As an awkward teen, one of my greatest joys was going to summer camp every year. Not for the delightful lunchtime hash browns or the chance to cross the state line from Indiana into Kentucky. Though both of those were a plus.I always participated in a week-long improv class. One where we played games, learned about the word "chutzpah" and got into trouble if we pantomimed drunkenness.
Those were good times.
A few months ago, I heard an improv theater in Orlando, the SAK Comedy Lab, was offering a free improv class for those interested in seeing what a semester of classes might be like. So, I signed up.
Because why not? Maybe they'd have hash browns...
Though I was too chicken (and overbooked) to sign up for official classes, what I got that night was a great refresher in improv and therefore a few really great reminders about how to do a better job at being alive.
I want to give you a few samples of what our instructor taught, but nothing compares to signing up for classes and learning in person. It's 100% more effective to do it than it is to read about it.
1. Say, "Yes, and..." - Tina Fey writes about this improv rule a lot, only she talks about it as a life concept. It's the art of agreement. Improv performers don't fight each other about the illusions they create onstage. If Guy #1 onstage says he's a gorilla, Guy #2 onstage doesn't say, "No you're not!"
For example:
Guy #1: *pretends to be gorilla*
Guy #2: *hands Guy #1 an invisible banana and pretends to be a zookeeper*
OR
Guy #1: *pretends to be a gorilla*
Guy #2: *also pretends he is a gorilla and starts picking fleas off of Guy #1*
You get the idea.
"Say yes and you'll figure it out afterward." - Tina Fey
This concept allows performers to build and create vs. spending their time arguing or fighting for dominance onstage. If you fail, you fail. So what? But nine times out of ten, you aren't going to fail if you just stick to this basic concept. You'll learn what you can really do out of your comfort zone while under pressure.
What's the difference between the Tina Feys of the world and the rest of us dummies? Maybe they're super geniuses and we've been hit with the average stick. Or. Maybe they're just willing to put one foot in front of the other and see what they can do.
2. It's far more embarrassing not to give it your all. Think about this, you're watching an episode of American Idol.
Shut up, you are!
A singer auditions. Instead of belting it out, they barely squeak out a song. You wince. You're embarrassed for them. Why would they come all that way just to chump out?
(Don't answer that, it's rhetorical.)
Now imagine you see a stand-up comedian and the guy telling the jokes is so self-conscious that he keeps apologizing. It's cringe-inducing.
If you're gonna fail at something, go down in a blaze of glory. Give it everything you've got. Do that and maybe you'll learn something from the experience. But if you let your inhibitions rule your actions, you'll never get the chance to see what you can do.
In improv, when a performer makes a joke that isn't funny, sometimes the actual act of FAILING at that joke gets a laugh because they were fully invested. Or sometimes it's their reaction to their own failure that leads to the laugh. They make fun of themselves when a joke doesn't stick, the audience laughs, and the show doesn't skip a beat.
But if they got upset and ran offstage crying, well, that would be a showstopper. And not in the fancy old-timey movie way.
I stand firm that some people with absolutely no talent "make it" just because they were brave enough to go for it. How many talentless hacks and egomaniacs have left you baffled by their success? If THEY can do it, so can you.
3. Don't think so hard. Sometimes, it's okay to go with your first gut instinct. In improv, it's not the wackiest suggestions or most outlandish situations that get the biggest laughs. Sometimes it's the most obvious or the first that spring to mind.
Writers, take note. Just tell your story, YOUR way.
While it's true there's a time to redraft and a time to mull over individual words, there's also a time to just get something down on paper. A business plan, a screenplay, or even something that doesn't require writing. Maybe there's a conversation you need to have and you're procrastinating.
Sometimes you just have to GO already.
It was refreshing that the idea in improv is to fill in the blanks and keep the momentum going, not to fill in the blanks with the BEST or most original suggestions. Improv is all about speed.
So those are the tips.
But there was a great equalizer. When it was your turn to get onstage and make something up, you HAD to do it, which was liberating. If you fight with inhibitions, shyness, social anxiety, anything like that at all, get thee to an improv class. It's aversion therapy and it works.
I want to leave you with a homework assignment. I want you to think about some of your favorite TV shows. Now go watch their pilots.
Often in TV, a writer/creator will throw everything they've got into the pilot of their TV show. Sometimes there are years of hopes and dreams all tangled up in that very first crucial episode.
And often times they look back at those pilots and wince and think, "I thought THAT was good?" Their shows grow, evolve, and change. The writing gets better. The characters become more fleshed out. All because they put one foot in front of the other. Because they said yes. Because they gave it their all and because they didn't obsess over the details. They just. Got it. DONE.
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| The pilot for "Golden Girls" featured an additional character named "Coco", a bad wig on Sophia, a heavy emphasis on her recent stroke, and Bea Arthur got almost all of the punchlines. What if they hadn't been willing to work out the kinks? |
SO that's two homework assignments I'm giving you.
1. A list of ten talentless hacks that are getting plenty of work. (This is your list of no excuses. If they can do it, so can you)
2. Going back and investigating the origins of some of your favorite TV shows and learning how the shows changed.
BONUS POINTS: If you can, find interviews with the creators of those TV shows talking about feeling embarrassed by their early works.