Know Everything!
I get in trouble for saying that because I deliberately say it in a jerk manner. KNOW EVERYTHING. When someone says “I didn’t know the movie my partner was mentioning” I’ll sometimes say “Well, you don’t HAVE to know it but it would be easier if you knew it.”
And then people are like “Why do I have to like Star Wars?”
And I say “Who said anything about Star Wars?”
“All these improv nerd boys love Star Wars and can’t stop mentioning it. I hate that HAVE to know it.”
I know. It’s annoying.
A lot has already been said, but I’ll say this:
It is no fun as an audience member to watch an improviser whiff anything- which is why we know it’s important to remember genders, names, settings, etc., but it feels the same when there’s a big disconnect about something we expect an improviser to know.
It is fun as an audience member to watch an improviser like Will play along with a Jersey Shore scene.
It’s really fun to know stuff. It’s fun to learn something and have it come in handy. It’s much more fun to get references than it is to miss them. Having fun is good for improv.
