And I loved it.

I find it so incredibly refreshing to hear people being honest and saying I can’t give everything right now but I’m still showing up.

Sometimes I worry that improv can feel a bit like sports. We expect ourselves to turn up and bring our best in every class and in every scene. To constantly be pumping out interesting characters, cleverly connected narratives and deep emotional connection to our scene partners.

But it’s just not possible, no one can be performing at 100% all time and we’re not professional athletes.

I’m not someone who’s really into sports, watching or playing although I’m currently engrossed in Ted Lasso and reading many Rom Coms set in the world of Ice Hockey/Formula One/Swimming etc. But I understand the pressure of feeling like I need to constantly be performing and perfect.

It’s ok to do scenes that flop, to play characters that are basically ourselves, to turn up with low energy and low inspiration. It’s also ok to not turn up (best to let you teacher/team mates know though!) and to do something else to nourish your soul if that’s what you need.

Especially as Autumn hits, the lurgy creeps in and for us those of us who lose lots of light during the Autumn and Winter it’s ok to slow down, take the pressure off and give ourselves a break. Your improv and your soul will be better for it.

So let’s celebrate bringing our C game, or even our F game because we’re human and improv is about joy, connection and freedom.

Here’s to not winning and not being perfect!

Katy x

It’s October already, the month of Halloween and the irritating clock change that causes endless confusion when you teach online to people from around the globe!

As you might already know I love a good monologue, listening to a character’s inner thoughts and feelings can really deepen a scene and connect the audience to the character.

I created a short intro guide to monologues and I recorded a podcast talking all about monologues which you might find useful.

Monologue Guide

Monologue Podcast

I hope you enjoy them!

Katy x

When I first started teaching online I felt like I needed to follow everyone else, I spent time analysing other people’s courses, looking for trends and what seemed to be popular. But in the end I just ended up teaching things that I didn’t enjoy and that didn’t feel like me.

Nowadays I get my inspiration from lots of different places, sometimes it’s a certain skill that I’ve been enjoying or want to explore more such as monologues or scene painting. Other times my current students make suggestions about something they’re interested in and I find a way to incorporate that into a course.

Sometimes I watch a film or tv show that inspires me, previous courses on genre have included Jane Austen or a Space/Astronaut themed course.

Recently I was inspired my a sentence that a student said in class and I found myself excited at the possibilities it made me think of.

I love having the flexibility of teaching what I enjoy, when I want to. No levels here! But one thing that can be tricky is I’m not very good at predicting which courses will be popular and which won’t, there’s been lots of times I’ve been sure a course will sell out and it really hasn’t. But by teaching courses that I’m excited about it doesn’t matter how many students are in the class, I know we’ll have fun!

So keep an eye out for my upcoming 2027 courses, I’d love to see you there.

Katy x

As I said in a previous email I’m looking at new ways to support you wonderful improvisers.

A few years ago as part of another project I recorded some audio improv exercises that you could practice yourself at home. Each audio talks you through 3 exercises focusing on a different theme or skill and gives you the time to practice.

I wanted to share one of these with you to see if you found it useful/enjoyable and to find out if this is something you would find helpful and would like more of.

Here is the first Improv DIY for you to listen to and try at home.

Please make sure that you create a safe environment to participate in the exercises, removing all objects from the floor or surrounding areas that you might trip/bump into.

I really hope you enjoy this recording and please let me know if you have any feedback or you’d like to receive more DIY improv recordings in the future.

Happy improvising,

Katy x

When joining me for this improv practice recording, you need to take some precautions as your health and safety is important. To avoid any injury or harm please ensure you are working in a safe environment and your space is free from any tripping hazards or anything else that might cause injury. Katy Bateson and We Are Improv will not be responsible or liable for any injury or harm you sustain as a result of this audio.

Over the years I’ve created lots of different formats and the one I’ve enjoyed the most is the Triptych (pronounced Trip-tic), a three person narrative that uses scene painting to create the environment.

