AVAILABLE NOW: Detailed exercises to practice these failures in a controlled environment (practice sessions, classes, or even on your own). Get "Exercises to Ruin You" PDF at The secret to becoming a great improviser is not to avoid failure, but to embrace it. In this episode of Your Improv Brain, I challenge the idea that mistakes are something to fear, and instead treats them as the engine of learning. Forget positive thinking—this is a technical guide to handling failure. Learn why the concept of "deliberate practice" means that error correction is more important than just putting in hours. I'll give you a toolkit with seven practical hacks you can use in the exact moment you block an offer, forget a name, or feel a scene dying. These techniques will help you turn what feels like a failure into a gift for the scene... and is a powerful learning experience for you. This episode is for any actor, improviser, or performer who wants to get out of their head, take more risks, and become a more adaptable and resilient performer. Episode about Mind Going Blank (episode #28): Video: Podcast: People mentioned in this episode: Naval Ravikant Malcolm Gladwell Anders Ericsson ======= 00:00 Intro: The Secret to Great Improv is Failure 01:36 Welcome to Your Improv Brain 01:59 Failure in Improv is Inevitable 03:13 The Science: 10,000 Failures & Deliberate Practice 05:26 Failure is How We Learn and Have Fun 06:30 The 7 Scene Hacks for Failure 06:41 Hack 1: Make Your Failure Loud 08:07 Hack 2: If You Freeze, Do Something 09:06 Hack 3: Try to Be Boring 10:15 Hack 4: Breathe Life into a Dead Scene 11:52 Hack 5: Focus On Your Partner 12:33 Hack 6: Find an Out (Edit the Scene) 13:15 Hack 7: Make Mistakes on Purpose 14:54 A Personal Story of "Failing" a Scene 16:23 How to Reframe Failure in Your Mind 17:52 Outro ====== #ImprovTips #ActingTips #Failure #GrowthMindset #YourImprovBrain #ComedyTips #CreativeRisk ================ Where to find stuff ================ Get articles about improv: Join the newsletter(s) for weekly content about improv and comedy. This show is also offered as a podcast. Search "Your Improv Brain" wherever you get your podcasts, or see its show page here We love our podcast host ! Contact me anytime to ask me anything. You can support my shows by signing up with Captivate here: Support: Like this content and want it to continue? Support this podcast here with a one-time tip here: About This podcast was created, written, and is hosted by Jen deHaan. All creative graphics made (by a human!) Jen deHaan. This episode was and edited and produced by . Join the FREE StereoForest newsletter for podcast and show updates and opportunities to do improv and voice acting at This show was made in British Columbia, Canada by StereoForest Podcasts.