PODCAST · arts
Your Improv Brain
by Jen deHaan
Your Improv Brain is a show that helps you understand your brain (and body!) to be a happier, better performer. I'll also explore the intersection of improv comedy, neurodivergence, and the science of performance. Episodes cover how different brain types, including neurodivergent and neurotypical minds, experience comedy and performance. The show discusses creating supportive environments and understanding cognitive differences in improv practice.Your Improv Brain also explores how neurodivergence, including ADHD and autism, impacts how we learn, coach, and perform. Host Jen deHaan - who is certifying in multiple programs based on nervous system regulation - gets into the science of why we freeze up on stage, how to find flow state, and using nervous system regulation tools to become a more resilient improviser and actor.Why this show is for youWhether you are neurodivergent or neurotypical, this show provides a neuroinclusive lens on the creative process. We move beyond "yes and" t
Episodes
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Answer The "More Energy" Improv Note Your OWN Way
You get the "more energy" note in improv and nobody tells you what to actually change. I take that note apart and look at what your teacher was probably reacting to. The energy note does a lot of work in one word, so it can mean several different things at once, and most of us never ask for the...
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Confidence vs Hesitation in Improv Scenes
WORKSHOPS! Check out what's coming up for the Off Script Workshops. We're working on stuff brought up in this ep. https://yourimprovbrain.com/offscript If you start building your next line while your scene partner is still talking, you might be solving the wrong problem. This episode is about the...
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Improv Freeze Fix! Set Up In Advance as a Default Move
You're in a scene, it's your turn, and your brain goes somewhere else. Going blank on stage, hitting that freeze, is near the top of most improvisers' fear lists, and I want to add something new to the pile of advice about it. I have new things to say about this thing, possibly even something...
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The Three Best Ways to Learn (or Improve) at Improv
NEW WORKSHOPS! Find all the information on the newly released website at https://YourImprovBrain.com/offscript Someone asked in an improv forum how you should actually learn improv, whether that's doing scenes, watching other people, or reading and talking theory. I had a big enough answer that I...
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Steamrolling and getting steamrolled: Three exercises for both sides
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 they might be doing it themselves. This episode covers both sides. It starts with what steamrolling actually looks like in a scene (and it…
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Get better at improv by getting better at getting feedback (really! seriously!)
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% discount on your second guide if you grab them together. Getting improv notes can affect your nervous system, and your brain. We look at why your...
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One skill at a time: a rep-based approach to changing improv habits
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 thing anyway? This episode is about why that happens and what to do about it. Your brain runs on pathways, and the ones you've reinforced the most…
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Build an evidence archive for more confidence on stage
"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, especially analytical or pattern-driven ones, they don't work. During the 2026 Olympics, Eileen Gu described herself as an evidence person, not an...
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Special: How well do you actually know your improv teammates (offstage skill building)
This is a special extended (podcast-only) episode of Your Improv Brain on neurodivergent inclusion in the improv community. These episodes will focus on inclusion, nervous system regulation, and help neurodivergent improvisers understand themselves and help non-neurodivergent improvisers work...
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Metacognition and improv: how to use your monitoring brain in a scene
"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 scene. That's just another layer of the problem. This episode covers metacognition (thinking about your thinking) and why it matters for improv....
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Trailer for Your Improv Brain (2026)
Your brain goes blank in the middle of a scene. Or the opposite happens: twelve ideas at once and you can't pick one, so you stand there smiling while your scene partner waits. Your Improv Brain breaks down improv concepts one at a time, for every brain type. Each episode covers a single concept,...
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Improv initiations: when to start big and when to stay grounded
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 the top of a scene, it can set the whole thing up in seconds. In this episode I talk about using emotion as part of your base reality. Most scenes...
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Your brain went blank? Try this scene start instead
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 approach to scene initiations that Will Hines recommends: start by answering the question "where are you?" You can do it physically, verbally, or...
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Assume, don't ask: how to start better improv scenes
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 this episode I break down why questions are tricky at the top, what makes a good question versus a bad one in improv, and how assuming shared history...
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You don't need backstory: starting scenes in the middle
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 quickest ways to lose your audience. In this episode, I talk about why exposition bogs down the top of your scene and how starting in the middle of the...
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Five Vocal Exercises for Better Improv Characters
Get the PDF "Vocal Basics for Improv" with all the exercises and concepts from this episode at https://improvupdate.com/downloads. This episode is all about using your voice in improv. You do not need to do "funny voices" to be a good performer, you can work with the attributes of your own voice...
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Own Your Weirdness: A Guide to Really Good Improv (Performances)
In this episode, I explain how to commit to your authentic self in your improv practice. You will learn to reframe perceived weaknesses into compelling strengths on stage. Your messy and imperfect parts are exactly what your scenes need. I discuss how neurodivergent performers can use their…
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Four Ways to Give your Characters a Clear Point of View
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 found that the most interesting thing about a character isn't what they do, but why they do it. A strong, consistent POV is the lens through which...
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The Power of Silence: 3 Exercises to Improve Your Acting
Alt title: Get to Skin Suit Town: 3 Exercises to Improve Your Acting In this episode, I'm diving into one of the best acting exercises you can give yourself: practicing scene work with little dialogue, or even none at all. I’ve found that learning to use physicality, emotional reactions, and...
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3-Step System & Exercise to Manage Self-Criticism in Improv
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 work. This episode reveals a completely different approach: give that critical energy to your character. I break down the science of why your brain...
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An Improv Workout: 6 Exercises to Build Your "Failure Muscle"
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 workout plan with SIX specific exercises designed to put you in challenging situations. Learn practical drills for your practice groups or classes…
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Clear Mind = Get Out of Your Head in Improv
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! However, forgetting can be a skill to practice. In this episode, I explore the science behind why our brains are designed to forget, and how we can use...
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Fail More to Learn More (Plus Seven Hacks to Help!)
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 a scene is falling flat, can feel awful. But it is also one of the most valuable data points for your growth. In this episode, I help you reframe...
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Improving Communication Skills So You Can Improvise With Anyone
To be a successful improviser, you have to communicate effectively with everyone on your team. But what happens when people think, communicate, and experience the world differently? In this episode, I break down the common causes of communication breakdown between improvisers, and why assuming...
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Mind Blank on Stage? A 3-Step Reboot for Your Brain
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 explain how this is often a biological response to being overwhelmed, not a lack of ideas. In this episode, you'll learn a simple, three-step system to...
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The Pain of Learning Improv: What to Assess, How to Respond
Feeling frustrated, stuck, or even like you're getting worse at improv? This episode reframes the struggle. Discover the difference between productive learning pain and the unnecessary pain that you can walk away from. Learn a clear framework to assess your comedy practice, connect with your…
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A Source of Great Improv Ideas (bonus: Get Out of Your Head)
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 struggle. This episode of Your Improv Brain reframes the problem of trying to get ideas into a scene. Discover why the key to better creative output…
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Improv Burnout? Prioritize Yourself for Better Improv Performances
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 doormats. Always saying yes outside the scene doesn't help your scene partner in the end. Discover why putting yourself last leads to burnout and…
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Beyond "React Like Yourself" - Level Up Your Grounded Improv Characters
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 techniques for playing the voice of reason or grounded characters in a scene or sustaining them long-term. Discover how shifting from simply "acting…
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Is an inner monologue useful for improv comedy? (ft. NYC improviser Sabrina Banes)
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, often seen as a distraction, can actually become a powerful tool for your improv. Host Jen deHaan and guest Sabrina Banes discuss practical ways to...
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Suggestions for Protecting Your Mind While Doing Comedy
This episode provides general suggestions to comedians, especially neurodivergent ones like us autistic and ADHD actors in comedy and improv, to protect our minds while engaging in comedy and with others in the community. Find the video for this episode (has my face, not just captions): YouTube...
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Inclusive and beneficial icebreaker exercises for performers
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. Some people hate them. Some of us have a love/hate relationship depending on the day or the icebreaker in question. Many of the people who really...
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Emotional Processing, Acting, and Improv (Alexithymia) - Part 2
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 it affects improv performers and the shared improv practice. This episode, part two, now explores some ideas of what students can do if they…
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Emotional Processing, Acting, and Improv (Alexithymia) - Part 1
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 series explores what alexithymia is, how it affects improv, and suggests some ways to practice improv if you experience it. Part two covers some...
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Giving Notes and Feedback to Comedy Students - Part 3
NOTE: There is now a full resource and downloadable Guides and Worksheets on giving and receiving notes in improv. Find the new resource page here: https://improvupdate.com/notes Notes (feedback) can be confusing for some student performers because of communication differences. This episode...
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Getting Notes and Feedback You Don’t Understand - Part 2
NOTE: There is now a full resource and downloadable Guides and Worksheets on giving and receiving notes in improv. Find the new resource page here: https://improvupdate.com/notes Welcome to part two of this three-part series of episodes about receiving notes as neurodivergent improvisers. (Note:...
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Getting Feedback & Giving Notes in Comedy Classes - Part 1
NOTE: There is now a full resource and downloadable Guides and Worksheets on giving and receiving notes in improv. Find the new resource page here: https://improvupdate.com/notes This three-part series of episodes is about receiving notes as a neurodivergent improviser. This episode covers WHY...
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Visual Imagery and Improv: How it Affects Memory and Recall
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 scenes. The extreme ends are considered to be neurodivergence (they are called hyperphantasia and aphantasia), but regardless of what or how much you…
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How Neurodiversity Affects Improv And Comedy: Being Misunderstood
Neurodivergent humans might communicate in a different way, a way that is difficult for neurotypical humans to understand. Different social communication styles not necessarily a deficit, and it’s not a pathology - it’s a difference. However, having difficulty communicating in a way other people...
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Communication in Improv Scenes: Finding the unusual thing
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 reality that leads to the game. And here is that episode. Communication is a challenge in improv, especially when we have different neurotypes playing...
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Neurodiversity and Observation: How it can improve your scenes
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 an episode about finding the unusual thing as a neurodivergent improviser. But you’re getting that one next week, friend, because I’ve been thinking...
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Your visual Imagination & how it affects improv scenes
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 cover what the spectrum of phantasia is, from hyperphantasia to aphantasia, then go into how it affects improv. How you visually process details in a...
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Masking and Improv Comedy: Being the voice of reason
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 natural reactions, responses, physicality or expressions. This, of course, can affect how we position ourselves in scenes if we are trying to be the...
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How to Commit: Honouring YOUR unique brain in improv
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 notes that relate to our brain wiring! Maybe we’re reading from, or writing, a completely different book. It can be hard when our brains are so…
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Fast and Slow Edit Moves in Long Form Improv Comedy
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. The answer I gave them was a bit of an opinionated monologue infodump, and I was told I should turn that monologue into a podcast. So here we are....
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Masking and Improv: Character Matching (Peas in a Pod) Scenes
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 being a social chameleon. You might mask subconsciously - you might not even realize you do it! But it's essentially suppressing your natural...
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The Intersection of Misophonia & Improv with Sabrina Banes
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 and Tarot reader who lives in Brooklyn with her two cats, Shumai and Althea. She currently performs with her longform indie teams, Jace Spam and...
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Top-down thinking in improv (for bottom-up thinkers)
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. Why would you do such a thing? And When? Game and second beats might be challenging to a bottom-up thinker. You need to get used to wrapping up a…
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How Bottom Up Thinking can Affect Dealing with Plots in Improv
Bottom-up thinking or bottom-up processing is common way for autistics to process information. It’s wired into our brains and affects EVERYTHING. How does this type of thinking affect doing improv scenes, especially when it comes to plots? In particular… when you weren’t expecting a plot, and...
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Thoughts On Being Perceived (on the Improv Stage & In Class)
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 kind of perception is common particularly with the autistic neurotype. And it can sure seem illogical or contradictory at times, too. And… people…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
Your Improv Brain is a show that helps you understand your brain (and body!) to be a happier, better performer. I'll also explore the intersection of improv comedy, neurodivergence, and the science of performance. Episodes cover how different brain types, including neurodivergent and neurotypical minds, experience comedy and performance. The show discusses creating supportive environments and understanding cognitive differences in improv practice.Your Improv Brain also explores how neurodivergence, including ADHD and autism, impacts how we learn, coach, and perform. Host Jen deHaan - who is certifying in multiple programs based on nervous system regulation - gets into the science of why we freeze up on stage, how to find flow state, and using nervous system regulation tools to become a more resilient improviser and actor.Why this show is for youWhether you are neurodivergent or neurotypical, this show provides a neuroinclusive lens on the creative process. We move beyond "yes and" t
HOSTED BY
Jen deHaan
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Frequently Asked Questions
How many episodes does Your Improv Brain have?
Your Improv Brain currently has 51 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Your Improv Brain about?
Your Improv Brain is a show that helps you understand your brain (and body!) to be a happier, better performer. I'll also explore the intersection of improv comedy, neurodivergence, and the science of performance. Episodes cover how different brain types, including neurodivergent and neurotypical...
How often does Your Improv Brain release new episodes?
Your Improv Brain has 51 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Your Improv Brain?
You can listen to Your Improv Brain on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Your Improv Brain?
Your Improv Brain is created and hosted by Jen deHaan.
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