It’s a real simple format and is a brilliant introduction to narrtive as well as only needing 3 improvisers.

I don’t like to gatekeep access to my formats and I wanted to share the joy so I create a Triptych guide which is complete free for you to download and play with! I also recorded a podcast explaining the Triptych if you find information easier to process in audio!

Triptych Guide

Triptych podcast

If you use the format and enjoy it I’d love to hear from you, it’s always fun to here where in the world my formats are being played.

And as always if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to hit reply.

Happy Improvising,

Katy x

P.S. I’m going to be sharing something potentially interesting soon that will allow you to practice your improv skills on your own!

As you probably know by now Narrative and storytelling is what makes my heart sing and most (all!) of my improv revolves around it. Whether we’re looking at narrative formats or exploring skills it all boils down to story.

Story telling is what makes us human. Since we have been able to talk we have gathered together to tell stories, nowadays these stories are more often on the screen, very few of us gather round the campfire to tell stories of old any more.

But this Autumn you can come join me around the improvised campfire as we explore how to weave together stories using a narrator and scenes.

Unfortunately the s’mores will also have to be improvised, especially for those of us based in the UK because bizarrely Graham crackers have not yet crossed the ocean and apparently digestive biscuits are a poor substitute!

This course will play with narration and scenes, exploring how we can be inspired by stories and characters and how to bring them to life.

It’ll be a joyful course, filled with connection and ensemble work.

You can find out more about Under the Story Sky which starts on Thursday 1st October for 8 weeks, 7:30pm - 9:30pm BST/GMT. Midway through the course is the irritating clock change which is different in different countries but don’t worry I’ll walk you through it nearer the time.

So if you want to grab a blanket, a mug of hot chocolate/cocoa and create some stories then you know where I’ll be!

See you soon,

Katy x

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With September looming, it always makes me think of the future (it’s like a nicer January!). And leaves me with the desire to buy stationary…

Thinking about the future has made me ponder the future possibilities of this Substack account as well as all my other improv activities. With a focus on how can I be useful and helpful. As well as making sure I’m keeping the pennies rolling it.

So my question to you beautiful humans is what do you need? If you could have a magic lamp complete with an improv genie what would you wish for? Ready made lesson plans? Online solo lessons you could do at home? A step by step guide to narrative improv?

I’d love to hear what you have to say and maybe, just maybe, I could make some improv dreams come true!

So if you have any ideas, thoughts or big dreams drop me an email and share :)

Yours in improv,

Katy x

Sometimes we don’t even notice we’re playing the same characters, it just happens.

There’s safety in these familiar characters, they’re easy to fall into and easy to play. No need to worry about dropping the accent or having to step out of your comfort zone. Sticking to what you know is safe and let’s face it we all need a bit of safety at times.

What is interesting is when we start to dig down into these choices and explore why we’re making them. Maybe you love speaking in a certain voice? Maybe it’s similar to yourself so easier to play? Maybe it’s nothing like you and you like it!

When we start realising why we’re making choices, we can start to change.

I know that I avoid playing Mothers because that is my day to day existence so I like to play something different in class. I also know that I struggle to play characters that are mean or nasty because confrontation is something I find difficult in real life, hello being a people pleaser and being British!

So by recognising these patterns I can start to look for ways to change.

In my autumn classes I’m running a course called Paint it, Play it where we’ll dive into our recuring character choices and then we’ll use scene painting to help us create characters we don’t normally play.

If that sounds like something you’d be interested in then take a look. It’s running for 8 weeks starting on Wednesday 30th September, 7:30pm - 9:30pm.

I’d love to see you there and let me know which characters you’re always falling back on and why!

Katy x

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I was very lucky in high school to find a little band of misfits, a merry group of underdogs that supported each other through the trials of teenage life.

Then at University that all changed, the friends were gone and I was left on a course I shouldn’t have chosen (Biomed in case you wondered), commuting from home on the bus everyday and feeling very disconnected from everyone else on the course. And improv was a life line, a safe space where I could go every week and play.

But even in improv I’ve felt like an outsider.

