r/improv • u/hey_megh • Mar 30 '26
Discussion Consent & boundaries in improv
I'm an intimacy professional who has been doing improv for over 13 years, and think it's important and overdue to have larger conversations about bodily autonomy and consent in an art form that prioritizes 'yes, and.' I'm building a workshop for improvisers around this and I would love to hear your thoughts about some of the following:
- How do you, if at all, establish physical boundaries on your teams?
- Are there any (specific or unspoken/assumed) boundaries established at your jams, workshops, drop-ins, or any other place where you may be improvising with strangers?
- How have you handled accidental boundary crossing with other improvisers, both in the moment and onstage?
- Have you ever taken a workshop by someone in your community about consent in improv? What was it like?
20
u/taxicab_ Mar 30 '26
at the beginning of each practice/class, people have the opportunity to say any boundaries they have for the day (physical, topical, etc.)
Jams generally have a minimal-touching rule for strangers/acquaintances
I’ve been fortunate enough to have rarely seen this. Every time it has come up, the individuals talked it out with each other.
never taken a workshop specifically about convent, but our theater has a pretty strict policy (basically one strike and then you’re out)
3
u/hey_megh Mar 30 '26
Thanks for this answer! Is your theater's policy on their website? Also would like to hear if you think there's any unconscious pressure to have less or no boundaries?
1
u/avgHumanPersonThing Mar 31 '26
So you’re trying to create a problem where there isn’t one and then sell a workshop on the problem that you made up.
As you can see from the 125+ comments on this post, this seems like well tread territory for most/all improvisers.
5
u/hey_megh Mar 31 '26
Hi! So, there are 60 comments on this post, half from me. Boundaries and consent are not a “problem,” they’re something to be discussed and to have tools around. People have shared what their teams do before practices and shows and that’s because someone taught them how to do that. People have also shared several different ways they communicate with each other that I’d never heard of. Also I’m not selling anything, I’m teaching a free workshop next month.
2
u/taxicab_ Mar 31 '26
Yes, the rules are posted on the website, and no, I haven’t felt pressure in terms of pushing boundaries.
It might help if you shared why you feel like this is a widespread problem these days. I know things used to be more Wild West, but I haven’t seen anything in my recent experiences.
6
u/hey_megh Mar 31 '26
Thanks! I don’t consider consent and boundaries a “problem,” just gathering some info on how improvisers establish them, if they think there’s gaps, a lack of consistency or tools, or how folks have handled boundary violations. I feel more conversation around this topic is preventative, and keeps fluid communities safe.
22
u/Improv_To_Go Mar 30 '26
Our group has an "Ouch/Oops" rule.
Anytime somebody in a scene starts to feel uncomfortable, they yell ouch. The other person responds with "Oops" and they continue the scene but recognize the boundary that was jut established.
3
u/hey_megh Mar 30 '26
Oh, that's wonderful. Is it usually pretty obvious what the ouch is referring to when said by an improviser?
7
u/Improv_To_Go Mar 31 '26
Honestly, it rarely comes up. We have a pretty respectful group. But in the rare instances I've seen it happen, yeah the other person always recognized what they meant right away. It's a good system.
20
u/badaboom Mar 30 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
I'm also an improvisor and an intimacy coordinator!
One of our improv groups has a rule about kisses on stage. They need to be done slowly with eyes open (until lip contact) and if you don't want to, you just say "Woah!" and the scene continues on as a character refusing to kiss another character- which is as interesting if not more as two characters willingly kissing.
I hate the idea that you must say "yes" in improv. You don't. You have to agree to the premise that your scene partner has presented. There are a billion ways to agree to the premise while saying the word "no".
I was once in a class and the scene partner stood on a chair and was like "I'm gonna do it! I'm gonna jump!" I said "No you're not Todd, you do this every time the Leafs lose". The teacher was like "don't say no!" Stupid. The offer was the scene partner wanted to kill himself. If I agreed to that completely, the scene would be instantly done. I accepted the premise and built on it, but I said the word "no" while doing it. And the teacher wanted to hit the "rules" so hard that they completely missed the actual point of the rule.
7
u/jubileeandrews Mar 31 '26
Yeah, that is annoying. You 'yes, anded' the premise, you don't have to agree with the other character's statement.
2
u/hey_megh Mar 30 '26
Hey!! Would love to connect. Love that approach to kissing! It can be funny even to each other, but just like in improv, saying things out loud to each other is so essential!
And I get what you're saying! Improv teachers are not intimacy professionals and can often not even have something like that on their radar. Have you brought your intimacy training to your improv community?
1
15
u/LeekingMemory28 Musical DUH Mar 30 '26
When I'm on stage:
"What the fuck" is a valid 'yes and'. It's also 100% valid to walk off stage and not be in a scene if it is crossing boundaries for you.
I've done it a lot while going through classes because I've had seen partners go for the toilet/shock humor, and some other sensitive topics come up in ways that weren't handled tactfully...my response is always to say in character "too gross or too far." Because if you're thinking it, your audience and other teammates are too.
In class or before stage:
Have a serious conversation and set them. Make sure everyone knows your limits and you know others.
2
u/hey_megh Mar 30 '26
I would love to know what that serious conversation you describe looks and sounds like. What kind of language is used? What are the key points?
6
u/LeekingMemory28 Musical DUH Mar 30 '26
I think in terms of TTRPG safety tools.
I start a TTRPG campaign by setting “Lines and Veils”. Lines are the hard no items, no references, doing, or showing it. Veils are “you’re okay with references, but not directly showing.”
In improv, it would look a little different, but you can start with that as a way to initiate the safety discussion, so you’re talking about topics you’re more or less comfortable doing scenes with.
For example, one of my hard no topics is memory loss due to cognitive decline (grandma has dementia). If you don’t voice a topic is a boundary, it may come up.
You can then use that to springboard into “during a scene, don’t do X to me unless I initiate or say specifically”.
4
u/hey_megh Mar 30 '26
Yes!! Love the shared language tools. "Lines and Veils" is so great. In intimacy coordination, we use "Fences and Gates" - fences being the hard lines and gates are exceptions to those lines, such as a fence being not touching the chest area and a gate allowing hugs.
6
u/LeekingMemory28 Musical DUH Mar 30 '26
A great example of a “veil” would be the Air Nomad Genocide in Avatar the Last Airbender.
It’s referenced a lot; you see the aftermath with Gyatso’s skeleton. But it’s never directly shown on screen.
8
u/Learning-Every-Day- Mar 31 '26
Hi! A lot of what my improv community does is already in the comments. For groups still getting to know each other no bathing suit areas and we start with handshakes & high fives.
Something that would be cool for you to teach is about how to handle a situation where an improviser doesn't know how to stand up for themselves. Both when you see it and when you are the improviser. I shared my story a while ago in this sub about how when I was first starting out I was in a class where someone declared everyone on stage was naked (nude beach) and then I had two men surround me. One started rubbing my neck. The other my back upper thigh and then smacked my butt. They were "rubbing sunscreen on me". I've dealt with sexual abuse before and so in that moment I froze. There were a bunch of people watching and no one stopped the scene. It wasn't until after the class that I received a bunch of emails asking if I was okay.
When I've talked with people in the improv community about boundaries there is often the assumption that the person experiencing the line being crossed should handle the situation or call it out. But sometimes (especially if you are new) you don't feel like you have the power in that moment to do anything. Or you just freeze. I'm a more experienced improviser now and feel like I know how to better handle things like this. And thankfully that experience didn't stop me from continuing improvising. But it could have. For further context, I'm a female in my 30s.
2
u/hey_megh Mar 31 '26
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and sharing something you'd be interested in learning more about. Boundaries are everyone's responsibility, absolutely! This is why shared language in the community and teaching simple tools to use that empower everyone involved is something I'm trying to spread. I'm teaching a free workshop in Los Angeles next month so it's really helpful to hear what needs addressing.
7
u/Theunpolitical Mar 30 '26
I’ve been in two improv groups, and I’d say it really depends on the person. I used to have another member in my group where we always did a game with the audience called “Superhero Puppets.” It’s where an audience member comes on stage and controls our arms, legs, head, etc. Since they’re usually pretty slow with it, it leads to some really great moments of laughter.
