Insecurity is the slayer of improv. It's a particularly tough dragon for less-than-confident teenagers. So very often, a scene starts with ideas painted with a broad brush - as a result, the scene drifts away from where the broad offer-giver thought it would go. Avoiding this tendency is a lesson for another day, but one way to help prevent that is to have laser-focus.

Make your offerings incredibly specific - actions with great detail, dialogue that provides multiple specific details for the scene. If everyone else in the scene is listening, they have a greater chance of taking those specifics and running in the same direction as they were offered. If you enter the scene as Charles the cop, there are many ways the next player could take that - as a fellow cop, as a criminal, as a lawyer, etc. But if you enter the scene as Charles the cop who stares you down and says, "I expect you know exactly why I pulled you over," that gives the scene much greater focus - and suggests to the other players who they can become to help drive that scene forward.

Such specificity can often be challenging, because many players - particularly high school players - will take that as a sign of "Oh, so-and-so is going to lead the scene." Thus, more junior players (ones with less experience or less confidence) will often not make such a specific offer. The exact opposite is true - if you want to help yourself out in a scene with a stronger player, give that player a strong offering to go with. If they're listening and playing to the top of their game, they'll give you back something you can be confident working with. The only way to build experience and confidence is to jump in and do it.

In my experience in high school improv, walk-ons - players entering/adding to a scene already in progress, sometimes known as secondary support - can either go really well or really poorly. They tend to have a very different purpose than do the players/characters who begin a scene, but often that purpose is lost in the need for the walk-on players to add to their stage time.

On his Improv Nerd blog, Jimmy Carrane posted an article about how to decide if you need to walk-on into a scene. I'm going to use it as a starting point for my students, and so I thought I'd share his tips with you here in their entirety (bold-italic emphasis is my own). Additional commentary, however, is shared below the tips, so keep reading.

1. Do the players need an environment?
This is usually easy to determine and can be of maximum service to the players in the scene. If two players come out and have no idea where they are after a few minutes, it is the perfect opportunity for a walk-on. Come in and place them in a specific environment, such as in a restaurant, in a hotel room, on an airplane – anywhere but “vagueland.” Then quietly leave the scene, because your job is done.

2. Is a character being called for?
Sometimes, two players will start a scene and they’ll reference another character, such as, “Your mother and I are really upset you didn’t come home last night.” We don’t have a mother in the scene, so this is your opportunity to be the mother. It doesn’t matter if a woman or a man plays the mother, we need a mother. You want to avoid where the players are desperately calling out for another character to join them three or four times before some one is brave enough to step up. I have also seen the opposite where players are trigger happy and think every time a character’s name is mentioned is an opportunity for a walk on. Be aware that is some cases they will be referring to character and a walk on is not necessary.

3. Does something need to be heightened?
This is by far the trickiest one to do. Ask yourself if there is a game, premise or emotion in a scene that needs to be heightened. Can you do it gracefully, by adding a piece of information that will up the stakes? If so, it might be time for a walk-on. However, remember that you don’t have to jump into every scene. Sometimes a scene may not need heightening by you; they may be able to handle it themselves.

4. What is my motive?
I am guilty of this. Sometimes my confidence is low and I feel safe walking into a scene than initiating one myself. If you feel you are doing this, instead of looking for an opportunity to walk into a scene, how about following the fear and starting a scene yourself?

5. Does the scene need an edit?
I wish I could take credit for this advice: “Sometimes your best walk-ons are edits.” This is true, especially if the scene has been going on for a while. If the scene feels like it’s dragging and you have an instinct to walk on to change the energy, probably it would work better as an edit.

One thing that makes these tips tricky to employ is that they have a lot of "sometimes." These are not definite or universal rules for walking on - often a situation in one scene is desperate for a walk-on, and the same(-ish) situation in another scene is being totally handled by the on-stage players and needs no walk-on. Here are some factors to consider:

1. Group Mind
How well does your troupe play together? Do they (or the players currently involved) sync well together on stage - and if so, does that make it more likely that they'll be able to get themselves out of a bind? Are the players that are planning to walk-on naturally in tune with what's going on in the scene, and in tune with the other players?