I remember sitting at improv festivals around 10 years ago (watching yet another Harold) and being surrounded by people laughing and thinking I just don’t get it.

After the shows in the bar (where I was drinking a coke because I don’t drink alcohol, another way I’ve always felt strange) people would be raving about the Harold’s and I’d smile and nod thinking how I’d not enjoyed it but not feeling brave enough to admit it.

And it wasn’t just Harold’s that left me feeling flat, it was other non narrative formats too. Armando’s, montages - none of them appealed.

I just felt so odd and out of place, lost in a place that I loved.

I also live on an improv island not a real island but a metaphorical one where I’m 2 1/2 hours away from London on the train and far away from any of the improv hubs. This distant felt unbearable at times and doing narrative improv felt like a possibility.

When I travelled to improv residentials I absolutely loved them but the constant social interaction was exhausting. I’d push myself to join in everything even though I was tired because I didn’t want to miss out, it felt like my one shot at being around awesome improvisers before I drove home, back to the improv island.

At the time I also had no idea that I was neurodiverse so just kept pushing through the overwhelm/overstimulation.

The years before I had my children were spent travelling to Manchester or London to attend courses and then teaching people improv from scratch desperate to find people to do the type of improv I wanted to do.

Thankfully teaching online has helped me find my people, I’ve built a wonderful little community full of people that bring me so much joy and fill my narrative cup up. But some of them are thousands of miles away, the chance to improvise together in real life is often very unlikely.

This email feels a bit negative and sad but I’m not complaining, just acknowledging that even with something that brings you so much joy you can still feel lost or out of place.

And if you’re feeling lonely in your improv you are not alone.

So be kind to yourself, keep searching for your improv people and following your improv fun. The right people are out there for you, it might just take some time to find them but don’t give up hope.

Yours in Improv,

Katy x

P.S. Thank you to Keith for ‘Yours in Improv’, a beautiful way to finish an email.

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Here in North West England it is currently 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit) at 9:20 in the morning which is very unusual for us and yesterday the boys came home at lunch time because school was too hot.

But it’s no where near as hot as it is elsewhere in Europe, so if it’s hot where you are I hope you are managing to stay cool and looking after yourself.

But the heat doesn’t stop the work so here’s a quick email to say I’ve added a short course for the Summer! Lots of you have reached out to say you really want to do a course but just can’t commit to 8 weeks.

So I’ve added a 4 week course focusing on scene painting.

We will explore the art of scene painting as a powerful tool for creating rich, immersive worlds that inspire dynamic and memorable scenes. We’ll also be scene painting characters and then playing them.

It starts on Tuesday 21st July and runs for 4 weeks with a one week break in the middle. Usual time of 7:30pm - 9:30pm BST.

You can find out more information here.

And there’s still time to sign up for my other Summer courses.

I’d love to see you there!

Keep cool,

Katy x

I’m currently sat at my kitchen table looking out at the garden (still fuming at the snail that attacked one of my dahlia’s last night) and it is very grey and dark out there. My weather forecast app is predicting rain for the next 8 out of 10 days!

But for the rest of you lovely improvisers who are probably doing all of the fun summer things, picnics, trips to the beach, insert your idea of summer fun here.

Summer is always a tricky time for improv courses, there’s so much other fun stuff going on that it’s hard to compete. So unsurprisingly ticket sales for my summer courses are slow. They always are at this time of year.

So I’m here to reassure you that it’s ok to miss a few classes. A lot of people are hesitant to sign up for a course when they know they’re going to miss a class or two.

But honestly it’s fine, most people miss at least one class.

I’m always happy to fill people in on what they’ve missed and get you quickly back up to speed. So please don’t put off signing up because you’ll miss some classes.

Let’s fill your improv with some summer fun! And boost my course numbers!

You can find all the summer courses here and I’m a bit biased but I think they’re a pretty cool selection! Whether you want to explore fairy tale narratives with Grimm, delve into the world of improvising inanimate objects or play with strangers and monologues, there’s something for everyone.

