Why Failing on Stage Is Sometimes the Best Thing You Can Do

Failure. It’s a word we don’t desire to hear, especially if it relates to a scene we just finished. Many of us are programmed to fear failure and to instead “strive for perfection.” But perfection seldom shows its happy little face in improv. The truth is, most of the laughs are due to a moment of either truth or failure.

Failure is part of the entertainment

Our goal is entertaining the audience. If that means playing an improv game or scene terribly but with passion, then you truly have succeeded. When we can genuinely put ourselves out there and attempt something but fail at it, we still most often delight the people watching.

When new students try and fail in front of each other, it inspires everyone even more. That shared experience creates a bond, and trust is born from it.

Don’t be afraid to fail. Put your best effort into your scenes, listen, implement notes, and go at it better the next time.

“If we treat each other as if we are geniuses, poets and artists, we have a better chance of becoming that on stage.”
— Del Close

Why this is harder than it sounds

Most people arrive at their first class having spent a lifetime being taught the opposite lesson… that mistakes are something to avoid, hide, or apologize for. Unlearning that in a room full of strangers takes real trust, and it’s exactly why the fear of “messing up” is the single biggest thing standing between curious people and their first class.

Here’s the part that surprises most beginners: the moments that get the biggest laughs in class are almost never the polished ones. They’re the flubs, the unexpected turns, the times someone commits fully to an idea that doesn’t quite land the way they planned. Audiences (and fellow students) don’t respond to perfection. They respond to honesty, including the honest moment of something not working.

How to actually practice this

You don’t build comfort with failure by deciding to feel differently about it. You build it by failing in front of people repeatedly, in a room where nothing bad happens afterward. That’s most of what a beginner improv class actually is — low-stakes repetition until the fear of flubbing loses its grip.

Come fail with us (on purpose)

We hold Live Drop-In Classes every Wednesday, 6–8 pm, and an Online Zoom Class every Tuesday, 6–7:30 pm, right here in North Scottsdale. Nobody’s perfect on night one, and nobody’s expected to be.

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Joe Hammer is the founder and director of The Outcasters Improv Training Center in Scottsdale, where he's spent years helping everyday people build real confidence through drop-in improv classes, workshops, and shows. No experience or performing background is required. Joe brings that same interactive approach to corporate and team-building training, and shares individual coaching and speaking work at YourImprovCoach.com. Come enjoy the magic of improv for yourself at a Wednesday drop-in class. We look forward to meeting you!