Improv: A Month Of Laughter!
Wow did April go by quick! I’m so glad that for the first month in my “Year of Adventures”, I chose improv. I must admit, improv isn’t completely new to me, I took a theater class in high school and really enjoyed it. I decided to re-open this door in my life because I remembered the rush of emotions I got when I participated in the games and the childlike giddiness that I left each class with. I was curious if it would still elicit these same responses as an adult and ya know what? IT DID! Plus a handful of extra fears…
I started this month by finding a local improv class. It was only once a week, so I really had no excuse to miss any of the classes. My first class had an orientation that laid out the format. It was very simple so even if you had no experience, you could still pick it up – thank god! During the first 1.5hrs we would do short form and then in the last hour, we would branch into more long form. Just to give you some insight, short form is similar to the games they play in “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” – we aren’t as funny as them, but damn near close! Long form is where you get more of a critique on your presence, motives, and character building.
Now that I had the lay of the land, it was time to jump in! They always start the class with a character introduction – meaning you would think of a persona (southern bell) and introduce yourself. Everyone would then mimic your action. I found myself spending all week trying to think of what my next character introduction would be! I ended up choosing a southern bell, gangster, surfer, and hippie – super creative I know…
After that, we went straight into the games. There were definitely some games I found easier than others – such as freeze. In this game, two people perform a skit and you can randomly yell “FREEZE”. Then you jump in and take one of the performers places. Because you are in control of when to yell freeze, it feels like you have more time to decide on what direction to take the skit. A lot of times though, my masterfully formulated direction would turn out to be as simple as twirling and pretending to be a ballerina.
The games I struggled with the most were letter based. My brain just freezes up! What is a letter based game you ask? Well, for example, they have one where you pick a 5 letter word like “bingo”. When you play out the skit, each new sentence needs to start with the next letter of the word. For example:
“Before we leave, do you know where we are going?”
“I do not”
“Now Timothy, you are supposed to have the GPS”
“Go North”
“Okay”
Now you may think this sounds easy, but when you are standing on stage with 2 new people and you’ve just been told “you are on a pirate ship and sailing to find treasure, GO!” you might also forget every word you’ve ever said in your life – like I did. I swear there were times I was just standing on stage looking upwards trying to pull on any word in the English language. I would then randomly mumble a word that I was so proud to come up with yet didn’t have anything to do with the story. “Hmmmmm b….b….b…b… god damn it Kelsey think of a b… BADMINTON”. However, to give myself some credit, my shouting of random words is getting less and less with each class I take.
Throughout all of these moments though, the people have been amazing. They always provide encouragement and never made you feel judged. There are also people in the class who have been doing it for years, so they always help you keep moving forward if you seem stuck.
Now for the long form. This was simply acting out a scene and then the teacher would provide feedback. For example, I did a short 3 sentence scene and then I was told I needed to be more clear on what I thought the relationship was between the 2 characters. If one person thinks you are father/daughter and the other thinks you are boyfriend/girlfriend, this proves for a confusing scene! The feedback includes simple tips for how to better expand on a scene and build off your partner.
I love that it’s public constructive criticism. I’ve found that most people can get defensive when someone tries to critique your behavior. It’s your inner workings and it can feel like they are attacking you. I used to get extremely defensive, closing myself off to all feedback. However, over time I learned this was only hurting me. If you can remove your ego for a bit, open your mind, and truly listen to what the person might be saying, you could gain some great insight into yourself that you might not have noticed. I’ve always prided myself on trying to do this in my work reviews, but this is normally in a private room with your manager. I liked that this was in front of a group because it helped me walk through my fear of what others might be thinking of me. Of course, you have to take into consideration that there is also a science around how one delivers constructive criticism as well. This leads me directly into what improv taught me this last month.
Improv gave me a safe space to face my fears/insecurities, it released my stress through laughter, and it opened my mind to “yes, and…”
What fears/insecurities did I discover that I have through this experience?
- Fear of being on stage
- Fear of what other people think of me
- Fear of not being funny
- Fear of looking like a fool
- Fear of letters….
These fears haven’t completely disappeared but they keep getting easier each time I go to the class. For this reason alone, I will continue going to improv. I’m already starting to feel more comfortable on stage, learning how to come up with topics on the spot, and getting less self-conscious of what others think of me.
How does improv release my stress?
Laughter – oh so much laughter. It’s the belly jiggling, abs hurt the next day laughter. It’s your own private show of “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” but also starring you! Letting your child side come out and play is such a release. It gives me an outlet to be goofy with no judgment from the outside world. I honestly think that everyone should try improv once in their life as the benefit greatly outweighs any bit of fear you might be feeling.
Uh, Kelsey, what is “yes, and..”?
In improv, they have this rule where you always want to say “yes, and…” This means that if you are in a scene and someone says to you “are you going to the boxing match?” you would say “yes and I’m bringing home the gold!” If you had just said “nope, I’m not going” you have now abruptly ended the scene and the other person is now in charge of coming up with another direction. By saying “yes, and…”, you can build on the scene. Obviously, you can’t apply this to every situation in life but I think it has a beautiful correlation with how you perceive your real life. If you are always saying no or not seeing a situation through, you are ultimately shutting that situation down with no other alternative. If you change your perspective and try to say yes a bit more, you are only opening up more doors for yourself.
So what should you take away from all of this? Get your butt out there and take an improv class! If only for the simple reason of laughing your ass off…
“There is a purifying power in laughter. It is truth in palatable form. It is instant vacation. Seeing the comical side of many situations makes life a great deal easier. It’s like riding through life on sensitive springs that ease every jolt.”
– Eugene P. Bertin
