My Type A personality has always been at odds with improv. I’ve said many times over (only half joking) that if it weren’t for improv, I’d be even more intolerable to be around than I am now. Improv gets me away from my “to do” lists, away from checking technology and away from planning the next project, the next trip, the next grand adventure. Improv forces me to just be.
Recently, a colleague in Jacksonville asked improvisers what they had learned from improv. While I’ve thought and written about this before, I feel that improv – like yoga – is a practice. It’s a continuously evolving journey where everyone – even improv teachers – are always learning. Since moving to St. Augustine seven months ago, I feel my own path has taken on a new twist as I’ve been holding space for so many people new to improv. In doing so, I’ve been looking through their eyes and improv has become magical once again.
In this moment, the five things I’ve learned from improv that are the most relevant to my current practice are:
Improv Basics students bonding through a group mirror.
1. The “we” is greater than the “me.” It’s not about “me” because the co-creative powers of “we” are way bigger than “me.” Take any team or ensemble. If just one of the people steps out, the group dynamic changes. Whatever is happening in that moment would not exist without each and every person engaged in the process – together. In improv, I matter and you matter because together you and I are discovering the magic (yes, there’s that word again) of “we.”
2. Do something. Life can be like a bad improv scene when we talk about doing things rather than actually doing things. If you have seen bad improv (or actually done bad improv) you know the scene. It’s two talking heads debating the possibility of doing something but never actually doing anything. Now take that off stage. You know the person. That person who is constantly dreaming but never actually doing. I did a big thing by literally up and moving to St. Augustine from Denver. But, the big thing started with one small thing. What’s your one small thing? Try one small thing on stage and then take that concept into the world and see what you might be able to manifest.
3. Get out of your head. Living inside your head is horrible – actually it’s not even living … it’s more like existing. I have tried for years to get out of my head on the yoga mat. Sometimes it works. Most times it doesn’t. Why? Because I’m alone on my mat and the only person I’m accountable to is me. However, in improv someone is always depending on me to give a gift, to be present and to completely show up. The stakes are higher, so I get out of my head. And, I feel alive in doing so. Being out of your head is the most alive experience available and it doesn’t even require a plane ticket – it merely requires one other person to engage.
4. Make someone else look brilliant. Supporting each other builds community – on stage and off. My improv students are musicians, photographers, yogis. They are scripted actors, artists and writers. Some are teenagers and some are grandparents. All of them are really just human beings before they are any of these other things. In getting to know them via after class “parking lot meetings,” I learn so much about them as people and that makes me want to make them look brilliant. Why? Because we’re connecting as people. When was the last time you asked someone a question about his or her day? How about a deeper question? When we connect as human beings, we create bonds. Those bonds make us want to build ourselves up – and each other. I invite you to stand in the rain with a stranger you’ve recently met through a shared experience. You might be surprised how fast two minutes becomes two hours. You might be even more surprised at how brilliant you both become as a result.
Photo by Dave Bowers.
5. Tribes enable us to thrive. I can show up in a town where I know literally no one and say one thing, “I’m an improviser” and immediately there is a shared language, a shared value system and a shared way of looking at life. Suddenly being alone isn’t an option. And, isn’t that what we all want whether we’re introverts or extroverts or young or old or conservative or liberal? We want someone or someones to get us because then we bloom, we grow, we thrive. I recently read Year of Yes by Grey’s Anatomy creator, Shonda Rhimes. She summed it up perfectly by saying, “The fundamental need for one human being to hear another human being say to them: ‘You are not alone. You are seen. I am with you. You are not alone.’” Imagine being in a space where not only are you not alone, you are fully engaged, you are fully supported and you can make no mistakes. All you need to do is be fully present, fully engaged and fully supportive. That is improv.
PLAYSHOP: Improv Hangout
Play improv games, build community, make a toast and also make some new friends as The Adventure Project hosts a monthly opportunity to play and connect – no improv experience needed!
Sunday, June 5th, 6 to 8 p.m.
Limelight Theatre
CAMP: Senior Summer Improv Camp
Summer camp isn’t just for kids anymore! Why? Because we only grow old when we stop playing! Let’s transform our traditional attitudes on aging by turning the image on its head. How? By playing improv games and practicing exercises that will enable campers to cut loose and find the humor in aging.
Monday, June 6th – Friday, June 10th, 1- 3 p.m.
Limelight Theatre
Ages 55 and older
Improv Basics 2 students caught in mid game. Photo by Ed Siarkowicz.
CLASS: Level 1 – Improv Basics
Throughout this 8-week course, students will explore the basic concepts of improvisation in a warm, safe and supportive environment. The class is designed to build self-confidence and explore creativity using the fundamentals of improvisation. Students leaving this course will have a working understanding of the basic fundamentals of improvisational theater as well as an increased appreciation, and comfort, with being on stage – and in life – without a script.
Tuesdays, June 14th – August 2nd
7 – 9 p.m.
Limelight Theatre
CLASS: Fundamentals of Improvisation
Mondays: 6/13, 6/20, 6/27, 7/11, 7/18, 7/25
6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.
Flagler Lifelong Learning Program
Please visit The Adventure Project’s calendar for full details.
