top of page

Some Articles About The Value of Improv (and play) 

The benefits of participating in improvisational comedy: a global confirmatory survey study

  • "Nearly all respondents agreed that improv added value to their life, over three quarters responded that they developed social skills, nearly 90% developed communication skills"

Comedy Studies, Vol. 13, 2022

Keates & Beadle-Brown

​

Improv experience promotes divergent thinking, uncertainty tolerance, and affective well-being

Thinking Skills and Creativity, Vol. 35, March 2020

Felsman, Gunawardena, & Seifert

​

Improv boosts creativity and psychological well-being

Psychology Today, May 18, 2020

Clay Drinko, PhD

​

7 research-backed benefits of improv comedy

  • Improv reduces social anxiety, reduces uncertainty intolerance, boosts confidence, decreases stress, boosts creativity & brain connectivity

Psychology Today, April 1, 2023

Clay Drinko, PhD

​

Improv to Improve: The impact of improvisational theater on creativity, acceptance, and psychological well-being

  • “We found significant improvement in participants’ creativity and psychological well-being due to the intervention”

Journal of Creativity in Mental Health, Vol. 16, 2021

Diana Schwenke et. al.

​

Using Improv to Improve

Applied Improv in use in the Air Force

​

Thera-prov: A pilot study of improv used to treat anxiety & depression

  • Participants showed decreased anxiety and depression, improved self-esteen, and a trend towards reduction in perfectionism 

Journal of Mental Health, Vol. 28, 2019, #6

Krueger, Murphy, & Bink

​

The use of improvisational theater To reduce social anxiety in adolescents

The Arts in Psychotherapy, Vol. 63, April 2019

Felsman, Seifert, & Himle
 

Reducing social anxiety and intolerance of uncertainty in adolescents with improvisational theater

The Arts in Psychotherapy, Vol. 82, Feb. 2023

Felsman, Seifert, Sinco, & Himle

​

“Play” has serious benefits for adults

  • “A psychiatrist’s study of murderers found one thing in common: They all lacked play in their childhoods.”

  • “Throughout the lifespan, play supports neurological growth and development while building complex, skilled, flexible, responsive and socially adept brains.”

Medium, Oct. 17, 2019

​

​

And a bonus about some of the things we have seen that improv improves:

​

This Is the Most In-Demand Skill of the Future

Ryan Jenkins

According to the “2019 State of the Workplace” report by the Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) in the USA, the top three missing skills in job applicants are:

“Problem-solving, critical thinking, innovation, and creativity (37 percent)

Ability to deal with complexity and ambiguity (32 percent)

Communication (31 percent)”

See the full SHRM report referenced in the article here 
And according to that report, the most effective remedies for addressing the skills gap include: “Providing onsite training to employees (e.g., seminars, training programs)” and “Starting/expanding training programs to help improve skills of new hires”.

​

​

And, if you need a little more about happiness in the workplace:

​

​

​

​

bottom of page