Improv Wisdom: Don't Prepare, Just Show Up

by Patricia Ryan Madson

don’t forget to be on time when you are by yourself.

jump-start the process of showing up by using a ritual?

debating how to spend the day he was more likely to waste time and lose direction.

try this: Create a simple ritual.

Showing up is the key principle when we offer service to others. So often it is our presence alone, rather than some special ability that makes the difference.

Don’t wait for a convenient time to do those things that are important to you.

try this: Just show up.

Sometimes we are in the right place physically, but we have somehow gone to sleep.

“change where you are in the room.”

Start doing this again in class.

try this: Change the location of a familiar activity.

How lovely to think that no one need wait a moment; we can start now, start slowly changing the world! How lovely that everyone, great and small, can make their contribution toward introducing justice straightaway. … And you can always, always give something, even if it is only kindness! — The Diary of Anne Frank

All starting points are equally valid.

when you don’t know where to start, begin with the most obvious thing,

try this: Start anywhere. Identify a project or task that needs to be done.

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

Judgment, preferences, and the filter of values can quickly crowd out first thoughts.

speak to discover what you want to say. Sculpt, correct, refine, and redirect your thoughts on the fly as you speak.

Instead of writing out your notes in precise language, try writing questions to yourself.

try this: Improvise a short monologue now.

A healthier climate is one in which we tell ourselves to just be average. Take the pressure off.

“Dare to be dull.” (Keith Johnstone) “Be nothing special.” (David K. Reynolds) “Cultivate ordinary mind.” (a Zen saying)

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.

“The real voyage of discovery lies not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes,” said Marcel Proust.

Do what is natural, what is easy, what is apparent to you. Your unique view will be a revelation to someone else.

Try thinking inside the box. Look more carefully.

try this: Do it naturally.

try this: Consider ordinary gifts.

“the fallacy of the fried mermaid.”

It is a closed loop, however. The joke is already over.

Anything unexpected seems funny. This kind of humor is like a sugar hit. It gives a temporary lift, but it is a poor diet and won’t nourish artistically. If you give up making jokes and concentrate on making sense, the result is often genuinely mirthful.

Don’t make jokes. Make sense.

[the sixth maxim] pay attention

If I have made any valuable discoveries, it has been owing more to patient attention than to any other talent. —SIR ISAAC NEWTON

what we are attending to determines to a great extent how we experience the world. We are usually focused on ourselves —our problems, desires, fears. We move through life half awake and ruminating, living in our heads—thinking, planning, worrying, imagining. The detail of each day takes place in front of us, moment by precious moment. How much are we missing? Almost everything.

try this: How good is your attention?

You may want to do the exercise often, to see if your attention improves.

For those of us caught in a spiral of self-absorption and rumination, the redirection of attention outward can have a profound effect.

try this: Attend to one thing at a time.

“tea talk.”

The tea saying Ichi go, ichi ei means “One time, one meeting.” This particular gathering will never happen again. Live it now. Savor the detail.

try this: Notice something new.

try this: Listen completely. Once a day

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?

try this: Go for a fifteen-minute walk in your neighborhood.

try this: Study other people.

Learn something new every day about those closest to you.

[the seventh maxim] face the facts

arugamama. It is the virtue of abiding with things as they are.

Wishing things were different (or that I was different) simply wastes time.

Dealing well with people we like is easy; the mark of a fine improviser is his ability to work skillfully, kindly, and respectfully with those with whom he has difficulty.