Try-Hard
The Try-Hard is a longform. The scene can be performed solo, or with a team of improvisers.
Structure
The stage is split into 3 sections. The get should be something geared toward a public speaking event.
Example: "Virtually everyone is afraid of public speaking, right? So what's a situation you have found yourself in that you had to speak publicly?"
Explain to the audience how the stage is split up.
- Center stage is where the public speaker performs the speech. i.e. - The external.
- Stage Right is where the internal monologue of the public speaker happens. i.e. - The internal.
- Stage Left is where the audience for the public speech exists. There may be one or more audience members in the scene. i.e. - The audience.
All stage positions should play straight out to the audience.
The scene should start Center Stage with the public speaker performing a speech. Stage Left and Stage Right react to what is said by Center Stage.
- The external will just be the speech. However confident or bold that public speech needs to be. The presentation is the key of this element.
- The internal will be the chaos happening in the speakers mind as they deliver their remarks. The emotions and feelings are the keys of this element.
- The audience will react in ways that live in the distance between the external presentation, and the internal feelings of the speech.
History
Being short one improv team for a Triple Threat July 3rd, 2026 at The Bit Theater - the host Jeremy Kowalski needed to come up with a solo improv form to fill a slot. He debuted this form as a solo and played all 4 roles on stage. 1 person giving a best man toast, the internal reaction of that best man to his own words, and 2 wedding reception guests watching the best man implode in front of the entire wedding party as the best man came to realizations in real time and then confessed those newly unearthed secrets to all.
The name Try-Hard is a play on the 3 (tri) areas of the stage. The name is also a homage to the creator. Who has been called the derogatory term in at least a dozen different contexts.