For reference, I’m female and he’s male. If we were performing at a bar, the audience would almost always try to push us into being inappropriate with each other, often making us grab each other’s genitals and/or making out. So I had to have a conversation with him about what we were comfortable with, and we ended up completely on the same page.
That said, if I were doing that exact same scene with someone else in the group, it could be a different story. Trust and friendships vary within a troupe, so I think it’s very individual. It’s always best to talk to your scene partner ahead of time about what you’re okay with.
3
u/hey_megh Mar 30 '26
I'm glad that you were able to have that open conversation with your teammate! That's a great example -- the audience can be a source of coercion for some improvisers, and it's important to know how your teammates will support you when that happens! Have you ever told the audience to avoid intimate parts and gestures? Perhaps indicate the areas on your body where they are allowed to move you? Wrists, shoulders, knees, etc.
5
u/Theunpolitical Mar 31 '26
No. We only give them instructions on how to move our body parts "safely". While the host is getting the crowd to shout out ideas of who we are, what our crisis is, we are quietly explaining to them how to move our body parts. Often we try to do female to female and male to male but if that's not the case, everyone has always been respectful to me and I've never felt violated.
5
u/johnnyslick Seattle Mar 30 '26
I try and make a point to discuss boundaries any time I lead a jam or whatever. In the current city the paradigm is to use stoplights although that’s sometimes tough because people will just say “yellow” without saying what people should avoid. Otherwise, I personally really don’t like being picked up and will say so; luckily that has not even come close to being an issue since I moved away from Chicago.
One place I play at and occasionally do jams for solves the physical side of this, at least, by making them no touch at all. Most places say pedestrian touch - so like on the arms or shoulders, basically anywhere you might touch a complete stranger if you were trying to get them to scooch over on the bus - but this place is no touch at all. It’s not as big of a deal as some might think.
2
u/hey_megh Mar 30 '26
Interesting! Do you think no-touch is an extreme approach? Or perhaps limiting the play onstage? And yes -- saying yellow without knowing what that means doesn't make it helpful. And it stops the flow of the scene. "Pedestrian touch" is a great phrase for shared language of a general boundary.
3
u/johnnyslick Seattle Mar 31 '26
I don’t think it limits stuff much to be honest although I also don’t think it necessarily saves you from rough moments either. Physically, sure, when the whole jam is like “ope!” (well, the non Midwest equivalent anyway) anytime there’s any touch, that does prevent people from doing worse, but it doesn’t do much of anything to prevent people crossing verbal boundaries, some of which are IMO obvious (the old Playground in Chicago had as their #1 rule “don’t be a dick”, which I think worked well, although that’s also the only place I can remember ever noping out of a scene) but sometimes not at all (there was a big “dead animal” thing a couple weeks ago that I know would have absolutely horrified a veterinarian I was in a group with for a long time, but nobody said anything so hopefully nobody felt too badly).
I think it has a place in a jam situation where you don’t know each other well enough to understand which boundaries, physical and otherwise, are okay to test. I sure wouldn’t like it in a group unless we had reasons for it that were hashed out beforehand.
5
u/yojothobodoflo Mar 30 '26
I took a workshop once where the instructor asked us what our physical boundaries were by asking us which of the Hs we felt most comfortable with: hi👋(not touching), high five/handshake, hug, hump.
I’ve used it a few times since and it’s a silly, simple way to tell everyone what level of physical touch you’re comfortable with in that group!
1
u/hey_megh Mar 30 '26
Would love to know who this instructor is! Absolutely LOVE the 4H idea.
2
u/yojothobodoflo Mar 31 '26
I wish I remembered! It was like 8 or 9 years ago probably. I can’t remember what the workshop was either! But this stuck with me
4
u/TheRealHouseHippo Mar 31 '26
(I wrote this and it became a bit of a rant, so I sincerely apologize for the tone)
A jam group that I went to only a couple times (mostly because of this) had a small group of improvisers who only real goal was to be vulgar and offensive at most points. Some people in the room never did improv before, yet these fucking guys would jump into freeze scenes with them with some offensive concept and you’d have these newbies floundering.
