08/28/2025
What can improv comedy teach a business owner? A lot! 🎭
When I was in college, I was part of an improv troupe called Freudian Slip. We used to perform to sold-out audiences every month. I learned 3 great business lessons from that experience.
#1 Advertising Must Be Memorable 🎤
You accomplish that through repetition or interruption. We used to get to campus at 6am and cover every messaging board with our posters. That’s repetition. Then we would jump on buses, run through the halls, and hit the quad passing out handbills, all while singing, dancing, and improvising comedy scenes. That’s interruption. And if you were on campus that week, you knew Freudian Slip had a show coming up.
#2 Yes, And… 🤝
There is a rule in improv to “never negate.” You should always be adding to the scene. This can be directly applied to relationships with clients. I want to take their ideas and augment them in ways that are even better than they imagined. A Core Value at Bennett is that we are creative problem solvers, not negators.
#3 Teamwork makes the dream work 🌟
With improv comedy, you’re a team. This means people can take big risks, like setting a scene on Mars or Will Smith’s family reunion, knowing that if they start to waver, a teammate will jump in and carry the torch forward. It’s the same with creative teams. During brainstorms, there needs to be freedom to take risks and trust in your team to carry the idea, even if you stall out.
What early jobs or hobbies inform your current career? Leave it in the comments.
