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.

What we're talking about today is edit moves, with focus on the speed of those edit moves and what it might have to do with your neurotype (ALL neurotypes. This means YOU.) That once you are confident and comfortable editing, and the form and style support it, edit moves can be dictated both by how you process information (bottom-up or top-down thinking), and preference.

They are different ways of editing. You might do both, and they’re both valid - what’s your default? What’s YOUR preference? Does it matter?

Let’s get niche. Go listen.

This Podcast & Links

This podcast is hosted by me, Jen deHaan, of FlatImprov.com. You can submit your questions, comments, or even a voice note. Find the contact form for this podcast at FlatImprov.com/substack.

You can also subscribe to it where you get your podcasts - Apple, Spotify, Overcast, etc.

PLUGS: I have online improv classes starting in February at World’s Greatest Improv School (WGIS) that involves character stuff and a new form.

The Characters Only class covers character POV. Get drills in adding your character’s philosophy effectively in scenes.

And just announced a new class and show series where a new form will be introduced where you get to improvise a Morning Show! Focus in this series will be on character development, slick edit moves, and practicing in a new online show streaming format. Let’s get creative, experimental, and try new things!

THANKS FOR LISTENING IMPROV NERD FRIENDS!

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:: 00:16

Welcome to the Neurodiversity and Improv Podcast from Flat Improv.

:: 00:21

I'm Jen deHaan.

:: 00:23

And these podcasts, guess what?

:: 00:26

They aren't for telling anyone what to do.

:: 00:28

I'm not telling you what to do.

:: 00:29

I am just talking about my experience and what I happen to know, I guess, about improv.

:: 00:35

These are explanations to help encourage classes and teams to be more inclusive and to help you process the notes that you get in new ways.

:: 00:47

These aren't excuses.

:: 00:48

We're all going to do the work.

:: 00:50

We are doing the work.

:: 00:51

Don't use these episodes to diagnose yourself and especially not anyone else.

:: 00:56

But if you notice that, hey, I happen to identify with a lot of these things myself.

:: 01:02

I do encourage you to explore that a bit with someone else who knows a lot about neurodivergence, a lot more than me.

:: 01:09

These episodes are at their core about what we think and do in Improv.

:: 01:16

In a cognitive sense, basically we're just Improv nerds being great big Improv nerds.

:: 01:22

So this episode is about editing and speed.

:: 01:26

It was inspired by a discussion I had with another improviser about fast and slow edit moves.

:: 01:33

The answer I gave them was a bit of a highly opinionated monologue and I was told by them that I should turn that monologue into a podcast.

:: 01:43

So here we are.

:: 01:45

And what we're talking about today is those edit moves with a focus, of course, as I just said, on the speed of those edit moves and what it might have to do with your neuro type.

:: 01:55

Whether your preference is for fast edit moves or slower ones, perhaps more calculated moves.

:: 02:02

And I mentioned this concept briefly in an earlier episode, but this one we'll use to discuss in a lot more detail.

:: 02:11

So what are edit moves?

:: 02:13

What are we talking about here?

:: 02:14

We're talking about tags, sweeps, walk-ons and cut-toos.

:: 02:19

A fast edit move can be one that comes, say, earlier on in a scene or a set, or you might have a bunch of shorter scenes from, say, faster tags in a set.

:: 02:31

It can affect the overall pace and energy of the show.

:: 02:35

You might have fast game-style tag runs off a premise, and this would be very different than, say, slower, more exploratory, organic scenes off a suggestion, and maybe a tag comes later on.

:: 02:48

That initial part, that initial exploration takes a long time before you get to, say, a walk-on.

:: 02:56

These are just some of the options here.

:: 02:58

There are many more ways to have fast and slow edit moves and fast and slow improv.

:: 03:05

Now, is a particular speed of edit move inherently right or wrong?

:: 03:10

No, of course not.

:: 03:12

At least not in improv at a very high level.

:: 03:15

There might be a right or a wrong speed, however, for a very particular form or a play style choice of the team.

:: 03:25

And again, that form might dictate a faster or slower way of play or the style of the theater that you're at.