I was put in this situation while I was there, one of the fucking guys initiated a scene that I simply didn’t want to engage in because of boundaries, so I utilized my improv toolkit, yes-anded their initiation, and turned it into a short scene with a cheesy punchline. But that’s me, I have experience and knew what needed to happen instead of breaching what I find funny and appropriate.
It’s important for whoever is organizing the jam or class or whatever that they firmly place boundaries for the group, and sort of become the adult in the room. If you point out how many new people are in the room, and then allow assholes to trainwreck their first moments, then there’s a big problem.
Both times I went to this jam, I felt kind of icky afterwards. Now I’ve joined a group with much better leadership and more mature students who understand when enough is enough. It’s been revitalizing, truthfully.
2
u/hey_megh Mar 31 '26
Thank you for the rant! There are simply a lot of situations that bring the ick, and you can tell when a place doesn't put in the work to create a safe environment. These conversations and tools are really to empower the most vulnerable people in the room without placing blame, and that benefits everyone.
3
u/ekuadam Mar 30 '26
The team I am on now, since I was joining an existing team, we all introduced ourselves and gave any boundaries we may have. Once I was on the team, we did it again. Having been with them for over a year now, we all know pretty much what is and isn’t acceptable to each other.
Every so often we may have a person sit in on a practice, and if that is the case and they participate we get their boundaries beforehand.
I haven’t ever had an issue come up personally in any group I am in, but from other people, if someone crossed a boundary accidentally, they would just stop the scene and tell them, and then it was fine after that. Luckily haven’t really ran across many jerks in my 9 year improv journey. Some, but they were weeded out pretty quickly.
1
u/hey_megh Mar 30 '26
Love this! Was there someone who was making sure those conversations happened or was it a group effort? How were boundaries presented in terms of language?
2
u/ekuadam Mar 30 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
Our coach/teacher brought it up before beginning practice the first time.
Basically just asked us to say our names, pronouns, how long we have been performing and any boundaries we may have (basically are you fine with bad language, if we are fine being touched does thst mean just a hug, handshake, are you fine being picked up, any content that is off limits,etc). Any of the trans/non binary performers I have performed with made it clear on day 1 which pronouns they are fine with. Some have said they don’t like being assigned traditional gender role all the time (a female presenting non binary performer I have worked with have said that they don’t mind being given feminine name or “role” but don’t give it to them all the time).
one group my coach coaches has a person who is religious and isn’t comfortable with any religious stuff/jokes in their set and people in that group are fine with it. A dramatic group she coaches, someone mentioned they don’t like talk of self harm, an everyone was fine with it
2
u/hey_megh Mar 31 '26
That sounds like such a supportive environment! And safe enough for your performers to offer those boundaries. Good on your coach for giving you the blueprint, those are all great areas to clarify!
5
u/aSingleHelix Mar 31 '26
Teams I perform with have explicit boundary conversations early, and then check in before every show in case someone's in a different place that day.
One tool that has worked well is to use an invitation code word, e.g. "amore" to invite (but not demand) specific intimate moves - "hey, you're invited to kiss me" without the audience knowing that a negotiation is happening
3
5
u/-Lelda- Mar 31 '26
I developed a workshop on boundaries that I’ve taught a number of times in London at my theatre Blanche Improv. The feedback I consistently hear after the workshop is that people find it really empowering to say ‘No’, and helpful having skills to keep playing after saying or hearing ‘No’. The other main skill we practise is using dialogue to ask for consent. In theory it sounds like it would hold up a scene, but in practise, it works really well. I also love that we are showing people that asking for consent is normal and can be fun.
Part of what we’ve learned as a community is that receiving a ‘No’ can be as challenging as giving the ‘No’, but when we are all communicating clearly and with good intention, everyone feels more comfortable and therefore courageous.
The general standards we uphold are:
- No touching in jams or classes, just find a different way to express your idea
- Teams are allowed to touch but with clearly defined boundaries, we follow this process:
- When a team forms, the coach facilitates a check in where players are asked to close their eyes and put up their hands in answer to the question: “Are you okay with physical touch with clear boundaries. Hands up for yes.” When all players consent to touch, we are a ‘Touching team’, if not everyone consents, we are a ‘No touching team’. We’ve found that if there is a mix, people get confused and stressed out. So it’s easiest to either be touching or no touching. If new players join, or at the request of players, we redo this check in.
