Lofty thoughts

I am a spiritual person, specifically a Christian, but my spiritual journey has taken me in a lot of different directions.

No, that's not right. My spiritual journey has taken me in only one direction - toward truth - but I have made a lot of stops along the way and learned a lot of different things. All of these things have contributed to my quest for truth, which I know lies somewhere at the end of my journey, many years, and possibly many lifetimes, from now.

Such is my improv journey. I have had a number of teachers and read a bunch of stuff, and occasionally some of what I have learned seemingly contradicts itself. Sometimes one teacher will even contradict himself (sometimes even in the space of one note). All of this is part of my journey to improv truth. None of it is wrong, and all of it is crucial to my growth.

Just as in my spiritual journey, I try to listen to everything. I try to remember as much of it as I can, and try to I apply it wherever it seems to fit. If it doesn't fit in a particular situation, I don't discard it as nonsense. I simply put it aside for future reference. I have found that most everything someone thought worth teaching was worth learning. It just has to be used at the right time. God help me to remember it all.

Um...

we are not a cult.

Walk like an Egyptian

This morning while I was walking the dog, I watched the woman who was walking in front of me. She had a peculiar gait. I can't figure out how to describe it in a way that makes sense. Edit: I just figured it out! She walked like a marionet, with her torso appearing to hang just a bit behind her legs. Anyway, I caught myself trying to mimic her walk. I didn't think "I wonder if I can walk like that", I just found myself trying it. (It hurt my knees)

This is something I catch myself doing a lot - mimicking gestures or facial expressions or voices that catch my interest. Sometimes I repeat an interesting turn of phrase or bit of idiom a couple of times so I'll remember it.

It can be awkward if someone walks into the room while I'm doing it. They just look at me funny, but I overheard someone the other day talking about me observing people and taking notes. I don't literally take notes, but that is essentially what I am doing. I just didn't realize that it was that obvious. Fortunately, the overheard conversation seemed positive. I think they hope they wind up in my improv one day, and they probably will, or have.

The first class of the Level 3L with Scott last night was really awesome. After all the really theroetical stuff Zach had us working on (which was fascinating, even when it was breaking my brain) it really felt good to work directly on scenework and relationship. Scott can get me to find and focus on a relationship like nobody else can. He just has that way about him. I am improv happy right now.

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.

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.

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.

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.