:: 03:33

It may have a faster or slower style that's inherent to that theater and that is all okay.

:: 03:41

Now, it's very important for this particular episode.

:: 03:45

We are going to assume that no one in this discussion is making slower moves due to a lack of experience, a lack of understanding or something like having a bad day.

:: 03:57

We all have a bad day.

:: 03:59

So everyone in this episode, in this discussion, is proficient in these examples.

:: 04:06

So yes, you can be slower if you're still learning or you don't have confidence built up yet because you just don't have enough reps.

:: 04:14

But for the sake of this discussion, everyone has learnt already and is confident enough.

:: 04:20

After you understand and gain comfort and confidence in editing, it truly comes down to what your preferences and strengths are, which can relate to your neurotype and style of processing.

:: 04:34

How you're processing, like how you're thinking, what you're processing, is it say, ploddy or game moves, and whether or not you're a top-down or bottom-up thinker among other things, which we'll talk about a little bit more soon, and I've also discussed in earlier episodes.

:: 04:53

But these neurotype, these ways of thinking and processing most likely play into edit moves in some way, especially in a long-form set.

:: 05:04

So let's talk about this a little bit more.

:: 05:07

So the improviser I was talking to was told that they edited too slow by another person on their improv team.

:: 05:16

They were told that they should be faster.

:: 05:19

Their comment, as it was explained to me, had nothing to do with that person, that improviser's experience or confidence, as they had a lot of both of those things.

:: 05:31

Again, this part is very important.

:: 05:35

They had the experience, they had the confidence, they just happened to be a slower editor.

:: 05:42

And I want to make it clear before we move on that it's totally okay to take your time on edits if you're learning.

:: 05:50

You have to learn somehow, you have to get those reps.

:: 05:54

So, it's totally fine to be a slower editor as you're learning how to do improv.

:: 05:59

There's nothing wrong with this either.

:: 06:02

It's just a different discussion than the one we're having today.

:: 06:05

So, why do improvisers play faster or slower?

:: 06:10

Let's talk about some of those reasons.

:: 06:14

So, the first of the reasons is top down and bottom up processing, or top down and bottom up thinking.

:: 06:23

I talked a lot about this in episodes 3 and 4 of this podcast.

:: 06:27

So, you might want to go back and listen to those.

:: 06:29

I go into a lot of detail about what that type of thinking means.

:: 06:35

So, in a nutshell, top down thinking is when you are using your past experiences to get the gist about some sort of new information that you're encountering.

:: 06:48

Say what's happening in a scene.

:: 06:51

So, you would be watching that scene.

:: 06:52

You would sort of get the gist based on your lived past experience.

:: 06:57

You would get a gist and then you would make that kind of hypothesis, that assumption about what's going on, and then you would fill in the details.

:: 07:05

If you're a bottom up thinker, you are looking at all the details first before coming to a hypothesis.

:: 07:13

So, you would be information, data gathering, and then you would put it all together, make your hypothesis, and then you would be making a move.

:: 07:21

If you're top down, you might be making a move, and then kind of fill in those details afterwards.

:: 07:26

So, it's two very different ways of thinking, and it very likely affects how you do improv.

:: 07:33

Now, if you're on the back line, and you're kind of in the flow and listening, and you're not really thinking, but you might kind of be grabbing at things and kind of have some ideas.

:: 07:44

You're not in your head.

:: 07:48

You're possibly just waiting for that moment when the right connection, the right idea just pops in, and then you step out.

:: 07:55

And you might, because you're not really in your head, you're not adjusting the way you're thinking, you might not have much of a choice about when that happens.

:: 08:05

So this might be your most natural timing.

:: 08:08

If you are not in your head, you're not really thinking, you're probably using your default way of thinking.

:: 08:15

That's your default wiring in your head, top-down thinking, or bottom-up thinking.

:: 08:21

This is probably your most natural timing for edits.

:: 08:25

This is your default mode.

:: 08:28

And as we discussed in the episodes three and four, top-down thinking, a little bit faster, right?

:: 08:34

You're getting that gist first.

