7 ms·

I taught comedy improv for many years. One tip I would give new performers is to adopt an alter ego for the stage (a fun fake name and/or personality) and to ch

I taught comedy improv for many years. One tip I would give new performers is to adopt an alter ego for the stage (a fun fake name and/or personality) and to choose a totem (an object) that they wear to do just that such as shoes, a shirt, watch, etc. This helped so many different people such as accountants, pre-k teachers, stay-at-home moms, and even university professors get out of their shells, prevent their stage fright, and to be more energetic on-stage when their normal persona is calm, cool, and collected. I do believe we also have an alter ego in three different situations such as work, home, and play. Another common thing I would teach is that you can alter your characters in scenes easily by adopting one of those personas of the character you're portraying. I believe many people adopt an alter ego without knowing it today. These are YouTubers, Streamers, Conference Speakers, and really anything where there's a concept of a "stage". The book "The Alter Ego Effect" by Todd Herman goes into this further, but my favorite material on this is "Impro" by Keith Johnstone.

hesdeadjim 5y ago
I’ve found five years of D&D to have a similar, and persistent, effect. In the beginning I found it hard to relax and “yes and” what was going on. Fast forward to now, I can be in character in front of random people without a hint of anxiety. It was a completely unexpected side-effect of playing, and I’ve also seen a general increase in creativity as well.
- sklargh 5y ago
  Came here thinking about how much my time as a B|X ref has helped me socially/professionally.
  - wilihybrid 5y ago
    Want to tell what B and X stand for here apart from random consonants?
    - Slenth 5y ago
      A bit of googling suggest this might stand for Basic and Expert dungeons and dragons, after the Basic / Expert boxes the rules came in
    - ScarletEmerald 5y ago
      There have been a lot of versions and revisions of D&D over the years. Amongst players of the earlier (or "classic") versions of the game, 'B/X' stands for play based around the Basic Set edited by Tom Moldvay, and the Expert Set edited by "Zeb" Cook, both published in 1981. The 'B/X' edition of the game came after the "Holmes" boxed set,first published in 1977 and edited by J. Eric Holmes, and before the BECMI (Basic, Expert, Companion, Masters, Immortals) published in 1983 and later (and eventually compiled in the D&D Rules Cyclopedia published in the early '90s). They existed at the same time as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, which had more, and more complex, rules.
      - hackernewds 5y ago
        That was a lot of words, to still skip saying Basic | Expert
        formerkrogemp 5y ago
        I appreciated the ancient history lesson ;)
        SgtBastard 5y ago
        > 'B/X' stands for play based around the Basic Set edited by Tom Moldvay, and the Expert Set edited by "Zeb" Cook, both published in 1981. Which part was difficult to grok?
    - deleted 5y ago
      [deleted]
- wheelerof4te 5y ago
  When push comes to shove and I need to get stuff done, I turn into an arrogant and self gratifying Dunmer. Usually, I am just a calm and loving introvert.
christoph 5y ago
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Almost all of the “successful” people I’ve met over the years do this. Whether they be porn stars, tech gurus, YouTubers, or drug dealers, they have two personalities, the totally unfiltered public persona that instantly draws people to them in a room of strangers, then later in the night, they suddenly become the broken, real person, under the skin, that constantly fears being judged, worried what everyone else thinks about them. I’ve rarely met a successful person without the whole two personas thing going on somewhere in their psyche.
- lupire 5y ago
  > totally unfiltered public persona You mean extremely filtered
- pvaldes 5y ago
  So, cocaine mode and withdrawal mode basically.
qiskit 5y ago
> to choose a totem I thought totems were to test if you were in the real world or the dream world. Who knew totems had so many uses.
- haswell 5y ago
  Totems have a long and rich history that predate and have nothing to do with Inception. A totem is generally an object that holds some kind of spiritual or symbolic significance. Its use here is true to the traditional definition.
  - breakfastduck 5y ago
    Symbolic is much more powerful imo. You could even argue certain guitars or other instruments are totems for musicians. When that guitar is worn, or that synth is used... Certainly the idea of totems is probably one of the most inate human behaviours. We all have our favorite 'X'. You could even extend it to software. People are indisputably more productive when they use the tools they prefer, when compared to the most objectively 'efficient' tools.
  - Agentlien 5y ago
    Totems are indeed an ancient concept. Their use in lucid dreaming might not be the first, but it certainly predates their portrayal in Inception.
breakfastduck 5y ago
There are countless real life examples that support this. For example, David Bowie (as a real person) was notoriously filled with anxiety and stage fright. He went into 'Bowie'/'Ziggy' mode in order to perform and distance himself from his real life anxieties. Honestly this is probably the most important advice anyone shy can ever use. I have 'work' ego & person. It is slightly different than who I am day to day. Similar enough to hold my values, but certainly different enough for me to feel much more confident in work related discussions. It has to be a conscious (or at least self aware) 'switch' in order to really have an impact. The totem point is really key. Wear a certain shirt or pants etc that you wouldnt wear in day to day casual life constantly when in work etc. It does make a real difference. You put that on, after enough reinforcement, and you will automatically adjust 'X' mode when wearing it. Even something as simple as cleaning. If you have a 'cleaning' outfit that you wear to do a proper deep clean of you living area, it will motivate you to push more when you put it on. It's essentially the same effect as a uniform. We all know people wearing a uniform (especially police etc) do become more enthusiastic/passionate/egotistical when wearing them.
- raffraffraff 5y ago
  I often wondered if it's linked in any way with the phenomenon of a person who speaks with a stutter, but who can sing without the stutter.
  - supertofu 5y ago
    A different region of the brain is active while singing vs speaking. There are also physical difference between singing and speaking that prevent stuttering, such as: controlled breath, memorized lyrics, and longer phonation.
- dehrmann 5y ago
  That explains Marshmello and Daft Punk.
andai 5y ago
I can attest to the power of "acting" even in private. When I was a teenager, I had incredible difficulties getting myself to study. I was behind in every single class and the stress created a vicious cycle where it became harder and harder to study due to the paralyzing anxiety. One day I got fed up with that huge pressure / inability to move and said, "Damn, how is this so easy for Anne, or Josh!!! How do they do it?" Then suddenly, "wait... how DO they do it?" I tried to put myself in the shoes of the best student I knew. He was quite autistic, moved his face and body in unusual ways, but he loved learning and always read the books before term even started. I had a bit of experience with acting, so I adopted his body language, movement patterns, and mindset. "Wow," I thought, "I frigging love learning!!" I got to work on my math homework, worked with effortless joy for the next hour, and was so weirded out by the experiment that I never repeated it. (I later overcame my fear of math "myself" thanks to meditation: I realized trying harder didn't work because it only made me tired faster, I had to learn to truly relax—then study became effortless for me.) -- I later learned a technique from Napoleon Hill where you have a big meeting in your imagination with folks whose wisdom and character you admire. In this way you use your "hardware" (brain) to run different OS (mind) using an "emulator" (imagination). It might sound silly but I'm always amazed at the fresh perspectives I'm able to obtain when I ask "someone smarter" for advice in my imagination. Truly my range of thought is severely limited by the constraints of my own self-concept—it's good to let go of it from time to time and see what else comes up.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- selestify 5y ago
  > It might sound silly but I'm always amazed at the fresh perspectives I'm able to obtain when I ask "someone smarter" for advice in my imagination. That sounds eerily like asking GPT3 to pretend to be someone else.
  - andai 5y ago
    Yes, and GPT-3 has the advantage of having read all their books!
ungamedplayer 5y ago
I find this -very- same effect very useful for doing Dungeon master work in D&D.
amelius 5y ago
So much for the age-old advice: "just be yourself".
- supertofu 5y ago
  Agreed. It's lazy and dismissive advice. I wish it wasn't such a trope in children's entertainment. Most people don't have a fixed sense of self until adulthood. And wise adults understand that there's no self at all.
  - 8bitsrule 5y ago
    >wise adults understand that there's no self at all Except, of course, for Carl Jung. And Polonius in Hamlet. But that's all.
  - BizarroLand 5y ago
    I reinterpreted it as "be the you you would be if you could control who you are", but that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue

hesdeadjim 5y ago

I’ve found five years of D&D to have a similar, and persistent, effect. In the beginning I found it hard to relax and “yes and” what was going on. Fast forward to now, I can be in character in front of random people without a hint of anxiety. It was a completely unexpected side-effect of playing, and I’ve also seen a general increase in creativity as well.

sklargh 5y ago
Came here thinking about how much my time as a B|X ref has helped me socially/professionally.
- wilihybrid 5y ago
  Want to tell what B and X stand for here apart from random consonants?
  - Slenth 5y ago
    A bit of googling suggest this might stand for Basic and Expert dungeons and dragons, after the Basic / Expert boxes the rules came in
  - ScarletEmerald 5y ago
    There have been a lot of versions and revisions of D&D over the years. Amongst players of the earlier (or "classic") versions of the game, 'B/X' stands for play based around the Basic Set edited by Tom Moldvay, and the Expert Set edited by "Zeb" Cook, both published in 1981. The 'B/X' edition of the game came after the "Holmes" boxed set,first published in 1977 and edited by J. Eric Holmes, and before the BECMI (Basic, Expert, Companion, Masters, Immortals) published in 1983 and later (and eventually compiled in the D&D Rules Cyclopedia published in the early '90s). They existed at the same time as Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, which had more, and more complex, rules.
    - hackernewds 5y ago
      That was a lot of words, to still skip saying Basic | Expert
      - formerkrogemp 5y ago
        I appreciated the ancient history lesson ;)
      - SgtBastard 5y ago
        > 'B/X' stands for play based around the Basic Set edited by Tom Moldvay, and the Expert Set edited by "Zeb" Cook, both published in 1981. Which part was difficult to grok?
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
wheelerof4te 5y ago
When push comes to shove and I need to get stuff done, I turn into an arrogant and self gratifying Dunmer. Usually, I am just a calm and loving introvert.

