Attended My First Improv Jam

TLDR: I went to my first improv jam and completely froze & bombed.

I’m currently most of the way through taking my first improv class, and I went to a show/jam last night that was attended by several other classmates and our teacher.

The show part of the night was great, both groups were fantastic and funny! However, then things personally went downhill. I got placed on a team with my teacher, a classmate, and a mix of several other veteran & new improvisers. We did some warm ups, and I was feeling pretty good, but the moment I stepped foot on the stage to perform I completely froze.

We did a several minute long montage, and I found myself rooted to my spot on the sideline, unable to initiate or join a scene. Even when veteran improvisers pulled me in, my brain was equally as frozen as my body, and I just completely bombed.

I just found this so personally frustrating, because in class I’ve been making it a point to always be the first to volunteer or jump in to an exercise/scene, but now when performing on an actual stage in front of an audience I reverted right back to this panic mode.

What are some ways to help combat this kind of freezing & panicking? I know the obvious answer is more experience & repetition (which I plan on doing of course), but it just feels like the experience & reps I’m getting from class are not translating to the stage. Any advice would be appreciated