:: 08:36

You might be just have the gist and step out.

:: 08:38

If you're a bottom-up thinker, you might be gathering more details before you step out.

:: 08:43

And those are different types of edits.

:: 08:46

If you are a bottom-up thinker like I am, you might have more details from across a set or across the scene.

:: 08:53

So you might have made some of those connections because you've got more details before you're stepping out.

:: 08:59

It's slower, but you might be doing more connection-based editing.

:: 09:03

That's something that you're adding to the team that's different than a top-down thinker.

:: 09:06

So these are both valid ways of editing, different ways of editing.

:: 09:11

And if you're just in the flow, it's going to be at a different time quite possibly.

:: 09:17

Doesn't mean that you can't do the other one, as I discussed in the other episodes.

:: 09:21

If you're a bottom-up thinker, you can still do top-down thinking.

:: 09:25

It's just not your natural way of thinking.

:: 09:28

It's not your automated default way of thinking.

:: 09:30

You could still do it, but it's just different.

:: 09:33

And it might put you a little bit more in your head if you're not doing your natural way of thinking.

:: 09:39

Now, I don't know for sure how it works for other people cognitively because I only have my lived experience as a bottom-up thinker.

:: 09:49

This is just my experience and what I happen to know.

:: 09:53

So your mileage might vary on all of what I'm saying.

:: 09:58

It's really in this whole freaking podcast series.

:: 10:01

All right.

:: 10:01

So another reason, preference, right?

:: 10:05

You might just have a preference.

:: 10:07

I like editing faster.

:: 10:09

I like editing slower.

:: 10:11

I like slow play.

:: 10:12

I like fast play.

:: 10:13

I like to explore.

:: 10:14

I like organic.

:: 10:15

I like premise.

:: 10:17

You can have preferences on all areas of improv and both because all of these preferences are okay and valid play styles and valid ways of doing improv.

:: 10:29

It's fine.

:: 10:30

There's nothing wrong with them.

:: 10:32

And you might do both.

:: 10:33

Hey, you might prefer both depending on where you are or who you're with or what kind of form you're doing.

:: 10:42

This is all very common as far as I understand.

:: 10:46

And again, even if you have a particular neuro type, it doesn't mean that you can only do one thing or the other.

:: 10:54

This is really about the style of play, yours in general, and also that of the team and that of the form or the theater or the type of improv that you're doing.

:: 11:04

You might be fast in scenes and a slow editor.

:: 11:08

I love, love fast dialogue cadence, for example, but I like to wait for the right edit move and it comes off as slow.

:: 11:17

I reckon.

:: 11:18

I'm pretty sure it does.

:: 11:19

For preferences, drastically prefer being just called into a scene instead of making edit moves.

:: 11:26

For example, I can go fast with edits and sometimes I do.

:: 11:29

Again, there are exceptions and differences depending on the day, the form, the people you're with, the adrenaline kicking in, whatever.

:: 11:37

This is an art and craft and we don't need to get too stuck on one way.

:: 11:43

And the last reason or the last thing that I'll mention in this section is that there are pros and cons of both things.

:: 11:51

Like I touched on earlier, slower thinking means perhaps more connections, more callbacks.

:: 11:57

Faster thinking means there aren't as many pauses and there's energy and it keeps things rolling.

:: 12:02

So there's pros and cons of both and in many forms, you want both types of players in that set.

:: 12:10

So let's talk a little bit about editing beyond the speed element.

:: 12:15

Now this might have to do with neurotype processing as well, top down and bottom up.

:: 12:20

But when you have the experience and the confidence to do either fast or slow, editing itself can come down to what your particular personal preference is.

:: 12:32

This might be your own perceived strengths when you have an option for either fast or slow on a team and that team accepts and needs mixed strengths.

:: 12:43

So in this case, you can play to your own particular strength.

:: 12:49

A good team often has both types of players on it.

:: 12:52

You might like to play scenes fast, like you might like fast dialogue or fast moves within the scene.

:: 12:59

You might get really into that character and you're just thinking of that character, and that can be fast or slow depending on the character you are taking on.

