Improv Class #4. We worked on agreement and we played some fun games. Once again, I had some strong moments. But once again, I sucked–I mean, horribly, awfully, terribly sucked–with my opening initiation. My first instinct was just to go with something small and simple (“Where should we go for vacation?”) and at the last minute, I blurted out something so confusing and convoluted that even I was immediately disappointed. Oh. It was bad. By far, the weakest set up of the game.
I really, really have to go with small and simple instead of trying to set up this big, complicated scenario. Thinking about it, it’s pretty much common sense. The more complicated I try to create a scene with my first line or two — the more difficult it will be for my partners to get what I have established. So that means they’ll respond probably in a way that I wasn’t expecting, which means that I’d feel frustrated that no one knows what I’m talking about, and then nothing is going my way, and then it just all falls apart.
Instead, if I go with simple — I have no preconceived thoughts about where things are going. I just throw out the idea — my partner plays with it — I toss back another idea — And so it goes. And like magic, a funny, brillant scene is created.
Simple. I need simple. Other people can maybe pull off bigger right now, but not me. Probably in the future. But for now, I need to stay simple.
I did a very good slumpy, apathetic sales person in a meeting. It was good until I got out of character and shot to attention when the boss said he was going to fire someone. My gut was to stay slumped down, but again, I went with my second reaction — to seem like I cared about my job afterall. Again, way too complicated.
Last night’s class was much better than the previous week. I felt good and happy. I’m seeing the show on Friday and then learning to do the lights on Saturday! YES! I’m an improv dork. Officially.
Added:
In a related area, I just read this interview with Charna Halpern, who is considered by some a founding mother of improv. She says:
In my mind, it’s not necessarily the initiation. It’s usually the second line that makes the scene. [laughs] You can come out with anything and it’s what the second person does with it that makes the scene work. Anything makes a good initiation. You can come out and cry. You can come out and give a piece of a information. You can come out and stand there and be a statue. I don’t think there’s a such a thing as a bad initiation. You can say ‘Fuck you. I hate you,’ and that’s right. What makes it good is somebody get out there, and if somebody’s out there, good.
She didn’t see the scene I started last night. OUCH. But I appreciate and understand what she’s getting to. And I’ve seen it done — where the initiation is really not much, but it turns into something awesome.
