If improv can be anything, it stands to reason that it can be for everyone.
Recently, an improv teacher reached out online to ask my advice on how to support a new student they were working with who is blind. It is a great question, and a lot to discuss. These are exactly the kinds of questions we need to be asking if we truly want improv to be a place everyone can play and thrive. Here are some tips I shared about how to start.
1. It starts with a conversation.
Improv teachers should be wired for support. That said, we are often afraid to ask about someone’s needs when it comes to their disability. If a student discloses they have a visual impairment, it is our duty as their teacher, and as a fellow improviser, to support them. The best way to do that is to talk with them.
Ask about their vision: Blindness is a spectrum. When possible, find out what they can see and where they can see it. Some people who are blind can see things out of their peripheral vision, some people who are blind can see things directly in front of them, some can only see shapes, etc.
Ask about how they will access the class. What accommodations do they already use, like a white cane, a guide dog, or a sighted guide? If they use a sighted guide will they bring someone to assist them? Sidenote: we should all know how to be a good sighted guide.
2. What do you love to teach?
Many exercises and games can be adapted to allow everyone to play them equally. When thinking about how to adapt what you love, there are two main considerations: What is the goal of the exercise? How can we all play it?
Sometimes the goal shifts after we make those changes. For example, I used to use 8 Count Shakeout as an energy warmup. When I have students with physical differences, I slow down the exercise and tweak the physical movements to meet the students where they are. Instead of shaking their hands above their heads, maybe they thrust a fist into the air (better for people with balance issues). Now the exercise is about focus and warming up the body. Still a great exercise, now it has a new purpose. And now we need a new energy warmup so think about how you can shift something to work for that.
Be in the mindset of building your session one block at a time and allowing each choice to influence the next choice (just like great scenework).
3. Ensure every game you are playing is equally accessible to everyone attending.
The opportunities to access the exercise should be the same for everyone. Avoid having one version for one group of people and a different version for others. It might seem fine to say, “and you can play it this way” – you made an accommodation and they are playing. The problem is that now they are feeling other, not one of the group.
It may mean you have to eliminate some games or exercises you love. I used to play a lot of guessing games that relied on visual clues. And I used to think that having a person with a visual impairment sit out those games was fine, they could play the next thing. It isn’t fine. Every time we play something that doesn’t include them it can erode that player’s confidence and it erodes the group dynamic we are trying to build. Plus, that’s not fun and we want everyone to have fun. Also, there are plenty of guessing games that don’t rely on visual cues. Play those. Don’t know any, make some up. We are improvisers, we are endlessly adaptable and creative.
4. Think about how you are describing the exercises to ensure that you are giving enough verbal detail and not relying on visual cues.
Improv relies on a lot of common language and you may not realize how much of that language is meant for sighted people. Saying something as commonplace as “circle up” is not enough of a descriptor for a first-time improviser with a visual impairment. Be specific (we love specificity in improv!).
It is helpful to break this down into actionable steps like this:
Throughout this class you will hear me say, “Circle Up!”. That means I want all of our improvisers in a circle (it’s improv’s favorite shape!). The circle allows us all to be present and connected with each other. When I say, “Circle Up!” you will all form one large circle in the center of the room. You will stand facing into the circle with about a foot between each of you. You are welcome to take any spot in the circle. The goal, like in all of improv, is for all of us to work together to get where we are trying to go. One person makes a choice of where to stand, and we build on that. So let’s try it: “Circle Up!”.
Side-coach the entire class while they are moving until they are all in place. Now that you have explained it to the class and side-coached them to achieve the goal, from now on you can just say, “Circle Up!” and everyone will know what the task is.
5. Think about the space.
Set up the room with as few obstacles as possible. Create a sitting area for the class and a “stage” area for scenes. Invite them to come early and walk the space with you to understand the setup. Keep the setup the same each week.
Important: Try not to move furniture pieces, including chairs, during the session. If you absolutely have to move something, verbalize to the class that you are moving it and where it is now. Again, be specific: “I am moving the chair that is in the right of the stage area to the far left wall, in the corner of the seating area”
And let’s talk about chairs. Think about whether your players really need chairs/cubes for scenes. Why do we rely so much on two chairs in improv? In my everyday life, I very rarely sit in a single chair next to someone to have a conversation. And the number of times players knock over and throw chairs to express emotion in improv is wildly out of sync with how often that happens in the non-improv world, but that’s a blog for another day. That said, some players may need them for safety, for others it may be a safety issue to have them. If you do want them, place two chairs in the stage area. If anyone moves chairs during any scene, they must reset them after their scene. If you do have to move things during a scene with someone with visual impairment again, make sure you verbalize that you are moving those things.
What are exercises and games you love to play? How can you adapt them? Pop your questions, thoughts and ideas below and let’s build a better way forward together.
Deana Criess 
We got a community member recently that has come before so I knew him but I didn’t have great accommodations set up the last times. He asked me if my workshop was something he could do the first time he came and I just told him “I don’t know, but I want it to be.”
Last time he was able to play every game. I had to start making adjustments in real time but everyone was laughing by mid workshop.
One thing I discovered that ended up being a great exercise by accident was that I’d simply narrate physical actions in real time across scenes. This got everyone, including my visually impaired student laughing and didn’t really distract from the mostly physical choices other actors were making.
But here’s the really cool part: obviously narration helped my visually impaired actor by letting them in on the joke, but sometimes I had no idea what my actor was trying to communicate, so my sudden silence spoke volumes about what the actor was doing.
The silence was the valuable feedback.
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