The 'Batman Effect': How having an alter ego empowers you (2020)
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&#x2F;or personality) and to choose a totem (an object) that they wear to do just that such as shoes, a shirt, watch, etc.<p>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.<p>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&#x27;re portraying.<p>I believe many people adopt an alter ego without knowing it today. These are YouTubers, Streamers, Conference Speakers, and really anything where there&#x27;s a concept of a &quot;stage&quot;.<p>The book &quot;The Alter Ego Effect&quot; by Todd Herman goes into this further, but my favorite material on this is &quot;Impro&quot; by Keith Johnstone.