Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Jeeezus! Look at the time! Why am I not sleeping? Oh, right. Feckin' improv.

Tonight was the last Level 2. Mind blowing shit, this class. I am glad I took it, but I'm not sure when I will catch up with most of it. Tonight we did the now-traditional 360 review type wrap-up. I like this, but at the same time, it makes me uncomfortable. I love talking about improv with the people I play with, but I never feel adequate to the task of this review process. These people are all so funny and talented. Who am I to judge them? So I just always tell them why I love playing with them and why I love watching them play. I guess that's the idea, anyway.

I was pleased and humbled by the feedback my classmates gave me. I have talked before about how I never did anything before in my life that I couldn't master immediately. I don't know what it was about improv that made me keep pushing on, no matter how much I sucked. To hear people telling me that I'm good at this and that they feel safe with me on stage - that means more than most of you can imagine.

And it is interesting that some folks wanted to see me play equal or lower status characters. I remember a DSIF workshop with Jill Bernard where she relentlessly worked to get me to take a higher status. She told me I was an expert at turning a high status character into a low status one, and we worked to overcome that. I guess she taught me good.

Jason Quinn, my new TTB! teammate, said something that caught my attention tonight. He talked about coming into a scene with half an idea. To people unfamiliar with improv, that might seem like an insult - like saying someone has half a brain. In improv, though, that is what we really want to do when starting a scene. We don't need the whole idea. Each of us needs to come into the scene with half an idea. Our scene partner will have the other half.

How cool is that?

I will be moving on to the Level 3. I will take a class with Jennings every chance I get. Plus, I like playing with these people. I hope they all take the class.

Monday, October 24, 2005

I had a dream about improv last night.

I was driving with someone and we were talking excitedly about improv and the new theater. I was on a familiar, well lit highway, when suddenly I drove into the dark. I couldn't see where I was going and I was scared, but not in a bad way. I was scared in that thrilling way you get riding a roller coaster. The road was unpaved and bumpy, and as my eyes got used to the dark, I saw that there wasn't actually much to see. The landscape was barren. There were no buildings, no landmarks at all. I was going to have to find my way in the dark with nothing to guide me. I looked for a place to turn around, but as I did, I realized that, with no landmarks, I wouldn't be able to find my way back to that familiar, well lit road anyway. I just needed to find a new place to go.
When I woke up, I didn't exactly know what the dream was telling me, but I knew immediately that it was about improv.

Saturday, October 15, 2005

Self discipline - I can tell already I'm going to hate this

Since DSI began doing shows, I have always tried to be at as many of them as I could. I generally only missed shows when I was sick or out of town. My attendance was so regular that when I missed one, someone would usually call or im me to make sure I was ok.

One reason I made it a point to go to every show I could was to support my friends and the theater. My friends came to see my shows, I wanted to go to theirs. Support is not just something teammates share, it is a big part of what our whole theater is built on.

The other reason I always went to shows was that if I missed something golden, it was gone forever. I didn't want to miss anything. EVER. I want it all. Every little bit of DSI improv there is and has ever been. Every wonderful thing that is said, every priceless pause, every hilariously expressive facial expression, everything.

The opening last weekend was glorious. It was the realization of our dreams. We all had good shows. It was so much fun and so much improv. It was improv gluttony. And I was exhausted.

The only other times I've gorged myself on that much improv in a weekend have been festivals. I would compare improv festivals to Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone eats (watches, plays) way too much, often to the point of discomfort, but it's awesome, and we know we only do it once a year, so it's ok.

Last weekend I realized that if I continue my habit of going to every show, I would be gorging myself on improv every single weekend. There is no way I could expect myself to do that and not burn out. I resolved to stay away unless I was working or playing. It is a healthy decision, I believe. I know all too well what a burnout feels like, and I don't want to repeat it.

But damn it.

Monday, October 10, 2005

I am so smart, S.M.R.T.

As young children learn new skills, they often seem to forget the skills they already had. For example, a child who is struggling to master potty training will often seem to lose speech skills she had already mastered.

In fact, the child has not forgotten her speech. She is using all her learning abilities on the new skill and putting the old skill on hold for a time. Once the new skill is mastered, the child then exhbits the previous proficiency, and even progress, in the "forgotten" skill.

I could google that to have a reference for you, but I don't feel like it. Trust me. I know it to be true.

Working with Zach as both a teacher and a coach, I am approaching improv from different directions than I ever have before. It is blowing my mind. It is making me feel like I'm forgetting everything I ever learned. I have to remind myself that I have not gotten stupid, I'm just putting the old skills on hold until I learn the new ones.

I look forward to the fun I will be having when I integrate them.

Boom.

I am so smart, S.M.R.T.

As young children learn new skills, they often seem to forget the skills they already had. For example, a child who is struggling to master potty training will often seem to lose speech skills she had already mastered.

In fact, the child has not forgotten her speech. She is using all her learning abilities on the new skill and putting the old skill on hold for a time. Once the new skill is mastered, the child then exhbits the previous proficiency, and even progress, in the "forgotten" skill.

I could google that to have a reference for you, but I don't feel like it. Trust me. I know it to be true.

Working with Zach as both a teacher and a coach, I am approaching improv from different directions than I ever have before. It is blowing my mind. It is making me feel like I'm forgetting everything I ever learned. I have to remind myself that I have not gotten stupid, I'm just putting the old skills on hold until I learn the new ones.

I look forward to the fun I will be having when I integrate them.

Boom.

Saturday, October 8, 2005

Still trying to find words

Tonight DSI realized the dream. It was beautiful. It was everything it should have been and more. All but one of my original Level 1 (101) teammates were there, either on stage or in the audience. You think I'm gonna' sleep now?! Pffftttt!

Wednesday, October 5, 2005

Sensei Zach

This Level 2 class is blowing my mind. The first week was pretty much what I expected, though I learned a lot because I have not really had Zach as a teacher since the 03 summer intensive, and because this class is full of amazing talent.

Last week was just intense. We really had to open up, and Zach pushed us hard. Having visited some scary places in my psyche in Ross's early classes, I was reluctant to delve too deep, but I shared. Others in the class really gave so much of themselves, and I wished I had shared more.

Tonight was really the one that blew my mind. We were working with our environment in a different way than I ever have before, and it took most of the class to understand where we were going. Once we got there, though, it was pretty cool. The closest thing I can compare it to is "Wax on, wax off."