- For touching teams we are strictly ‘No touching bathing suit areas’. People then share any other specific touch boundaries they have.
- During shows, people touch according to one another’s boundaries and for ‘riskier’ touch or with people who consent to touch but are more sensitive to it, we use dialogue to ask for consent in the moment.
- From there, the team’s coach is responsible for upholding the boundaries. It’s also clearly communicated that consent can be withdrawn at any point. We have various ways to share feedback, including an anonymous feedback link, so if people want to report anything, they can easily do that without disclosing their identity.
Everyone in the community understands these standards, and people new to the community are given the chance to learn them.
5
u/GorgonzolaWarbringer Mar 31 '26
I’ve had a couple of situations where someone did/said something to me in a scene, and I didn’t really process that it bothered me until much later. I think I tend to be the kind of person who reacts to “are you okay with _” kinds of questions with, “oh sure, that’s fine, no worries, I’m chill,” as a reflex when in reality I’m not okay with whatever it is, but I didn’t ask myself in that moment whether or not I was actually okay, and don’t notice it until the aftermath kind of festers, at which point I feel weird (even if I’m confident no harm was intended) saying, “hey remember that little thing you did months ago? No? Well it really bothered me but I didn’t realize that until now because I’m a dumb dramatic idiot baby!”
I don’t really know how to better prevent things like this, but my point is that sometimes if you ask people, “are you okay with this?” Or “what are your boundaries?” There may be people who automatically consent to things they wouldn’t like without realizing in the moment that maybe they’d be better off avoiding certain things.
4
3
u/hey_megh Apr 01 '26
Bingo. It's exactly these kinds of situations that need addressing! I've been really glad to hear in this post that many feel comfortable labeling their boundaries, but sometimes if you're not given examples of what boundaries can be, it's hard to come up with them on the spot when asked. This is why I think boundaries should be revisited REGULARLY, and with an understanding that this is prevention of those moments. If someone's judging you for having a boundary or revoking something you may have said you were okay with earlier, that's probably a sign that person isn't safe to play with!
3
u/brenobah Mar 31 '26
My go to rule is “your “character” saying no is still a “yes, and”.
2
u/johnnyslick Seattle Mar 31 '26
OK but beyond that no improv rule is hard and fast and that includes yes and. If you’re endowed as a stripper you are perfectly within your rights as a performer and a person to say “no, I am not a stripper”. No justification is needed, no “I’m saying no but I’m still living in a universe where being called a stripper makes sense”. If you’re not comfortable playing a stripper, you don’t have to play one, period (and frankly it’s a shitty endowment, pretty much exactly what we used to call “pimping”).
I saw a Second City Conservatory audition once where the initiation was actually “hi dad, I found this KKK registration form in your desk”. At the time I knew it was an unbelievably bad initiation and I’m glad I was not the initiate-ee (and the fact that it’s still in my brain years later means it was baaaaaad). In retrospect, I think one of the judges should have waved it off immediately and had the initiator try something else. That’s a spot where I know I’d feel very pressured not to exert my human right to not play a racist dickbag (and yes, I know there are ways you could navigate out of that but… why?).
3
u/jubileeandrews Mar 31 '26
It's tough though, isn't it- if you're treating teammates as geniuses and trying not to crash the show's vibe, I would far rather navigate out of these (a stripper who only takes off fastenings like unpicking buttons and zips, really fucking slowly, and the oblivious dad who just saw the pamphlet and thought it was a new Krispy Kreme publicity stunt). Personally I take a bit of joy in wriggling out of things in character, and more so than things like 'you know a song about this, don't you'? 🙄
2
u/johnnyslick Seattle Mar 31 '26
Yes, it’s 100% tough, and if you don’t want to disrupt the flow of the show or what have you then I support that decision as well. I just want to make it clear that everyone does have that ability and that right. Onstage it’s probably too late to do much about it (I guess tbf I’ve just out and called a scene partner racist in a scene lol) but if this shit goes on in practice, your coach ought to be stepping in and saying “guys, why strippers?”. At the very least, I think one should see playing along as a favor - you could,d have blown up the scene but / negated but you chose not to - and go from there.
