Last year, I was inspired to take a break from drinking. It wasn’t a decision I came to lightly, but I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and see if I could find new ways to experience joy, happiness, and relaxation. Of course, that also meant doing improv and sketch stone cold sober. No drink reward for writing a page of a sketch. No beer before a performance.
To my surprise, it wasn’t that difficult for me to do any of these things without a drink. More than anything, it was a relief. I had kicked some bad habits, and I felt more aligned with my true self. Fairly quickly, I became a more confident performer and writer.
However, what has been difficult for me is negotiating my new sober life with the drinking habits of my improv and sketch teams. It’s no one’s fault. Many shows take place in bars, for one. And since shows tend to go late, the only thing that’s usually open around a theater at 11 p.m. on a weeknight is a bar. People have gone from work to a show without a break, and unwinding together feels natural, so heading to the bar just seems to make sense.
But I wonder if this pattern is keeping some performers from cutting back. And in the long run, it may hold some performers back from realizing their potential as improvisers and writers.
Drinking and improvisation is often a knotted mess for many performers. Before the show, in the greenroom, everyone has their drink of choice. There’s the guy that pulls a bottle of whiskey out from his secret hiding place and starts passing it around, the guy sipping red wine out of a dixie cup, the girl who reminds everyone that Del Close believes two beers is the perfect amount of alcohol for performing. The energy begins to pick up. The laughter grows as the bits get more outlandish, and before the show has even started people want to know: Are we going out after?
When you’re involved with a great team and feel real love for each member, it’s hard to know what the best part is: performing or hanging out (which often involves alcohol). And when you’re in the midst of it, it’s easy to think it doesn’t matter. It’s all fun.
But my personal feeling is that alcohol can make us complacent as performers. And after years of being part of a dozen or so teams, I feel improv communities could do a better job supporting people who have chosen not to drink or are attempting to drink less.
5 ideas for untangling alcohol from comedy
For my sake and for the sake of others who are trying to cut back on drinking—or eliminate it entirely—I’ve thought of a few ways to break up the monotony of the show-to-bar, practice-to-bar, class-to-bar pattern. Try out some (or all!) of these ideas next time you’re racking your brains for what to do with your comedy friends besides grab a beer.
1. Don’t glorify drinking
You can start by thinking about your mindset toward alcohol. Drinking isn’t an on switch that helps you face your fears. Often, it’s more like an off switch that keeps you from overcoming your fears completely. Holly Whitaker of the website Hip Sobriety describes it this way:
More and more of us are waking up to the reality that drinking is not sexy or sophisticated or adult. It is the exact opposite of those things. Drinking makes us look like shit, kills our self-confidence, sucks our time/money/energy, ruins our health, works against every single goal we have for ourselves, and keeps us stuck and stunted. By just trying on sobriety or questioning our drink-centric culture, you are profoundly ahead of the pack and among good company.
Hip Sobriety is a great resource for anyone who is tired of their Instagram looking like it’s a paid advertisement for cocktails or if you’re beginning to feel a little déjà vu when people ask, “Hey, what should we do for fun?” and the answer is always, “Let’s get a drink.” It’s full of helpful tips and resources for cutting back or going full teetotaler.
2. Get curious about your teammates’ relationships to alcohol
Every single person has a different relationship to alcohol, so it can become a lively conversation topic, especially if your team is close. I was on a team where at the same time that someone was asked to leave because they drank too much, another performer was giving up alcohol. At first we were hesitant to talk about it. We felt powerless to help our friend that drank too much and isolated from our friend who wasn’t drinking at all.
One of the team members mentioned he was reading Drinking: A Love Story, by Caroline Knapp, which inspired me and another member of the team to read it as well. It’s a beautiful book and has a quiz in the middle about drinking habits. Even though it didn’t inspire everyone to instantly become sober, it did spark many conversations about our own drinking habits, where they began and if we were interested in changing them.
I’m not suggesting every improv needs a book club, but conversations about alcohol are timely right now since, as a culture, people are choosing to cut back en masse.
3. Dare your teammates not to drink
Your next step is doing the damn thing, possibly as a group. If you’re on a team that imbibes before a performance, challenge the group to explore performing sober. Be brave enough to initiate a conversation about it afterward.
If this seems insane or even scary to you, you’re not alone. But the more hostile you think your team would be toward an idea like this, the more likely it’s an appropriate conversation to have. This is also a great question for a group to discuss when they are first coming together and thinking about performing regularly as a team.
4. Be proactive about finding activities to do that don’t involve alcohol
Plan hangouts with your team that involve doing different activities together. Changing up your routine could even help your group’s overall performance quality. For example, the critically acclaimed Harold team King Ten apparently does odd activities together like bowling, swimming, and horseback riding to work on their object work. They then weave these activities and experiences into their shows.
5. Find places to hang out that offer a variety of nonalcoholic beverage options
During the time that my teammate gave up alcohol, our team was in the habit of going to a brewery after our shows, and there was nothing for this person to drink. He drank water for hours. I asked if he would be more comfortable if I didn’t drink, but when he said he was fine, I didn’t hesitate to order another. The least I could have done is convince the team to find a better hangout while my friend was abstaining from alcohol.
More and more bars are creating NA cocktails, and the NA craft beer scene is actually pretty spectacular if you know where to look. Even a ginger beer can be a godsend to someone who does not drink. Seek out the places that cater to the non-drinkers in your group to make sure everyone feels comfortable when you’re hanging out after a show.
No alcohol ≠ no comedy
If you’re like most people, you’re probably somewhere in the middle with your drinking habits. If drinking is a fun release for you, but you want to be more mindful of your teammates, great! Care personally about each member of your team’s relationship to alcohol and don’t hold anyone hostage with your own drinking habits. Especially, if you’re seen as a leader on your team suggest alternative places and times for hanging out.
And if you’re the sober team member or just thinking about cutting back, challenge yourself to keep going out with your team. Order club soda (I promise the choices are improving) and stay as long as it makes sense. You might be surprised that you inspire your teammates to make healthier choices.
