Audience Engagement Beyond Suggestions
Sometimes to get them on your side, you actually have to ask
My friend Heather has struck again, and this time it came with a little compliment. She asked me to expound on the concept of engaging the audience, because I’m so good at it when I do my solo act. She gave me a number of suggestions which I thought were all worthwhile to write about. And I think this is a topic that touches on other topics I’ve already written about, but is rare enough that I haven’t seen many other improv Substack posts so it’s time for me to blaze a trail. You should be spending time at the top of your set (and possibly throughout) to establish a rapport with your audience!
I understand the impulse to jump straight into scenework, and I feel that urgency better than anyone: I came up in an era where groups got 25-30 minute slots, and nowadays we’re lucky to get 10-15. When I was a student, 10-15 minutes was the allotted time for you to do silly little goof-em-ups, and the big kids got a minimum of 20 minutes so they could try to do a full training wheels Harold. Those days are gone. So why should we waste our precious minutes doing bullshit high fives with strangers at the top of our set when we could be practicing our art?!
I don’t really have a good answer for this. But we must balance our desire to put on a theatre performance with minimal interruption against our need to entertain an audience.
One could argue that one of the defining elements of American Improv Comedy, as opposed to what we might call Devised Theatre, is the real time response to audience interaction. We are constantly receiving feedback as to whether or not our scenework is any good. The show can change at any time, both in content and in performance. The best improvisers are not just great writers and actors, but also directors and editors. And we can also prime ourselves for success by establishing that rapport; not only will we receive a better quality of instantaneous feedback, but the audience will be more likely to root for us. The feedback loop can increase the odds of an entertaining show.
I think in order for an audience to enjoy a show, they have to feel like they are being listened to. For the first few iterations of Bryan vs Music, I did not engage the audience in any way shape or form. These shows were solidly okay but people weren’t wowed by them. I was purely coasting off of good vibes and friendship and it only got me so far. This magic didn’t work on strangers. Then I got the idea to start fielding questions from the audience and answering in character. Then I started pulling audience members onstage. I still go without a suggestion but there’s a little bit of banter at the top of the show where I try to get everyone on my side.
I choose to go the authentic route. I’m taking stock of which parts of the crowd are responsive. If the set before me was bad, I’m trying to course correct. I may be playing a character but it’s a character very close to myself. As with most improv, sometimes I’m playing a character beyond my own character, and I use this character to check in with the audience. I don’t know if I can really articulate what I’m doing when I’m establishing a rapport, it’s a lot like entering a flow state. It’s the same sort of mental mathematics you do when you’re on a date to ascertain if it’s going really well or really poorly. The audience wants to be engaged directly, in a non-confrontational way.
It’s important to couch everything in a sort of consent-focused conversation. When you engage an audience member, it’s important to let them know that they don’t have to talk to you and that any sort of reaction will be helpful. And in this instance even silence is a reaction. Much like when you want to punch or kiss or lift an improviser, you can cast sidelong glances at them to see what sort of glance they shoot back at you. Once people know that they can say no, back out, or stop the show, the yeses are more forthcoming and can be more outrageous. I recently had an audience member (who was an improviser) fistfight an imaginary version of me who had jumped offstage while real me watched from the stage; the rest of the audience cheered him on as I stared, fake bewildered.
Plus, it’s important to extend this beyond your show as well! My favorite and most memorable shows have included late night hangs and celebrity selfies. There are shows from 20 years ago that I still talk about fondly because of the graciousness of the performers that night. If you’re any sort of theater administrator, this is what makes or breaks your Yelp reviews. It’s not enough to be funny, you must also have a great customer service face. You want all impressions of your show to be positive. This should not be groundbreaking info.
You must be confident. An audience is a skittish animal that smells fear and has a thick shell. The only way to soothe the animal is to project an air of confidence that lets everyone know that you are in control and the show is going according to plan. This is the reason we spend thousands of dollars to relearn how to play make believe as adults: to have the core competencies drilled into our heads so that we may present them to an audience. You should act like it!
I’ve written a lot and I don’t know how to end this in a satisfying way so I’m just going to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and there are a few more friend-suggested essays to come.