Again, unless you all have an agreement that stripping is not off limits. Maybe y’all are former sex workers and have stories to tell. I’ve never been in a group like that since I don’t have that history so I’m not going to judge. And I also want to be super clear that the asshole in this situation is not the person who chooses not to go along with the gross (at least in most contexts) suggestion but the person who made it in the first place. There are just too, too many cases in this craft of people going after the person who objected to this crap - which, too often, is a woman - and not the instigator - who, let’s be honest, is usually a guy.
3
u/ApprehensiveFish678 Mar 31 '26
When working with strangers at a what we call an open rehearsal, we do a round of “zones”. Each person states their red (no) yellow (caution) and green (go for it) zones. I personally I normally just state my red zones, and my yellow (you can touch my wheelchair, but please don’t move it.)
1
u/hey_megh Mar 31 '26
Woohoo! Love that you have that built into your open rehearsals. Do you mind if I ask how you came to the boundary regarding your wheelchair? Has someone ever moved it onstage?
3
u/ApprehensiveFish678 Mar 31 '26
A lot of people don’t understand that a wheelchair is a bodily extension, and if you wouldn’t push someone standing next to you, you should not push someone in a wheelchair without their permission. I don’t want to be in an awkward situation mid scene, so I just set the boundary up front.
1
1
u/glorious_purpose51 Apr 02 '26
We do traffic light zones as well! An addition we made to it, which we found made people a lot more comfortable sharing their boundaries, was the option to describe it as Shrek wearing colored clothing.
So if someone was only comfortable with someone touching their arms and wanted caution on their head, they might say 'I'm Shrek wearing a red sleeveless floor length dress and a yellow hat!'. Our most common description is Shrek in a red bikini. This also helps other improvisers to remember each others' zones. Of course, there's always the option to just point at body parts if they find it easier.
3
u/RealisticRun5486 Mar 31 '26
Before every show we run a circle of consent and remind ourselves of the 80/20 rule : for anything that could cross a physical boundary, the initiator does the first 80% of the move, the receiver finishes the last 20% if they consent.
1
1
u/roninmbattousai Apr 01 '26
When running this concept, did you ever have a specific practice that would be done to help people also be lead to understanding this. Conceptually i think it is obvious to those who think of consent and personal safety, but more of a "how do you spend a short exercise to both understand the initiating concept and provide the consent"?
I think there are some players that are very obvious in things like making clear statements to lead into it, but then there are physical actions that can be initiated without it, so just looking for a good training tool to help re-focus common offenders (that might also mean well and be controlled in lets say sexual situations, but when it comes to physical movement are less aware)?
3
u/tm_tv_voice Mar 31 '26
We do narrative improv, so for us the big question was "who's comfortable kissing on stage if it comes up?" So we had a conversation about physical boundaries in rehearsal and revisit it every few months, and sometimes people might speak up during the pre-show check-in and let us know if something has changed for them that night. Could be anything from "I have a cold, so if I'm in a romance sub-plot today, don't kiss me," to "I just got my flu shot and my arm hurts, please don't whack it."
2
u/hey_megh Mar 31 '26
Yes! Regular communication is so important -- and those conditions you mentioned are so common and valid!! I'm curious: how does your audience react when there are kisses in your sets? I do find there's often a flurry of audience activity haha
2
u/tm_tv_voice Apr 01 '26
They lose their minds! I don't think people are expecting it from improv, so when it happens, they freak out :D
3
u/jefusan Mar 31 '26
These discussions have become pretty widespread in the NYC improv community.
1
u/hey_megh Mar 31 '26
I am so glad to hear that!! Could you give me an example?
2
u/jefusan Mar 31 '26
At many jams, or when new teams start, from smaller indie venues to some of the main theaters to touring companies (in my experience), we often go around the circle to talk about what kind of humor and what kind of touching (if any) are OK for each of us. We talk about what makes us uncomfortable. And if we remember to, when we check in even with our established teams, we let each other know where we might be hurting, or any new boundaries. I don't go to that many jams, but most of the ones I've been to have pretty firm rules about what is not OK on stage.
