Masking and Improv: Being the voice of reason
Have you had an issue being the voice of reason in scenes? Grounding a scene? This written version of podcast episode 9 discusses what's "normal", weird, and how it can mess with our heads and scenes.
Neurodivergent masking and its affect on being the voice of reason in scenes is one of the first things I learnt would be difficult for me in improv. After I learnt what it was, and was beginning to be coached on the idea, it messed with my head. I started to read stuff about voice of reason, being grounded, the unusual.
I was doing a lot of between-class reading and thinking and analyzing - or overthinking depending on your school of thought (any school that isn’t neurodivergent, perhaps) - and then started asking myself questions.
What is "normal" and can I be a good judge of what that is?
Will I continue to analyze (or overanalyze) these things?
And what IS socially acceptable in a scene anyway?
Is what I'm saying or doing deemed "normal" - and to who? WHO IS THAT PERSON LISTENING?
What is normal... to them?
To ALL OF THEM.
The unusual thing too. What's unusual? What's my weird? What's your weird? What does my scene partner think? Do they think the thing I'm doing is normal or weird? Are they neurodivergent too?
_weeps_ AM I EVEN FUNNY ANYMORE? WAS I EVER? _end weeps_
Because there seemed to be a commonly accepted answer, a correct one, and I only knew what that answer was some of the time. So it drove me wild, of course, as that scenario generally does and perhaps should.
Note: This is a written version based on the notes I made for this podcast episode: Episode 9: Masking and Improv - Being the voice of reason. This article is a bit different than the podcast.
A loaded concept
It all seems pretty simple, and can be simple - but in practice, and especially starting out, this whole idea can be pretty loaded.
Some of us have decades of masking our natural reactions and thoughts because a greater percentage of human beings on this planet might find those reactions and/or thoughts kinda weird.
Because we think kinda different (and thorough).
We think a LOT about this kinda thing, because we have had to.
If we don't do this masking, we can inject the unusual into a conversation even if it's our honest, normal (to us) reaction.
If you're supposed to be grounded, your honest first reaction can end up positioning you as the weird one.
And we're the weird ones in life... but today we want to be the not-weird one in this scene... but we're supposed to react as ourselves to be grounded... so NOW WHAT?
Good question, you! 10/10. I'll do my best to answer some of it in this article.
For quite awhile, after being introduced to this concept, I was pretty in my head about how to be "grounded" and "voice of reason" because it can be a little challenging when you're mixing in characters, masking, your neurodivergent wiring, and all the other improv techniques we learn.... which you're doing in addition to positioning yourself in a scene when you want or need to. Being in your head makes everything a helluva lot harder, too.
But let's review what neurodivergent masking is first.
What is Masking
In episode 6 I talked about what masking is. You can refer back to the beginning of that episode for an explanation, or deal with the following nutshell of one here.
Masking is a common behaviour amongst people who are ADHD and/or autistic. People also refer to masking as camouflaging, being a social chameleon, or mimicking. It's conscious or unconscious reaction for many of us — for me it’s mostly unconscious but sometimes noticed after the fact.
But masking suppresses our natural reactions, responses, physicality or expressions in order to hide some of our natural behaviours… that first honest response, sometimes.
Essentially, masking is us whatever it takes to make us more "socially acceptable" so we fit in and avoid trouble such as misunderstandings. And a lot of us were raised, trained, or conditioned to mask. How intensively can depend on your parents, region, or gender.
The amount of effort you take to mask is relevant in this discussion too. How long you've been doing it, how hard it is to do or do you even notice it, energy expended on doing so, and so on.
For example, we might only notice being tired after social interactions, but not notice actually doing these adjustments at all since we've been doing them our whole lives. I don't think about masking or try to. I might only notice it after it clicks in. Or notice when masking doesn't work (but I want it to) - such as when exhausted, or under some kind of stress such as an unexpected reaction.
But masking can help you with acting or characters in ways you might not be consciously aware of, so peas in a pod like discussed in episode 6 might come quite naturally. But masking can make other parts of improv more difficult.
Masking in general though is something to consider outside of improv. For some people it can be harmful, and those people might choose to try and not mask in any or some situations. For others, there may be a benefit that outweighs the negative aspects in certain situations, or they need to (to stay employed, etc).
But for most it's something to think about and consider about their real lives in addition to their improv scenes. I might contradict myself on this subject sometimes. I reckon that is because a lot of this is nebulous, hard to understand, and takes a long time to sort out.
Note: In the podcast episode of this article, episode 9, I offer some additional improv examples of masking as it relates to grounded scenework.
