What makes a good improvisor

I’d say confidence but that’s not quite right. What I see as a good improvisor is someone who rarely looks like their working hard. Nothing can tweak an audience like a performer dropping mask. If you watch beginner improv you really see the gears turning. Getting better is working on making all that gear turning natural, second nature, so the play looks like… well play. If the crowd can see your sweat they get worried, and worried people are a lot harder to entertain. Some people have a natural talent for this inflappability but it will always take work to get it performance-level.

This is not helpful advice. Just saying “be more confident” is nothing. But it is a guidepost for improving your craft. Ask yourself, what puts you in your head? What makes you have to step out of character and think? How can I work on that so the way to deal with that is internalized?

Not every improvisor can do everything. Don’t try everything at once. Find what makes scenes easy for you, start from there. Build your base then explore. Get a coach.