Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up

by Patricia Ryan Madson

There are rules of conduct about what to do and how to pay attention while you are creating in the spur of the moment. (For example, an improviser learns to memorize a name the first time it is mentioned.)

Only dead fish go with the flow”)

Blocking comes in many forms; it is a way of trying to control the situation instead of accepting it. We block when we say no, when we have a better idea, when we change the subject, when we correct the speaker, when we fail to listen, or when we simply ignore the situation. The critic in us wakes up and runs the show. Saying no is the most common way we attempt to control the future.

habit of excessive planning impedes our ability to see what is actually in front of us. The mind that is occupied is missing the present.

An instant of distraction—searching for a witty line, for example —robs us of our investment in what is actually happening.

When we give up the struggle to show off our talent, a natural wisdom can emerge; our muses can speak through us.

Don’t fight the fear or attend to it. That simply fuels it.

Fear is not the problem; allowing your attention to be consumed by it is.

Benjamin Franklin reminds us that “time lost is never found again.”

Perhaps you already have a ritual that puts you on course. What is it?

The improviser focuses on making that idea into a good one, rather than searching for a “good idea.”

To improvise is to create order out of chaos. It is more of an engineering job than an artistic one.

Giving up on perfection is the first step; the next is to stop trying to come up with something different. Striving for an original idea takes us away from our everyday intelligence, and it can actually block access to the creative process.

“Be yourself. The world worships the original.”

Try to learn tranquility, to live in the present a part of the time every day. Sometimes say to yourself: “Now. What is happening now? This friend is talking. I am quiet. There is endless time. I hear it, every word.” Then suddenly, you begin to hear not only what people are saying, but what