2. Experience
Are the players currently in the scene newbies or vets? If they're vets, it's more likely that they'll be able pull themselves out of a jam - or make it more apparent when they're explicitly calling for a walk-on. Watch and listen carefully for cues they're giving to their offstage scene partners.

3. Habits
Certain players will tend towards certain types of behaviors in scenes - use those tendencies to govern where you think the scene will go. Does a scene player always refer to a third character with the expectation of them suddenly walking-on? If so, there's your cue - let them endow you with that character, and walk-on when needed. Does a scene player start out really strong scenes, but tends to forget to clearly define their environment? Walk-on quickly, give them a bit of definition, and then move on your merry way.

Walk-ons can add so much to a scene - or seriously derail it, if not treated with care and respect. Work on it with your troupe - it can become a great tool in your improv arsenal.

I am thoroughly unsure as to where the misconception began with improvisers that the scene you are performing exists in and only in that moment. High-school improvisers - could be any improvisers - are so afraid of giving history and explanation to their scenes and characters.

Before giving you all the solution, I need to analyze the problem. Why are so many improvisers so afraid of giving extra information and detail to a scene? Why are we so content giving the least we can and hoping we get the most? It's because we're nervous and we're scared. Scared of? Nervous about? Many things. That by giving detail we'll derail the scene. That it won't be funny. That we won't have enough time to be entertaining because we explained something. That the audience will get overwhelmed. That we'll forget. Most importantly it's because improvisers ourselves are so focused on the big picture, the long form, that we treat scenes like Anthony Micheal Hall's acting career. The sad truth is, if you think that giving your two cents to the First National Bank of Improv at the beginning of a scene, don't expect $2000 plus in interest at the end of one.

So how do we add detail and depth to our scenes? How do we not only make them more interesting, but easier on ourselves? How can we use detail to enhance the scene and do more than we were before?

Well I'm glad you asked, because I have gathered many tips from many sources...

Be Very Specific
As a very bossy person I can sympathies with people who are afraid of being too specific. Like when your partner says, "What's that?" and you go, "I don't know! What do you think?" instead of "My God, they're putting toupees on Mount Rushmore!" because they said it, it's their contribution, or because if you keep calling the shots on unnamed objects, people, and events you've basically hijacked the scene in your mind's eye. Well, calm down. Instead of saying "Nice car!" say "Wow! A 1968 Chevy Impala!" Not only have you clued in your scene partner, but the audience can start envisioning who would own a car like that. Are they some old guy? An artsy student? Some washed up rockstar? Be specific about that, too. Help yourself help your partner help the audience.

Your Audience Cares
Your audience is more concerned than you may think they are by the table being mimed at three different locations. They are more put off that "Chuck" is also called Dan, Bill, and Lorrie than you think. Your audience is uncomfortable when you walk through a fridge. It's the one of you who damns putting wheels on the table, who says Chuck is in witness protection, that quips about the human shaped hole in the fridge that puts your audience to rest.

Give Information About Your Scene Partner
The line "Nice tie" opens up so much about your location to your audience without flat out saying your at a wedding, or at prom, or an office elevator. It's tasteful hinting at your surroundings. "You're a grown man!" "I guess it would be hard coming from a Catholic family." "That's why Cathy broke up with you." This helps you and the other players learn how to handle their character, and gives tasteful relationship history.

It Happens Again and Again....
Give history with one word or a quick one liner. This is a fun joke in itself, by the way. Instead of "We can't get arrested!" make it "We can't get arrested again!" A line like "Remember what happened last time..." gives opportunity to a related one liner.

Your Face is Familiar
As many reading this are high school students (I think), then at least five of you have read a Spanish 2 textbook and been surprised that Miguel and Ana just met, but he's asking her about where her dad works and what she's so nervous about. Like, Hola Senorita, my name is Miguel and I'm real nervous about my executive meeting today. This is more of a general warning, but I've seen and been told that opening a scene as strangers can often make things difficult. Not always, of course, but there's a reason we try to establish relationships, and we swear it is for the players benefit.

If you can try an incorporate these into your scenes, then you'll have well formed, detailed work that will keep your audience at peace and entertained.