Improv Post

Well it happened. I forgot to write Wednesday’s post. And since I don’t have a post scheduled for this week, this post will be entirely improvised. Improvised, you say, how brave! How daring! In fact, being a die-hard pantser most of what I write is improvised. In fact, I’ve been doing improv on stage for nearly two years, mostly consisting of workshops at the Staircase Theatre.  (According to the archives of my old blog my first improv experience occurred on October 17, 2011).

I was initially lured to improv by the promise of a cheap evening out (beginner drop-in classes are only $5) and I kept on going because of the welcoming environment and all the friends I made there. My improv has improved (see what I did there) since my initial introduction and yet, when I was new and clueless I was never made to feel less than. On Friday I performed in my second improv show in front of a paying audience. I wasn’t nervous; I had my very talented friends with me.  I was neither the center of attention, nor faded into the background. On stage, I have a balance that I can never seem to achieve in life.

My favourite scene of the night was one I wasn’t even in, involving a molesting elephant. I got to play Woody to my friend Matt’s Buzz Lightyear, as well as a German-accented Little Red Riding Hood.  The show was our graduation from the next level workshop into the advanced class. On Tuesday I went for my first advanced experience and saw many faces I hadn’t seen in a while. The class was packed, actually. There was a lot more talking and thinking about improv than actually performing scenes. I enjoyed the evening, but I’m going to miss the small tight-knit group we had in the next level class.

Since I have a book out now, I feel the need to relate this post back to my writing. Odd that I’m participating in an art form that does away with writers entirely. In fact, I know more than one writer who performs improv. And it’s helped in my work too.  To have a good scene, whether on the stage or on the page, you need strong characters with a strong relationship, you need an environment for those characters to inhabit, and you need a story. When experiencing writer’s block I now have my characters play with their environment, or revisit their relationships, exactly what I’ve learned to do when plateauing on stage.

Since this post is improvised, it seems somehow fitting to end it with an improvised poem.

When I started improv it was great

For Monday nights I could not wait

I brought some friends and made some new

And every week the good times grew

I took next level class with Jerry

In every class my time was merry

I learned to improv all the time

In the store or at bedtime

With my kids or with my dog

I could even improv on a log (if I had one)

I see status games play out in life

I mime a gun, a bomb, a knife

When making up a poem or song

Rhyming couplets help along