Finding the edge. What are the limitations of improv?

🎙️ Episode: What Are the Limitations of Improv?

In this episode of The Secret Improv Podcast, Kristian and Goose zoom out and ask the big question: What can’t improv do? With decades of performance experience under their belts, they explore the boundaries of the art form — both technical and emotional — and dig into why those boundaries might actually make improv better.

Can you tell a complete story in five minutes? Can you truly play drama in an improv scene? Does “yes, and” have limits when the scene calls for a no? What happens when the format itself works against the depth you're trying to reach?

This week’s discussion is both analytical and reflective, offering a nuanced take on improv’s creative ceiling… and how to press right up against it.

🌀 Topics in this episode:

• The myth of “limitless freedom” in improv

• Emotional truth vs. game structure

• Format fatigue and audience expectations

• When improv isn’t the right tool for the job

• How limitations can sharpen creativity

🎭 Whether you’re a longform nerd, a shortform pro, or somewhere in between, this episode delivers real insight into the edges of the improv world — and why it’s okay if some things stay just out of reach.