Hard Stuff: The Unusual
Masking might make the unusual thing, grounded, and voice of reason techniques in improv difficult to navigate.
I'll get The Unusual bit out of the way before we talk about being voice of reason or unusual character of the scene. I'll also do a separate episode about noticing the unusual (see episode 12 of the podcast here to learn more about finding the unusual thing and communication in scenes).
For now, I want to mention that it is common to have difficulty with noticing the unusual, even with no neurotype anything involved. It can be challenging on its own for everyone. It just might be more challenging if you're neurodivergent.
For now, if you're looking for something to take away, take this:
Notice your scene partner's reaction.
Notice framing from your scene partner.
We can be very good at these things, but they take some analysis and practice. Now go listen to episode 12 if this seems useful to you.
Hard Stuff: Voice of Reason
It might be hard to play a grounded "react as YOU" type of stance when:
You might not totally understand who you really are in real life, especially if you’re late-in-life diagnosed or identified.
Your reactions are not totally accepted as honest or natural in the scene. But you did react as you actually would have... uh oh.
For example, masking might make it difficult to understand your own identity. It's entangled in different ways of "being" and you might not realize how extensive it is for decades. And even then most days it’s one great big shrug.
Therefore, understanding what your true grounded self, beliefs, and honest reactions even are - let alone how a scene partner you don’t know well or at all might interpret them as normal or weird - is HARD.
And you might think you're doing them, but you're noted as reacting as the "unusual" instead, forcing something in, or otherwise writing the scene.
When going through the process of sorting out what is masking and what isn't, we might wonder at times "am I not good enough" - hence, needing to mask. Then you might get notes in this regard, which are hard not to take on some personal level.
But just know this is part of the process - and it’s hard but there are things to help. I see you. It isn't easy sometimes. Art is personal.
But just know if YOU know you were doing the assignment, you were… doing the assignment. We can’t read minds. You answered honestly. You’re fine.
Knowing Who You Are
We are often coached to be ourselves to play the voice of reason. Many of us do improv so we CAN be ourselves but then are coached to not be ourselves when... playing ourselves. So when you hear "just be yourself, answer as yourself" and then get it "wrong", I know this can be not fun to hear. You really did answer as yourself, and you got being yourself wrong (all our lives, amirite? _deep sigh_).
Whatever is honest for you is what is being asked for.
And this isn’t a slight on teachers or coaches. None of us, of any neurotype, knows what or how each other is thinking1. These are things to consider. They’re feedback about what an audience might think or see. And they aren’t universal opinions, either.
So it's not, in my opinion anyway, a note for YOU in this case. It's maybe a note for an improviser with a neurotypical neurotype, but if you’re neurodivergent then that's not you, maybe. So this might be one of those cases where you can go ahead and apply the note differently to your improv. YOU know what's honest for you, and you're the only one in your brain. So you can decide what to do with that note.
And our answers here, depending on our own brains, might be different. What I do, what notes I take or revise, might very well not be right for you.
It's hard to hear your "authentic self" is wrong or bad (something most of us are bombarded with our whole lives), but if and when this happens don't let it get in your head.
Take the note, think about it after the session, and try new things or own what you're doing. Try to serve the scene, but getting too stressed out about this one isn't going to help anyone.
I think honesty, some level of vulnerability, keeping an open mind to the feedback, being self-aware, and playing to whatever your strengths are based on all of that will probably win in the end. Plus, our weird takes/lives/ideas/reactions are super useful in improv in general.
Play A "Normal" Character
You might want to heighten your "normal" (the quote marks are very intentional). But...can you really respond as a "neurotypical" character to play "honestly"? Yep, it’s something we can try.
For me, sometimes, “more normal” is not my first reaction, it's my second (which is like masking in real life).
Two things I try is slowing down slightly if I’m playing voice of reason, or get into the mode by adopting a “neurotypical” character mindset and respond as them. I kind of mask as neurotypical.
But I had to LEARN to do this and most likely still am because it's weird and twisty and not something I do all that often. But reps seem to help doing this more seamlessly, and you might forget you are.
It’s An External Read Only
Coaches can't know what's going on inside our atypically wired brains. So just listen and hear "you were unusual instead" to take as data input regarding the read the majority of an audience and potential scene partners.
We don't HAVE to answer honestly, technically. We just have to do something that's right for the scene and audience that’s read as such.
So I don't take notes like "you're doing honest wrong" personally. I know it's hard because of that whole "world isn't built for us" next to "just be yourself!" advice in a world that doesn't support doing so.