:: 13:07

And despite that, you might like to edit slow or vice versa.

:: 13:11

These things are different.

:: 13:13

They can also be affected greatly by who you're with, what night it is, what's going on, and so much more.

:: 13:18

Now, beyond speed, again, there's the preference of just not wanting to edit.

:: 13:24

I like to get really into a character where I'm just thinking as the character.

:: 13:32

It's just the way I happen to play.

:: 13:35

It's not really a controllable thing.

:: 13:37

So as such, stopping or thinking about edits from inside the scene is not something I like to do.

:: 13:44

And I will even find myself sometimes thinking a bit as the character if I know that I have to come back as that character later on.

:: 13:52

So my personal preference is often to be edited by others.

:: 13:57

And that's OK.

:: 13:58

I have heard of veteran improvisers, ones that I have on pedestals who do not like editing, which makes me feel a little bit better about not liking to edit either.

:: 14:10

For me, an edit that I like to do.

:: 14:14

When I was in school, it's kind of the class clown thing where you just have the thing and you like to blurt it out.

:: 14:20

That's how I like to think about edits I like to make.

:: 14:23

They're just the edits that just appear and I have to do them, right?

:: 14:26

Like it's just that instantaneous kind of like blurt.

:: 14:30

I need to blurt out that thing.

:: 14:31

It's really when you make a faux pas like in a social situation and you just say something, you're like, oh, I want to take that back.

:: 14:38

Like you can see it in front of your mouth and you're like, oh, I wish I could pull that back into my mouth.

:: 14:42

That's the kind of edit I like to do.

:: 14:44

It's just, it's there.

:: 14:45

It has to happen.

:: 14:46

But you have to wait for that.

:: 14:48

It's just going to happen.

:: 14:48

You can't time it.

:: 14:49

It's like it's, it's, I'm not thinking about is my editing fast or slow.

:: 14:53

I just do it when it happens.

:: 14:56

That's my preference.

:: 14:57

It's not always going to work and I'm going to have to play against it a lot of times.

:: 15:01

And I will and I do.

:: 15:04

But if I had a choice, if I was on a team that that's like, hey, that that's bringing something good to the team.

:: 15:11

That's what I'd want to do.

:: 15:12

The other element, I think that has to do with neurodivergence and preferences.

:: 15:18

It's something I heard.

:: 15:19

I don't have science behind it, but it's something that I've been around anecdotally.

:: 15:23

And that is that people of my neurotype often like going last or like being called on.

:: 15:31

It's something I heard in a autistic online gathering of all of you probably want to go last.

:: 15:36

And I was like, oh, is that a thing of us?

:: 15:39

And I didn't even know.

:: 15:40

So maybe it's a thing, but it's absolutely something I've always experienced my entire life is just wanting to be called on.

:: 15:48

I don't want to raise my hand and volunteer.

:: 15:51

It's not not wanting to volunteer.

:: 15:53

I've been a volunteer all my life, but I mean, in a group setting, I don't like to raise my hand and volunteer.

:: 16:00

Maybe it's something about not wanting to call attention to yourself, which again, as a performer and any of you know me, that doesn't sound like me, but that is me in a group setting.

:: 16:11

So it might have something to do with preferences and editing.

:: 16:14

I don't know.

:: 16:15

If you identify with it, great.

:: 16:17

Maybe it's a thing.

:: 16:19

Let me know.

:: 16:19

Comment.

:: 16:21

Message me.

:: 16:22

Let me know.

:: 16:23

Is this a thing?

:: 16:24

And the other thing that can be true is we can play in a certain way that might not be our default way.

:: 16:32

It might even be something that we don't like, but in a certain scenario, we do like it and do have fun.

:: 16:41

So maybe it's like, hey, I almost always hate doing accents.

:: 16:46

But if this certain condition is true, I actually really like doing an accent.

:: 16:51

So even though I've stood here and said, hey, I don't generally prefer doing fast edits, I've had some sets where I've done really fast edits and had a hell load of fun, right?

:: 17:04

A ton of fun.

