Improv Was Missing: The Role Improv Plays in Being Human
TBD The Improvised Musical 10 Year Anniversary
June 2025
I teach improv comedy to adults here in Columbus, Ohio at a sweet and scrappy little theater called The Hashtag Comedy Club. Picture black walls covered in tchotchkes from Grandma's house. A few weeks ago my summer term kicked off. At the top of the class, one at a time my students introduced themselves and shared a little about their improv experience while leading the entire group in a yoga stretch of their choice. Some shared skills they wanted to accomplish, some shared shows they were a part of, but then another pattern emerged. About three introductions in, one student decided to share about their mental health and how improv helps them. They shared that improv fulfills something in them. It makes them happy. They felt they needed it. After that, just about every student who followed shared similarly on how improv supports their mental health, well-being, how they show up in work, relationships, and in life.
This was the first time I'd had so many adult students open up in this way during this specific exercise, but it certainly wasn't my first time encountering this message. Being immersed in the improv community, I hear this all the time from people inside and outside the community. Just last month at a networking event I had the pleasure of someone recognizing me from one of my shows. They told me that their therapist was encouraging them to take improv classes. Now, their therapist wasn't making this suggestion because she wanted her client to become a comedian. Her therapist made this suggestion for her client’s well-being.
I of course intimately know the benefits of this kooky artform in my own life and know what it's like when I don't have it with me anymore. In periods where I wasn't able to practice improv (college semesters abroad, work abroad, months of relocated work assignments, COVID, etc.) I found that I didn't quite feel myself. Improv was missing.
“Improv was missing” is far too simple of a way to put it though. Improv is a single world that includes the culmination of:
Soul giggles and guffaws
Connection with people I've grown to trust
Doing something that scares me
Moving my body
Taking risks
Supporting my team and being supported by them
And that's all in one practice or show. That's improv.
What that therapist knows probably even better than I do is that play is fundamental to our human biology. To feel whole, we're supposed to keep incorporating play into our lives. Improv is one of the most accessible, high-return forms of play I’ve ever encountered.
As Dr. Stuart Brown, founder of the National Institute for Play, puts it:
“The beneficial effects of getting just a little play can spread through our lives, actually making us more productive and happier in everything we do.”
So let yourself be human. Play a little. Foster play amongst your team. Teach through it! Because sitting through three hours of training decks is not conducive to a functional learning environment, Brenda. Happy people are more productive, more creative, and less stressed. And that’s where we come in.
Alex and I help teams learn, grow, and connect through play. Improv at work. Reach out to WitWorks today. Let’s make work feel a little more human.