christoph 5y ago

I think you’ve hit the nail on the head. Almost all of the “successful” people I’ve met over the years do this. Whether they be porn stars, tech gurus, YouTubers, or drug dealers, they have two personalities, the totally unfiltered public persona that instantly draws people to them in a room of strangers, then later in the night, they suddenly become the broken, real person, under the skin, that constantly fears being judged, worried what everyone else thinks about them. I’ve rarely met a successful person without the whole two personas thing going on somewhere in their psyche.

lupire 5y ago
> totally unfiltered public persona You mean extremely filtered
pvaldes 5y ago
So, cocaine mode and withdrawal mode basically.

qiskit 5y ago

> to choose a totem I thought totems were to test if you were in the real world or the dream world. Who knew totems had so many uses.

haswell 5y ago
Totems have a long and rich history that predate and have nothing to do with Inception. A totem is generally an object that holds some kind of spiritual or symbolic significance. Its use here is true to the traditional definition.
- breakfastduck 5y ago
  Symbolic is much more powerful imo. You could even argue certain guitars or other instruments are totems for musicians. When that guitar is worn, or that synth is used... Certainly the idea of totems is probably one of the most inate human behaviours. We all have our favorite 'X'. You could even extend it to software. People are indisputably more productive when they use the tools they prefer, when compared to the most objectively 'efficient' tools.
- Agentlien 5y ago
  Totems are indeed an ancient concept. Their use in lucid dreaming might not be the first, but it certainly predates their portrayal in Inception.

breakfastduck 5y ago

There are countless real life examples that support this. For example, David Bowie (as a real person) was notoriously filled with anxiety and stage fright. He went into 'Bowie'/'Ziggy' mode in order to perform and distance himself from his real life anxieties. Honestly this is probably the most important advice anyone shy can ever use. I have 'work' ego & person. It is slightly different than who I am day to day. Similar enough to hold my values, but certainly different enough for me to feel much more confident in work related discussions. It has to be a conscious (or at least self aware) 'switch' in order to really have an impact. The totem point is really key. Wear a certain shirt or pants etc that you wouldnt wear in day to day casual life constantly when in work etc. It does make a real difference. You put that on, after enough reinforcement, and you will automatically adjust 'X' mode when wearing it. Even something as simple as cleaning. If you have a 'cleaning' outfit that you wear to do a proper deep clean of you living area, it will motivate you to push more when you put it on. It's essentially the same effect as a uniform. We all know people wearing a uniform (especially police etc) do become more enthusiastic/passionate/egotistical when wearing them.

raffraffraff 5y ago
I often wondered if it's linked in any way with the phenomenon of a person who speaks with a stutter, but who can sing without the stutter.
- supertofu 5y ago
  A different region of the brain is active while singing vs speaking. There are also physical difference between singing and speaking that prevent stuttering, such as: controlled breath, memorized lyrics, and longer phonation.
dehrmann 5y ago
That explains Marshmello and Daft Punk.

andai 5y ago

I can attest to the power of "acting" even in private. When I was a teenager, I had incredible difficulties getting myself to study. I was behind in every single class and the stress created a vicious cycle where it became harder and harder to study due to the paralyzing anxiety. One day I got fed up with that huge pressure / inability to move and said, "Damn, how is this so easy for Anne, or Josh!!! How do they do it?" Then suddenly, "wait... how DO they do it?" I tried to put myself in the shoes of the best student I knew. He was quite autistic, moved his face and body in unusual ways, but he loved learning and always read the books before term even started. I had a bit of experience with acting, so I adopted his body language, movement patterns, and mindset. "Wow," I thought, "I frigging love learning!!" I got to work on my math homework, worked with effortless joy for the next hour, and was so weirded out by the experiment that I never repeated it. (I later overcame my fear of math "myself" thanks to meditation: I realized trying harder didn't work because it only made me tired faster, I had to learn to truly relax—then study became effortless for me.) -- I later learned a technique from Napoleon Hill where you have a big meeting in your imagination with folks whose wisdom and character you admire. In this way you use your "hardware" (brain) to run different OS (mind) using an "emulator" (imagination). It might sound silly but I'm always amazed at the fresh perspectives I'm able to obtain when I ask "someone smarter" for advice in my imagination. Truly my range of thought is severely limited by the constraints of my own self-concept—it's good to let go of it from time to time and see what else comes up.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
selestify 5y ago
> It might sound silly but I'm always amazed at the fresh perspectives I'm able to obtain when I ask "someone smarter" for advice in my imagination. That sounds eerily like asking GPT3 to pretend to be someone else.
- andai 5y ago
  Yes, and GPT-3 has the advantage of having read all their books!

ungamedplayer 5y ago

I find this -very- same effect very useful for doing Dungeon master work in D&D.

amelius 5y ago

So much for the age-old advice: "just be yourself".

supertofu 5y ago
Agreed. It's lazy and dismissive advice. I wish it wasn't such a trope in children's entertainment. Most people don't have a fixed sense of self until adulthood. And wise adults understand that there's no self at all.
- 8bitsrule 5y ago
  >wise adults understand that there's no self at all Except, of course, for Carl Jung. And Polonius in Hamlet. But that's all.
- BizarroLand 5y ago
  I reinterpreted it as "be the you you would be if you could control who you are", but that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue