Radical Acceptance: How to Play the Scene You’re in

Key points

Improvisers are taught to play the scene they're in, not the one they want to be in.

Radical acceptance is a part of dialectical behavioral therapy and involves accepting reality as it is.

To radically accept your life, admit it, check in with your feelings, and then go from there.

An improv rule says improvisers should play the scene they’re in, not the scene they want to be in.

One summer, I took a 6-week summer intensive at iO in Chicago. I really bonded with my classmates while we learned the ins and outs of long-form improvisation.

The six-week intensive culminated in a showcase. We were all a little nervous to perform in front of actual humans on an actual stage. At some point, I noticed one of my classmates pretending to be the wings of a plane. Then someone else ju