Oct 2, 2026 · 29 min · 8 segments
week 2 at the second city and honestly this one hit different 🎭 you ever freeze up in a scene and default to bossing your partner around? same. in this episode i get into why so many improvisers…
Giovanni AxibalHost
But apart from our check-ins, we dive, of course, right into games, our warm-ups, our zip-zap-zop.
And something that I want to construct this series of reflecting on my improv journey is not just the games, because frankly, I can't remember every single game we played.
Less about the games, more about the reason why we play those games and what you can learn from every improv game that you might play in your future.
Before we played these games, I asked my teacher Tom, I said, because I was listening to the Hollywood Reporter on YouTube and watching the actors' roundtable, listening to other improvisers, like...
Amy Poehler with A Good Hang, her podcast, and Tina Fey with her book Bossy Pants, and just different improvisers, different actors that I looked up to in this industry.
And something that they said was that a lot of people default to anger in their improv scenes.
If it's either anger or teaching, because think about our actual careers apart from improv.
But say a lot of teachers, a lot of bosses, a lot of people where they have to uphold some kind of leadership position, they tend to teach and they teach naturally and they teach in their scenes and improv naturally.
I did used to be a preschooler and a preschool teacher assistant, but I did have those kids.
I did teach a class every single Friday, but it wasn't like your ordinary math, science, and math.
It was more like mannerism, like yes ma'am, no ma'am, and just how to have fun.
Anyways, going back to telling your scene partner what to do if you come from any kind of teaching background outside of the classroom is natural.
But apart from our check-ins, we dive, of course, right into games, our warm-ups, our zip-zap-zop.
And something that I want to construct this series of reflecting on my improv journey is not just the games, because frankly, I can't remember every single game we played.
Less about the games, more about the reason why we play those games and what you can learn from every improv game that you might play in your future.
Before we played these games, I asked my teacher Tom, I said, because I was listening to the Hollywood Reporter on YouTube and watching the actors' roundtable, listening to other improvisers, like...
Amy Poehler with A Good Hang, her podcast, and Tina Fey with her book Bossy Pants, and just different improvisers, different actors that I looked up to in this industry.
And something that they said was that a lot of people default to anger in their improv scenes.
If it's either anger or teaching, because think about our actual careers apart from improv.
But say a lot of teachers, a lot of bosses, a lot of people where they have to uphold some kind of leadership position, they tend to teach and they teach naturally and they teach in their scenes and improv naturally.
I did used to be a preschooler and a preschool teacher assistant, but I did have those kids.
I did teach a class every single Friday, but it wasn't like your ordinary math, science, and math.
It was more like mannerism, like yes ma'am, no ma'am, and just how to have fun.
Anyways, going back to telling your scene partner what to do if you come from any kind of teaching background outside of the classroom is natural.
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