:: 17:05

So there are scenarios in place sometimes where you can have fun doing something you generally don't prefer.

:: 17:14

So on that note, just try things.

:: 17:17

Try a lot of things.

:: 17:18

Try the things that make you uncomfortable.

:: 17:20

Try the things that you don't like.

:: 17:22

And sometimes you'll have fun and then make note of what that is and try to figure out why.

:: 17:29

Why in this case did I really like it?

:: 17:32

And see if you can figure something out about the way that you particularly do improv.

:: 17:38

And I think that's really what's quite key here.

:: 17:40

Your brain might handle both things.

:: 17:43

It might handle other things in certain scenarios for certain reasons.

:: 17:47

So figure out what's going on cognitively and you might better understand what your preferences and strengths are.

:: 17:55

And that's really good for doing good improv.

:: 17:57

So before I go into recommendations and why some of the stuff that my improviser friend experienced why that was a problem.

:: 18:07

Before I go into that, I'm going to go specifically into my neuro type of a bottom up thinker and editing and editing speed.

:: 18:15

So as I discussed, I'm a bottom up thinker, bottom up processor.

:: 18:20

That means I'm looking at specifics, details, before I make moves generally.

:: 18:26

Or I'm just letting them filter in.

:: 18:28

So how does that work?

:: 18:30

Am I standing there thinking and analyzing on the back line?

:: 18:33

Hopefully not.

:: 18:34

But I'm listening hard.

:: 18:36

I'm paying attention.

:: 18:37

I might be kind of experiencing it as my character.

:: 18:41

If I have to go back in as that same character, I'm not really in my head, but I'm absorbing all those details as I naturally would as a bottom up thinker, because that's the most efficient for me.

:: 18:55

It's the way that I think in everyday life.

:: 18:58

I'm not changing.

:: 18:59

I'm not working to adjust the way I think.

:: 19:01

So this is the most efficient way for me to listen to scenes and listen to the set.

:: 19:08

So what's typical for me is I just wait for the idea to arrive and then I would step out.

:: 19:15

My brain seems to naturally kind of hold some backup items.

:: 19:19

Like these are kind of single details or details that might kind of go with other details.

:: 19:27

I might use those if I really need to.

:: 19:29

If the set really needs something like this scene has definitely gone on too long and needs to end.

:: 19:36

I'll sense that and I might do something and it might not be that great, but it's there.

:: 19:42

I'm also not afraid of just stepping out with nothing, which sounds kind of odd as someone who's really bottom up thinker type.

:: 19:51

I'm always still looking for that idea that connects well.

:: 19:56

That good idea to walk out on and that's going to take longer, but it's going to just pop in and be there and then I step out and do it.

:: 20:03

So that's sort of my default mode as a bottom up thinker editing.

:: 20:08

And the reason that it's a preference for me as a bottom up thinker, is that it just gives me the most joy in Improv, which sounds really nebulous, but it's what I love.

:: 20:19

It's what my head by default does, right?

:: 20:22

And so why not capitalize on that for the team too, right?

:: 20:27

Like it's capitalizing on it for myself because I know that's the way my head works.

:: 20:33

It gives me the most joy and satisfaction doing this thing that we love.

:: 20:37

So why would you not have that as your preference?

:: 20:39

It just is.

:: 20:41

So why not do it if you can?

:: 20:44

That's why I think it's really important to really know that about yourself, know that it's a preference and be able to speak to it if it comes up like it might when you're on a team making decisions or justifying yourself, if you see to get into some sort of situation where you do understanding how you think, understanding what you bring to the team, understanding what you like the most is really good.

:: 21:10

So I do recommend thinking about this, thinking about how you are processing scenes and think about how you prefer to play is very important.

:: 21:21

It's also true that as a bottom up processor in life, in addition to improv, I just love watching, I love observing, I love listening, I love making judgments.

:: 21:33

That's just the things that my head naturally does.

:: 21:37

I love waiting for that idea to just kind of come.

:: 21:41

I love playing to patterns and connections as an autistic person.

:: 21:45

I love making things fit together great.

:: 21:49

I love kind of just having that connected thing just appear and then be able to use it.

