"When it comes to building athletic strength and resilience, a well-known phrase captures the process: "no pain, no gain." That rhyming philosophy may apply to mental growth as much as muscle growth, according to research involving one of the world's most famous comedy clubs, Second City in Chicago. Yes, that Second City. In this case, researchers conducted a study with cooperation from Second City improv instructors, who ran classes by giving one of two possible sets of instructions to students."
"The other instruction that some classes received was that the students should try to aim for feeling "awkward and uncomfortable" during the improv exercises. If you've ever seen the best comedians doing their work, you can see them in real time making themselves - and you - as uncomfortable as possible, pushing the limits of awkwardness and embarrassment, and we can't stop laughing until we're crying."
A study at Second City improv club in Chicago tested whether deliberately aiming for awkwardness and discomfort during improv exercises benefits participants. Instructors ran classes with one of two instruction sets: usual improv guidance (the typical “yes ... and” approach) or explicit encouragement to aim to feel “awkward and uncomfortable.” Students who followed the awkwardness instruction experienced pushes toward embarrassment and boundary-pushing behaviors common among top comedians. The approach sought to build mental resilience, creative risk-taking, and stronger comedic responses by habituating participants to discomfort and by reframing awkwardness as a productive performance tool.
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