Sunday Pick: Why you should try improv comedy (w/ Rick Andrews) | How to Be a Better Human

**Elise Hu** (0:04)
Happy Sunday, y'all, Elise Hu here. Today, we're bringing you a Sunday pick where we share an episode of another podcast from TED, handpicked by us for you.
What do radio personality Ira Glass, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and TED podcast host Chris Duffy have in common?
They all have practiced an unexpected skill that makes them more human, improv comedy. And they all learned it from master improv teacher, Rick Andrews. On this episode of How to Be a Better Human, Rick joins host Chris to discuss the life lessons they learned from giving up control and practicing how to yes and in conversations. They also modeled improv games such as Alibi, Seven Things, Fortunately and Unfortunately, and more. So you can sprinkle in some improvisational silliness to build better communication and trust in your work and personal life. How to Be a Better Human looks in unexpected places for new ways to improve and show up for one another. If you want to hear more insights like this, listen to How to Be a Better Human wherever you get your podcasts. Learn all about Ted's podcasts at podcasts.ted.com.

**Chris Duffy** (1:18)
This is How to Be a Better Human. I'm your host, Chris Duffy, and one of my favorite things in the entire world is improv comedy. I know that is very much not cool and hip to say that one of my favorite things in the entire universe is adults playing make believe together, but it is true. I absolutely love it. And I think that one of the things that I love the most about it, whether it's watching it or performing it myself, is that good improv skills, in my opinion, are the same as good people skills. How do you listen really closely? How do you make other people look good? How do you deal with unexpected situations? How do you remember something that is fun and playful and bring it back later on? They're all skills that are kind of basic to improv, but they're also skills that make people the kinds of people that I want to spend time with, the kinds of people that I want to be around. And today's guest, Rick Andrews, is an incredible improviser. He is very much someone who I want to spend time with. But more than just being a great performer, Rick is an amazing teacher. He has been teaching for years. He's taught so, so, so many people. And what he's learned is that we can all get better at playing, at improvising and making our lives funnier, more exciting and more of an all around good time.
We're going to talk so much more about how to do that. But first, we're going to take a quick break for a few words from our sponsors.
And we are back. Today, we are talking about improv with Rick Andrews.

**Rick Andrews** (2:54)
Hi, my name is Rick Andrews. I teach and perform improvisation.

**Chris Duffy** (2:58)
So Rick, you've been performing and teaching for a really long time, and I have been a fan of your work for a really long time. From the first time I saw you and every time I see you, I'm always struck by what a talented performer you are.
But I also am struck by the fact that your real passion, I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, isn't actually about being on stage and getting the attention for yourself. It's really about teaching and sharing improvisation with others.

**Rick Andrews** (3:23)
Yeah, I really enjoy performing and I find that very satisfying but it feels like a sugar rush a little bit, that kind of fades quickly.
And I feel like teaching and watching people get excited and fall in love with something that you are excited about feels really meaningful in a nice way. And part of what is nice about improv is that, I don't know, it's not just about being funny. So I think if it was just kind of like, I'll teach you how to be funny, I don't know that I would feel deeply passionate about. I think it's more about the sense of presence and creativity and being playful and being less self-judgmental. I think a lot of those are things that help people not freak out all day long. It certainly helped me that way. So it feels like there's something meaningful that's being delivered in the, almost by accident, in the act of learning how to improvise.

**Chris Duffy** (4:12)
Well, so for people who don't, aren't already familiar with your work, I mean, you're too humble to fully brag for yourself, but I will just say from my perspective, you are truly regarded as one of the single greatest improv teachers in the world. And you have taught everyone from, you've taught children, you've taught senior citizens, you've taught people in big corporations, you've taught Ira Glass from This American Life, you've taught Zohran Mamdani, the mayor of New York before he was the mayor. So you've really like taught this huge range of people and over many, many years.