:: 21:55

That's just something I enjoy as part of this craft, this art form, and it's fun.

:: 22:00

So that's why I do it that way.

:: 22:02

And doing it that way, again, what I'm doing is not better.

:: 22:06

It's not right, it's not wrong, and it's not better.

:: 22:10

Other people are going to be faster players, and that is also needed.

:: 22:13

Faster editors, that's needed.

:: 22:16

So a form might not be able to have this type of play, or it might not need a lot of it.

:: 22:24

So we have to also take that into account.

:: 22:27

But there's other players that are fast.

:: 22:29

There's other players that have top-down thinking.

:: 22:31

There's players like me that have bottom-up thinking, and both of them can work on a team or a form that needs both types of these players.

:: 22:41

And you can probably do both.

:: 22:44

You can probably do fast edits even if you are a bottom-up thinker.

:: 22:49

So test this out.

:: 22:51

Try doing things that you aren't comfortable with, and take note of what your reaction is, what your cognitive state is when you play these ways.

:: 23:01

Notice these things and learn them about yourself.

:: 23:04

All right.

:: 23:04

So now we're going to get to the section of the podcast about why telling your teammate this kind of thing is a problem.

:: 23:12

All right.

:: 23:12

So at the beginning of the podcast, I spoke about why I am doing this episode.

:: 23:18

And that's because an improviser friend of mine was told by their teammate that they were playing too slow and they should play fast.

:: 23:25

And again, this had nothing to do with their confidence or their knowledge or ability.

:: 23:31

This was just purely play fast.

:: 23:34

Now, first of all, the reason this is a problem is teammates noting their fellow teammates in a negative, you should do this is often or maybe always a problem.

:: 23:47

You generally want to avoid telling your teammates what to do, especially when it's about improv skills.

:: 23:54

You want to avoid doing this sort of thing directly, as is what happened to my improv friend.

:: 24:00

Or indirectly, you just want to avoid it whenever you can.

:: 24:03

If you do want to make a change on the team or make like a team note, you want to make it personal to yourself as much as possible.

:: 24:12

You want to make the comment about yourself, like I really would like to try playing faster.

:: 24:18

I would like to try it for myself and to help develop my own skills.

:: 24:22

Or I want to try making faster edit moves on the team or something that's just personal.

:: 24:27

Like I want to work on this.

:: 24:29

Or you want to make it through a coach, right?

:: 24:33

Leave it to the coach, talk to the coach, have the coach make these notes.

:: 24:37

That's a safer way to do things in general.

:: 24:41

Of course, there are exceptions to this.

:: 24:43

Say your team wants to be a fast playing team.

:: 24:46

The team or the form dictates, hey, we're going to be fast players.

:: 24:51

We need fast play for this particular form to work, or we want to do high energy, fast sets as a team.

:: 24:59

All of this is fine and valid.

:: 25:00

That's a decision that you're making in a way to play as a whole, and that's fine.

:: 25:07

But also, it needs to be a team decision, or maybe the coach's decision, or the theater's decision.

:: 25:14

That's a decision for the whole team to make.

:: 25:17

It's not pointing at someone and saying, you need to play fast.

:: 25:20

It's like, we're all going to play fast because of these other external reasons.

:: 25:25

And that's fine too, but it's something where you just need to select your team for that.

:: 25:29

You need to select your players for that, or you're going to make a choice in advance and all agree that's, hey, that's the direction we all want to take.

:: 25:37

Like, I might be a slower bottom-up thinker that's used to making slower, more calculated moves of those connections and callbacks and stuff later in a set.

:: 25:46

That might be something that I prefer to do, but I might make the choice that I would love to try doing fast play with these fast players doing a form that dictates we need to all be fast.

:: 25:56

And I might have a blast doing that, but that's a group decision to make.

:: 26:01

And I also might decide, hey, that's not something I want to do right now and I leave the team or whatever.

:: 26:07

So just something to consider if you are approaching this issue with other people on your team, just take careful steps when you're having those discussions so it doesn't become, you know, a little bit of a mess.

