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Jeff Arcuri has made a name for himself spinning unpredictable crowd interactions into comedy gold. His debut Netflix special, “Nice To Meet You,” showcases the fearless, improvisational style that’s made him one of the most-clipped comedians on social media. Jeff sat down with us on How Success Happens to share his journey and process, and we’ve broken down 5 highlights of his insights to help improv your own success.
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1. Prepare Before You Improvise
Arcuri’s crowd work looks completely spontaneous — it isn’t. He walks into every show with a game plan and a mental Rolodex of material ready to deploy the second an opening appears. “I always have a plan… I always have a reason to bring something up,” he says. “You’re never gonna see me, like, kinda floundering and then going, ‘All right, so what’s your story over here?'” Instead, he’s always “trying to find trigger words to go into my own, own material, own stories.” That prep work is exactly what lets him stay calm when a stranger says something he never saw coming.
2. Don’t Let Success Distract You
While his career was actually taking off, Arcuri didn’t want anything to prematurely distract him from his goals. He moved from a decent apartment to “living in a basement with rats with five other guys” because he says, “You have to just be okay with struggling financially.” Comforts like “in-unit AC or in-unit laundry” would only “cripple you in the long run,” he warns, because maintaining that lifestyle becomes its own priority. As he puts it, “I’d rather live in a basement filled with rats doing stand-up than living in a high-rise being an accountant. It’s a matter of love of the game.”
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