional comedian, getting paid to improvise and
make people laugh! (Take that, High School Improv Troupe!) But let’s slow it down for a second
– you don’t need to become a PRO improviser in order to reap the invaluable, lifechanging
benefits of the art of improv. Years after high school, I gave improv a shot again. I was
transitioning careers from opera singer to actor, and I thought signing up for some improv
classes would help get my actor brain working more creatively. This somewhat cavalier choice
turned out to be one of the best, most impactful decisions I have ever made. Not only did it
help me to hone my acting chops, but it enhanced my entire quality of life. I found that by
inhabiting one of the core skills of improv – letting go and trusting myself – I was finally
entering situations without self-judgment, allowing me to rest assured that with my
preparation and sharpened instincts, something logical would come out of my mouth in any
given situation, no matter what was thrown my way – on and off stage/camera. Armed with
these skills, I literally started to feel like a superhero who could handle anything. Without the
fear of freezing up, I started walking into audition rooms with confidence rather than
desperation. I could hold my own chatting with powerful executive producers and directors. I
even nailed my first agent meeting in LA and got signed that week. Furthermore, since improv is
a team sport, it also teaches us how to collaborate with others productively and be a valuable
member of a group. Through the practice of “yes, and,” you will learn how to constructively
build towards a common goal with your team. You will listen more carefully. Your creativity will
deepen with details you had never thought of before. You will have people wondering how the
heck you are so comfortable in your own skin! No matter if you are a bank teller or a stand up
comedian, human interaction is inevitable, so you might as well make it an enjoyable
experience! Like any skill, it takes time and repetition to build those neural pathways, and I
promise you: anyone – yes, ANYONE – can improve at improv. All you need to do is start, and
you’ll be on your way to a more confident you with a zip-zap-zop.
*5 tips to turn a bad improv scene into a good improv scene while it’s happening:
- Make something wildly important! Making something your scene partner says or does important provides a singular focus for the scene, relieving yourself of the overwhelming responsibility of just “being funny.” Going deeper with specifics about one thing is going to be way funnier than inventing yourself into oblivion trying to come up with funny things.
- Surprise yourself! Start speaking before you even know what’s going to come out. It’s going to add a hilarious spice to the scene, and the audience loves to watch you joyfully struggle to justify something that you very clearly did not plan to say.
- Confess something! Improv scenes are only a few minutes long, so we need to get to the point of why we’re watching you in the ball pit at McDonalds on that particular day ASAP. Confessing something is a quick fix for heightening the stakes of the scene.
- Get emotional! When you choose to allow your partner to affect you in a big way, it is far more entertaining for the audience than if you choose to just be okay with everything like a therapy master. Improv characters don’t go to therapy! Boring!
- Get physical! Sometimes we get stuck in a “talking heads” scene. When you find yourself there, make a big physical choice. Grab something from the fourth wall and incorporate it into the scene, make a big stage cross and justify it, or take a breath and just behave as your character with a physical task from your environment. You will surely make a discovery that moves the scene forward!
New York-born, LA-based actor, singer and comedian Jessica Fishenfeld has been featured at a variety of national and international venues including Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, National Sawdust, throughout Mexico and Italy, as well as on TV and in several commercials. She is a member of LA’s revamped Mission IMPROVable at the Westside Comedy Theater, a founding member of Hit List: the Improvised Musical and has trained with the best and brightest at The Groundlings, UCB, Second City and The PIT. She recently appeared on America’s Got Talent as a singing aerialist, in Sony Pictures’ Panhandle opposite Luke Kirby, was lauded for her “expert timing” (Broadway World) in her solo comedy cabaret Sunny Side Up at NYC’s Birdland, made a “stand out” (New York Times) off-Broadway debut in Das Barbecü, and
“triumphed” (NY Observer) in the World Premiere of Stonewall at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall. Learn more and stay in the loop at www.jessicafishenfeld.com and @jecafish on IG & TikTok!