:: 26:20

Now I've just been discussing doing fast moves.

:: 26:23

This also, of course, applies to slow play, which is, say, more exploratory.

:: 26:29

This is totally a thing as well.

:: 26:31

And it's the same discussion.

:: 26:33

It's one where you might all choose to do this, or maybe the form dictates it or the theater dictates it.

:: 26:39

And you will want to either select a team for that or just all agree that that's the direction that the team is going in.

:: 26:47

And if you're having these discussions, it's also good to think about things like experience and confidence or the neuro types.

:: 26:57

Whether or not you're a bottom up thinker, a top down thinker, whether or not you are able to do those fast moves, either through experience, confidence or your neuro type.

:: 27:08

I mean, I'm just talking from my experience.

:: 27:10

I've experienced doing slower plays, slower moves, more calculated moves and faster ones.

:: 27:17

And I know the feeling it is in both of those cases.

:: 27:20

And I have gained the knowledge that I can do fast moves.

:: 27:25

It's just not generally speaking my preference in most, but not all scenarios.

:: 27:31

So these are things to figure out first, or to figure out while you're having those discussions.

:: 27:37

And some of this figuring out might take some time.

:: 27:39

It might take more reps or maybe discussions with a coach, or taking some classes, or just working with your team.

:: 27:46

Like, I just want to try this out.

:: 27:48

I want to experience it.

:: 27:49

Can all of you help me do this?

:: 27:52

That's all valid things to do when you're sorting this out in a team environment.

:: 27:57

And if you aren't trying to do a form or a play style that is one or the other, and you are on an assembled team that is doing a general set that supports both of these play styles, you don't want to assume that somebody isn't playing fast or slow for that matter because they aren't capable of doing those things.

:: 28:20

They might be choosing to do those things because of preference or because they know they process things a certain way.

:: 28:27

They know that they bring more to a team doing fewer edit moves or later edit moves.

:: 28:33

So work with each other's strengths.

:: 28:35

Talk about these things.

:: 28:37

Telling someone, hey, play fast because it's better might not be the right thing to do to the team person.

:: 28:44

It might not behoove your team.

:: 28:46

It might not be the best way that you can all play together.

:: 28:50

So without a good reason or without thinking about these things and just pointing at someone and saying play faster, to me, that's bullcrap.

:: 29:00

And I say fork that noise.

:: 29:01

Did I just become hated?

:: 29:03

Am I getting controversial?

:: 29:04

Or are all of you gonna write comments?

:: 29:07

I'm gonna own this.

:: 29:09

All right.

:: 29:09

So I'm gonna summarize this stuff.

:: 29:12

I'm gonna make an advice section where you can take it or you can tell me to shove it.

:: 29:17

Tell me to shove it loudly in the comments, by the way.

:: 29:20

And then share this podcast and say Jen is full of crap.

:: 29:24

And I told her to shove it in a comment.

:: 29:26

And that means more people will find this.

:: 29:29

Ha ha ha anyways, test yourself if necessary.

:: 29:34

See what you're dealing with.

:: 29:36

See if it's a preference.

:: 29:38

See if it's confidence or whatever.

:: 29:40

But we're assuming that everyone knows how to do edits and they're confident doing edits.

:: 29:45

But test yourself the way that you're thinking.

:: 29:47

See if you are doing top down or bottom up processing or just what you feel.

:: 29:53

If you get a fair opportunity, emphasis on fair.

:: 29:56

Just try doing something that you maybe don't do a lot of.

:: 30:00

Or ask your team, like say, hey, I want to try doing all the edits in this particular set.

:: 30:06

Hey, let's do a four beat 15 minute Herald with an opening.

:: 30:11

And I want to do it in 15 minutes.

:: 30:14

Just try that out.

:: 30:15

Test it out.

:: 30:16

See what's up.

:: 30:17

Because sometimes it's hard to tell without actually testing something.

:: 30:21

Communication.

:: 30:22

Communication is key.

:: 30:24

Figure out what's going on with your teammates.

:: 30:27

If you are thinking, hey, I need to go tell that teammate of mine to edit faster, communicate.

