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How to Be a Better Human

Why you should try improv comedy (w/ Rick Andrews)

How to Be a Better Human

TED

Emotional Awareness, Personal Growth, Chris Duffy, Education, Interviews, Self-help, Better Human, Self-improvement

4.1 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2026

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What do radio personality Ira Glass, New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani, and your host Chris Duffy have in common? They all have practiced an unexpected skill that makes them more human—improv comedy. And they learned it from master improv teacher Rick Andrews. Rick joins Chris to discuss the life lessons they learn from giving up control and practicing how to “yes an” in conversations. They also modeled improv games such as “Alibi,” “7 Things,” “Fortunately and Unfortunately,” and more, so you can sprinkle some improvisational silliness to build better communication and trust in your work and personal life.


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Transcript

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0:00.0

This is How to Be a Better Human.

0:03.7

I'm your host, Chris Duffy, and one of my favorite things in the entire world is improv comedy.

0:08.9

I know that is very much not cool and hip to say that one of my favorite things in the entire

0:13.6

universe is adults playing make-believe together, but it is true.

0:17.1

I absolutely love it.

0:19.3

And I think that one of the things that I love the most about it, whether it's watching it or performing it myself, is that good improv skills, in my opinion, are the same as good people skills. How do you listen really closely? How do you make other people look good? How do you deal with unexpected situations? How do you remember something that is fun and playful and bring it back later on?

0:41.1

They're all skills that are kind of basic to improv, but there are also skills that make people, the kinds of people that I want to spend time with, the kinds of people that I want to be around.

0:51.1

And today's guest, Rick Andrews, is an incredible improviser.

0:54.0

He is very much someone who I want to spend time with. But's guest, Rick Andrews, is an incredible improviser. He is very much

0:55.0

someone who I want to spend time with. But more than just being a great performer, Rick is an

0:59.5

amazing teacher. He has been teaching for years. He's taught so, so, so many people. And what

1:05.5

he's learned is that we can all get better at playing, at improvising, and making our lives

1:10.5

funnier, more exciting,

1:12.0

and more of an all-around good time.

1:14.5

We're going to talk so much more about how to do that.

1:17.2

But first, we're going to take a quick break

1:18.5

for a few words from our sponsors. And we are back.

1:33.4

Today, we are talking about improv with Rick Andrews.

1:37.0

Hi, my name is Rick Andrews.

1:38.5

I teach and perform improvisation.

1:40.8

So, Rick, you've been performing and teaching for a really long time, and I have been a fan of your work for a really long time.

1:48.6

From the first time I saw you and every time I see you, I'm always struck by what a talented performer you are.

...

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