So while we might be directed to respond as ourselves, it's also okay to take some space with that and play a NT point of view instead - and do acting. Or commit to answering as yourself in whatever way that is right for you and just... do that thing. Commit and justify.
None of this is real, anyway. WHAT?!
The ball is ultimately in your court for what you decide to do on this one to serve the scene. Assess your pattern, and scenes, and figure out what you think a solid direction is. What do you need to do to make it easy for you to meet the assignment for this kind of scene?
Or Don't Play a Normal Character
The other option is just be yourself, position yourself as you do naturally and commit hard. And if you get a note on this, just take it. Remember it. See how many you get on this particular thing. Maybe it's not often, and not much of a problem after all?
How was the scene?
But if you keep getting the same note from different teachers or coaches, then process it all and you might want to test out something else. Perhaps you find a way to position flip. Course correct smoothly. Or try something completely different and write to me about it or join me on this site’s podcast and tell everyone what you did.
This is the fun of improv, really. Problem solving, creatively. Testing things out. Talk with your teammates or coaches well after you processed the note(s) and brainstorm.
We neurodivergents have to adjust to a "normal" world most of the time, and doing your masked neurotypical sometimes in improv is maybe not too big of a deal. If it is? Maybe just be the weird one most of the time. I’ve been told it’s okay, ratios vary, and I stuck with that early advice.
REMEMBER: This is a hobby. This is make-em-ups. This is play. If you're not having fun, and it's stressful, work at sorting that out if you think it's worth it. This should be something you want to get better at but also something that’s inherently fun, and you should enjoy it... or... like.... WHY.
Grounding the Scene as a Wild Weird
Say you're in a scene and you end up as the unusual character anyway. You can still ground the scene if you need to. You can ground the scene as a big (wild) character using logic that makes the scene/world make sense using justification.
Explain why things are the way they are. Focus on barfing out that logic, even if it seems a bit weird or flawed if it needs to be to fit the scene. Or it might make perfect sense and you are a weird character who is very logical in a realistic way. A natural to us way. This is certainly possible and can be a lot of fun.
But do know that if you come in with energy or the sense of a weird character, you will often be positioned as the unusual one. You CAN do it but this can take reps to figure out your clean and smooth way of doing so.
Grounding the Scene as a Grounded Weird
You might come in as the grounded one, but something happens and you are now weird. This is fun2. Maybe you were made the unusual for what you might deem normal or you just being you - and then you roll with it. You can keep going with grounded energy and wild but-also-strangely-almost-sensical-but-WHAT logic and a scene will still work, and sometimes ridiculously well if you’re lucky.
You know, we are encouraged to just say what we actually think (but never say out loud for real) in improv. So get used to being positioned as you are, but then just learning to roll with it even if it sometimes doesn’t work. It's the beauty and the pain of this thing we do. And hopefully, love.
The Drift
I will note here that drifting to unusual from your version of voice-of-reason is easily possible, regardless of the size of your character or mindset or POV.
Just something to watch out for. This is an easy one to forget when being in the moment. See if you can find something to do a periodic check-in. Whatever works for you - maybe it's a visual check in, it might be verbal. Whatever you do to reinstate or hold your character might work. Reps and practice... reps and practice. Or just commit hard.
I guess a lot of this article is “you can try this!” "or… like… don’t if you don’t wanna”.
Summary
This is all, technically, overthinking. I think. But I like it. And apparently you’re still reading! So:
Figure out what's important to you.
Figure out new ways to play the position you need to play.
Talk to your teacher, coach, team after you figure you out.
Process whether something is a problem or not. What do you need to do to meet a need (and how important is that need).
Commit honestly most of the time. Don’t the times you shouldn’t. Ha.
Plugs
This article (and the podcast it was derived from) was written/hosted/produced/whatever by me, Jen deHaan. You can blame me for the whole thing, it’s my fault. Find the contact form for this podcast at FlatImprov.com/substack. See the site for other shows and podcasts and stuff.
IMPROV CLASS: I have an improv class series starting Feb 28th with WGIS. This class is an improvised morning show. We’ll learn and practice the form for six classes, and then do a four show series delivered both to video and podcast.
WHAT YOU LEARN:
Character development.
Sustaining characters.
World building.
Adding details/specifics/point of view.
Clean unique edits.
Improv for audio
FUN! You’ll learn fun.
It rocked my world when I learnt not everyone saves the best bite for last. It’s just… some of us? WHAT?! Do… you? Call me please!
Being “grounded weird” rocks my world. I’m sorry that this verbose parentheses lover just learnt she can easily, too easily, footnote in Substack. Poor you.