:: 30:33

Just figure out what's going on first.

:: 30:35

Don't go just walk up to them and tell them, do this.

:: 30:38

Just learn from your teammates.

:: 30:41

Figure out what the issues are.

:: 30:42

Figure out what you really want as a team.

:: 30:45

Is this important?

:: 30:46

Will it be better at all?

:: 30:48

Just don't make assumptions.

:: 30:51

That's my life advice to you.

:: 30:54

Don't assume, but I'm going to make an assumption right now.

:: 30:57

Assuming you have the flexibility on your team, that you say you've chosen your team, that you have chosen the form, that you don't have anyone telling you what to do in the way of speed, just consider the form and your overall style and how you can best incorporate the different edit styles and preferences that your teammates have.

:: 31:20

If you want to be all fast or if you want to all do slower, organic, exploratory improv, think about that first and then what you want to do as a group.

:: 31:32

If some of the people in your team maybe just don't play that way, that might be the first thing to consider if you want to stay together.

:: 31:40

Maybe you need to adjust the team.

:: 31:42

Maybe you need to adjust the form.

:: 31:44

Maybe if all of your team wants to just try playing faster and do those fast, dynamic, high-energy sets, that's great.

:: 31:51

But maybe they don't.

:: 31:53

Either you have to adjust who is on the team or you have to adjust the form to fit the team.

:: 31:59

Again, assuming that you have that level of flexibility.

:: 32:03

It just doesn't make sense to try to force team members to do a style of play that they dislike or just don't prefer because it's harder to do improv when you don't like doing that.

:: 32:17

But even if, say, in a person like me that doesn't prefer to do a ton of fast edits, there might be a scenario or a form where I do have a lot of fun, personally speaking.

:: 32:30

So discuss, communicate and figure these things out.

:: 32:34

And of course, if you have a coach or a teacher, use them.

:: 32:39

Discuss these things with them as well.

:: 32:40

Bring them into the discussion and try not to give your teammates negative, commanding, demanding notes if you can at all help it.

:: 32:52

So in summary, it's really good to think about these things and think about how you process and what your preferences are to have these discussions with your team and your coaches in more efficient ways.

:: 33:04

And this will really help you make choices about what you end up doing with a team and have a lot more fun as a result.

:: 33:14

So I recommend thinking about how you process edits and the kind of edits that you like to do.

:: 33:21

We're getting to the plugs.

:: 33:23

All right, let's end this podcast.

:: 33:25

I have some online classes and I work with the World's Greatest Improv School.

:: 33:32

The school has online jams, shows and more.

:: 33:36

So check out the school at wgimprovschool.com.

:: 33:41

I have a couple classes starting in February.

:: 33:43

Both of them focus on character development.

:: 33:45

And one of them is a brand new morning show form that I've come up with that uses a really unique way of streaming an online improv show.

:: 33:55

So if you're interested in new ways of doing online improv, check out that page.

:: 34:02

It's at wgimprovschool.com/onlineclasses or weege.is, W-E-E-G dot I-S slash online.

:: 34:12

You can go check out that class and I'll also put the link in the show notes.

:: 34:16

It's called Improvised Morning Show.

:: 34:20

I also have an website called flatimprov.com and I'm starting to write some of these podcast episodes out as articles.

:: 34:27

The site has two newsletters a month.

:: 34:29

You can also feature your stuff in those newsletters as well.

:: 34:33

So submit your online Improv activities, like your podcasts at flatimprov.com/submit.

:: 34:42

And this podcast lives on Substack.

:: 34:44

As you might know, you can find more info about this podcast and contribute your questions, your content, you can get involved.

:: 34:53

You can let me know that you want to come be a guest and talk with me about Neurodiversity.

:: 34:57

You can contact me at flatimprov.com/substack.

:: 35:02

And that will also provide you a list of previous episodes, like episode three and four that had to do with top down and bottom up processing, which we talked a lot about today as well.

:: 35:13

So thank you for listening to a lot of talking from one person.

:: 35:18

It's amazing that you're still here.

:: 35:20

So thanks for listening.