2
u/_AmericasSweetheart_ Mar 30 '26
I wish there was always a quick run down of everyone's boundaries before a jam. The general rule of thumb is no bathing suit areas.
2
u/hey_megh Mar 30 '26
I agree! A simple overview of consent and boundaries helps everyone. Setting a clear general boundary for strangers and acquaintances, especially those new to improv, is a great tool.
2
u/ThyDoctor Mar 30 '26
I've traveled around to a ton of improv theaters and troupes and everyone does a check in before we start playing.
On top of that - If I'm going to do something risky on stage I'll ask for consent in character on stage. Gives them an avenue to say no there also.
Also I'm gonna ramble but like.... I'd say like 75% of the things that are going to cross the boundaries or consent could probably just not be done on stage.
1
u/hey_megh Mar 30 '26
Ahh I love this! Giving consent or setting a boundary in character is a fantastic tip on how to prevent uncomfortable situations!
Regarding your ramble, personally I've done some specific forms like improvised play/movie that have aspects of romantic story lines. Sometimes improvisers can get caught in not knowing how to portray that without putting faces together. Would be great to be able to figure out beforehand how to handle that, or talk about what improv kissing on your team looks like.
2
u/Lost_In_Play Mar 31 '26
It sound silly but we say, 'don't touch the squishy parts'. But even then you can usually do what's needed without any touch.
1
2
u/improbsable Mar 31 '26
We do a safety check before a show. Everyone says any emotional or physical boundaries they have
2
u/EvilHRLady Mar 31 '26
With my classes, I establish that they do not know each other well enough to do any physical contact other than tapping on the shoulders and arms. Romance is conveyed by holding hands.
With my performance team, we're really open about who will kiss and who will not. I'm okay with one of my female cast members grabbing my behind, but not with the men doing the same.
The "no-no square" is out of bounds in both classes and performances, but the performance team will hug.
It's all about communication.
2
3
u/Sea_Witch7777 Mar 31 '26
Love this, based on my own bad experiences in improv, I created a workshop framework too. It's more about teaching boundaries through improv vs training improvisers to play nice, but it's all necessary when the "yes and" mandate so closely mirrors societal pressure IRL
1
u/Tidec Mar 31 '26
- Before shows we go around in a circle and mention physical boundaries, any minor injuries we want others to be careful with, subjects we do not want to be involved with (but it's fine if others do it in their scene), and subjects we think should not be present at all in the show. With a small team preparing for a show you can easily do that, for a regular training with a bigger amount of people this is much harder.
- For jams we have some designated 'for me everything is fine' volunteers, who are ok with playing with whoever shows up and know they can handle weird situations. If someone else find themself in pair with someone they are not familiar with and are not comfortable playing with, they can ask to be replaced by one of the designated volunteers. Or if the MC sees some alarming body language they can perform such a replacement too.
- We had some questionable moments during jams, with outsiders who had limited improv experience, and/or who had a bit too much alcohol. At that moment we sadly handled it too little and too late, leading to the rule mentioned above. Since then, no such problems any more.
- Yes, it's a regular improv subject that sometimes is the focus of a workshop by one of our own coaches. It's basically going over a list of situations to avoid, and how to notice them, how to handle them. A general lesson is that it's always ok to just end a scene if you don't like what is happening to you, which can sometimes be surprise to new students. So just informing them about this already helps a bit. One such workshop came right after a workshop about stage fighting, which also has a bunch of rules on how to handle potential dangerous situations. And it happened to be a good segway into the rules of consent and boundaries. Somehow people were more receptive to learn about boundaries regarding bodily autonomy, if they first learned how to 'hit' someone in a non-dangerous way.
1
u/Gullible_Path9739 Apr 01 '26
My house team had a permissions discussion at our first practice where we said what we were and were not OK with w/r/t touch, and any issues other people had with physicality (one of our players has joint issues so no arms raised above the head, another can't kneel comfortably etc)
60
u/machiavellicopter Mar 30 '26
We simply go around the circle and state our boundaries to the group before every performance. Thankfully, overstepping has never been an issue with any established group I've performed with.
My experience is that if someone wants to attempt something "risky" onstage, they wait for the other's permission through receptive body language. If there's any hesitation, they make a different choice.