Right well I’m off to buy some sacrificial marigolds…

I hope to see you on a course very soon.

Katy x

But maybe it’s time to bring some of the darkness back, to sprinkle some magic into our improv.

I’m setting off into the dark forest and I’m looking for an intrepid band of improvisers to join me as we improvise scenes with magical creatures, cunning villains and morals to be remembered.

We will explore the classic fairy tale archetypes, learn to scene paint magical and mysterious places and create interesting and layered characters.

This won’t a journey for the faint of heart. Will you be brave enough to venture into the woods?

Join me for an 8 week online class starting Wednesday 1st July, 7:30pm - 9:30pm BST.

There are concession tickets available to anyone who needs them. You can join the adventure here.

See you in the woods!

Katy x

I struggle with overwhelm and being in a class of 18 people just feels too much for me. I’ve attended a lot of in person and online classes where there are around 18 people in the class and not only do I feel like I don’t get enough time to improvise but I also don’t connect to the people in the class. For me big classes feel impersonal and disconnected.

And when I’m teaching I hate not being able to engage with all the students in the way I want to. There’s no way I can interact and engage with such a large group of students and walk away feeling confident that they’ve had a really positive experience.

I’m not criticising other teachers for doing it, there will be teachers out there that can ensure large groups get all the stage time and interaction they need and larger groups mean that it’s more affordable for people to attend. And let’s face it we all need to make money and people within the arts are usually chronically underpaid.

If I’m honest my idea class size is 5 plus me. This is the perfect number to allow me to teach comfortably, engage with the group and give everyone plenty of stage/screen time, discussion time and space for everyone.

So my classes are always limited to 8 improvisers.

Why 8 and not 5 I hear you cry?

Well one reason is money, teaching is my main source of income so I’d have to increase my prices if I just had 5 people.

But another big factor is people often miss classes for a variety of reasons and a class of 5 can easily be a class of 3 or even 2 some weeks if you have a few people off. Where as a class of 8 means that you will usually have at least 4 or 5 people each week.

I’d rather teach smaller classes and earn less money than teach big classes and earn more.

The joy of improv for me is connecting with my fellow improvisers, sharing in their wins and watching them grow and bloom.

So if small classes are your things you might want to join me!

Here’s to small classes of wonderful improvisers, may you be in them, may you enjoy them and may you find your people in them.

Katy x

What happened was I taught classes that I didn’t enjoy and weren’t my passion. I felt a sense of dread before every class trying to figure out how I was going to teach something I didn’t feel any connection to.

Thankfully I stopped that and started leaning into teaching what I enjoyed and found interesting. As daunting as this was it led me to finding my improv people, these wonderful online improvisers that got what I was trying to do and enjoyed what I was teaching.

One thing I have always loved is Monologues, when characters reveal their inner thoughts and feelings. Revealing things we wouldn’t normal know about the characters. Another thing I love is scenes with strangers, we’re told not to do this in improv but when it’s done properly it can be really powerful!

So I decided to squash these two things together and create a course where we play strangers and hear these strangers express themselves through Monologues.

Combining Strangers and Monologues will allow us to create scenes with more depth, more truth and more connection!

It’s another online 8 week course starting on Tuesday 2nd July, 7:30pm - 9:30pm. And there’s concession tickets for anybody who needs them.

You can find out more here.

I’d love to have you with me as we discover what happens when two strangers meet and what’s left unsaid starts to surface.

Katy x

So now it’s time to start spreading the word about my upcoming Summer courses.

The first up is ‘Said the Toaster to the Fridge’ an entire 8 week course dedicated to improvising as inanimate objects!

In my current class (It just got weird) we’ve had a little play with being inanimate objects and it has been utterly delightful and surprising in the best ways. So naturally I decided to stick in an entire course dedicated to it.

As always I’ll be bringing my usual style of relationship focused improv to the scenes which will be a lot of fun.

Some of you might have played the short form game ‘Little Voice’ where a human discovers an object that can talk, this is a really fun game and is often be played entirely for laughs.

What we will be doing is exploring the rich inner worlds of these objects, being inspired to explore their thoughts, feelings, hopes and dreams. We’ll look at how these objects can influence our characterisation, how it changes our voice and our movements.

The course starts on Sunday 5th July and is an 8 week online course, running from 7:30pm - 9:30pm BST.

And as always there are concession tickets available no questions asked, you need it? Use it!

You can find out more here.

I’d love to see you there!

Katy x

I’ve spoken before about the difficulties of being a solo improv teacher without a big improv school to back you up. The marketing and the admin falls entirely on you and there’s no one to help.

Read more

1. XO Kitty

   The third season of XO Kitty came out on Netflix and I’ll be honest, I adore it. People sometimes talk about nourishing your inner child but what I’ve worked out is I need to nourish my inner teenager. My inner child is good , but my inner teenager? Well, she was an anxious wreck.

   
   XO kitty is a cute teenage drama following a young girl who goes to South Korea to follow in her Mother‘s footsteps. I loved it so much I re-watched season one and two again.
   

2. My tulips
   
   They’re still blooming and every morning when I stare out of the window at them has brought me so much joy. It’s such a simple thing but seeing all the colours emerge has brought me so much pleasure. I’m already scouring gardening webpages looking for inspiration for next year.
   

   

   
   

3. Volunteering at the School Library
   
   One afternoon a week I volunteer as the School Librarian at my boys school. I check the books back in (I have one of the cool librarian beepers). I put the books back on the shelves, I tidy up. Each week the same class come to return their books and get some new ones out and it’s adorable. They let me know what they enjoyed, swap books with their friends and it’s a lovely glimpse into the school world that I wouldn’t normally see. It’s nice to feel like I’m making a small difference to the place that gives so much time energy and love to my children.
   

4. Zoo

   
   It was my youngest’s Birthday in April and we went to a small zoo to celebrate. Some of you might know that I’m a huge animal geek, I was very close to becoming a Zoo Keeper at one point in life! This Zoo had a very cool selection of more unusual animals that you don’t see very often including a Sloth, Bush babies and Sugar gliders. I had a lovely time geeking out! (Photo is of a Dwarf Mongoose)

5. Chocolate cake!

   
   I always make my boys a cake for their Birthday and the usual request is chocolate with Strawberries and Cream which I think decorate with chocolate, sweets and toys. I always have fun making them and this recipe is always a winner. It’s easy to make and who doesn’t love Chocolate ganache?!

I’d love to hear what has brought you joy in April.

More improv emails are in the pipeline!

Katy x

I dreamt of travelling around the world performing (we were already travelling the UK and Ireland) and visiting as many improv festivals as I could. I wanted to go to America and learn with all the improv schools out there like lot’s of my fellow improvisers were doing.

But slowly these dreams changed. I think a big part of that was having kids, it’s absolutely possible to do all these things with little people (Heather and Jules from AndAlso are a great example of this!) but for me and my family these things don’t feel that easy.

I barely teach in real life anymore, 99% of my improv happens online. And with that change went the desire to have my own space to teach. The idea of having that space has completely faded off my improv dream list.

The desire to travel is still there a little, simmering away in the background. The performing bug has been replaced by the teaching one. Sometimes I will lose myself in day dreams thinking which countries I would like to travel to, the idea of flying far away and people wanting to attend my classes floats in my mind. But the idea of leaving my boys for any amount of time is currently an impossibility so these day dreams don’t take up much of my time.

It feels odd when things that you were once so passionate about, that were up there on your to do list and your dream list just don’t matter any more.

For me there’s a sense of loss and even guilt that I didn’t achieve them and that I don’t want them anymore. It feels like I’ve let myself down a little and that I should be wanting more, dreaming bigger, aiming higher. The hustle culture that we’re sold is a constant reminder that we always need to be striving to be the greatest and working towards the next big thing.

But right now, I don’t want to be the best, I don’t want to be great. I don’t want an improv theatre or to be constantly travelling. I don’t want to be pushing or working hard. I don’t want the pressure to have to succeed.

I just want to be where I am right now. Teaching improv to people who bring me joy, being able to log off and one minute later crash out on my settee, I want to be kind to myself and everyone I teach. I want to love improv but not have it be my entire life.

So my dreams have changed (a lot) and I think I’m ok with that. Maybe one day they’ll return and they’ll burn bright but for now I’ll just keep on keeping on.

So if your improv dreams have changed, be kind to yourself because it’s ok to change your mind and to have a different dream.

Katy x

It’s easy to get stuck in an improv rut feeling like you’re not improving and that you keep doing the same scenes over and over.

The natural instinct can be to push ourselves more, add more skills to our toolbox, overcomplicate our scenes and throw in more complex and complicated narratives and characters.

But sometimes what we really need is to step back, ground ourselves and retouch what we already know.

We’ll be revisiting some core skills through a narrative lens. We’ll lean into monologues, silences and emotional connection. We’ll slow things down and notice what we already have in front of us.

Each lesson will be stand alone so it’s not a problem if you can’t make every class.

It’s perfect for anyone who:

• needs a little improv boost

• wants to refresh their core narrative skills

• can’t commit to a full 8 week course

• has been sat on the improv fence for a while and wants to jump back in

As always there are Love Improv tickets available to anyone who needs them, no questions asked.

I’d love to get the chance to improvise with you, whether you’re an old friend or we’ve never met before now is the time to do some wonderful improv together.

The 4 weeks starts on Tuesday 28th April on Zoom at 7:30pm BST. You can find out more here!

I’d love to see you there,

Katy x

I genuinely hand on heart believe that out of all the improv teachers out there, I have the best regular attendees.

They’re talented and fun, willing to be vulnerable and playful. They’re a teachers dream.

Recently I ran a course that was focused on monologues with most of the course being centred around creating narratives using only monologues, no scenes.

The whole course was an experiment, I’d played around with the concept a little in the past but this was the first time I’d done it for an entire course.

And wow! What a revelation!

The group absolutely smashed it. Using purely monologues we managed to tell rich, interesting and fulfilling stories. No scenes, no characters meeting, just individual monologues.

I had a real hunch that it would work but it far surpassed by expectations. I already loved monologues but now I love them even more and my respect for them has gone through the roof.

Hearing the characters inner thoughts and feelings gave the stories a richness and a truthfulness that it can be hard to show in scenes.

So I wanted to share with you what we learnt from the course and how you can have a try yourself. It works with any number of improvisers.

Format:

• The monologues run in the same order each time (I call this a loop) e.g. A, B, C, D, A, B, C, D

• You can have as many loops as you like, each loop allows you to dig deeper into the story

• It can be easier to pre decide character names or write them down so everyone knows who is who (when you’re not doing scenes with people it can be harder to remember names)

• You can have suggestions/inspirations such as location (school, submarine), event (birthday party, wedding), relationship (work colleagues, siblings) or situations (high school friends twenty years later etc.)

What we learnt:

• Monologues work best when the characters talk about their thoughts, feelings and emotions

• Allow the narrative to develop naturally, focus on how your character is feeling rather than trying to create the story

• With the first round of monologues don’t reference or endow any other characters, allow each improviser the opportunity to create their own character

When we do monologue narratives it can be really tempting to focus on creating the story, linking all the characters and talking about imaginary scenes. This can end up in stories that are really complicated and lacking in emotional interest. We found that by focusing more of your characters and their emotions/experiences the story begins to develop organically.

An audience will automatically begin to create their own story within our stories, they will create their own links and ideas. We do our audience a disservice when we try and connect every dot and fill in every blank.

One of the beauties of stories and improvised narratives is that everyone experiences them differently and takes away something different.

The course was a risk but it was a risk well worth taking and one that I will definitely be doing again.

Would you ever try a purely narrative monologue course?

Katy x

P.S. It’s your last chance to join a spring course