In Praise of My Team
So, as I promised, this past Sunday, my Level 1 Improv class at the PIT performed our class show. Our final class, in which we basically practiced the form of the show, seemed a little rough to me. I still feel like I’m struggling to be a relaxed, grounded performer. I was a little worried.
I shouldn’t have been. We rocked. Everyone in the class brought their “A” Game.
We got to the theater a bit early – 6 PM for a 7 PM show. We actually managed to do a fairly extensive rehearsal with our teacher beforehand, which I think really helped us get our heads into the game. Before the house opened, I took a moment to stand on the stage and just breathe in the theatrical air. Although I’ve done a few brief performances on that stage before now, it was the first time I ever got to just stand there and worship the space. It’s an important part of my theatrical ritual, and something I’ve missed desperately.
So, as I said, everything just seemed to fall into place with everyone. Sure, there were a few clunkers for scenes. I promised myself that I’d play more grounded, real characters. When I forgot that, it was rough (although I was often saved by my scene partners). But when I kept it in mind, I felt like we did some really good stuff up there.
Don, Alex, and Tesse were there to cheer me on, and they joined me for a few drinks at Mustang Sally’s afterwards. It was especially gratifying that Alex was there, since it was her Level 1 UCB class show that inspired me to get back into this crazy business we call improv in the first place.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention our wonderful teacher, Tom Ridgely. He’s knowledgeable to be sure, but a lot of people are knowledgeable. More importantly, he’s endlessly patient and encouraging. Where my own experience might drive me (back in my improv directing days) to issue an authoritative rebuke, Tom steers the ship so gently that you can barely feel it, until 8 weeks later you find the ship has mysteriously taken the proper course. He took a motley crew of improvisers with experience ranging from extensive to none at all and made us, for one night, perform as a team.
Right now, I’m in a bit of limbo. I will definitely take a Level 2 class, but right now the only one available is during Paula’s Icky House Club rehearsals. I’m wary of going up for the open jams, just because it’s very hard to get into a groove with people that you don’t know at all. No matter what happens, though, I will continue this journey. It felt so good to be welcomed back in the congregation to worship at the altar of the theater.
Still “Yes, And” After All These Years…
Last night, I attended my penultimate level 1 improv class at The Pit. One of the consequences of having a class is having a class show at the end of the term. For the first time last night, we practiced doing the actual form we’ll be performing in our show. After being kind of down about my performance ability last week, I was actually quite encouraged.
We’re still a bit rough around the edges, but I think that (by level 1 standards) we’ll put on a solid show. For much of the rest of the class, it will be a possibly terrifying learning experience. For me, it will be getting back on a saddle that had been long collecting dust in a closet. This is the first time that I’ve performed improv on a public stage as part of a real team in 8 years.
Please come, won’t you?
The People’s Improv Theater
154 W 29th St. Between 6th and 7th Ave.
Sunday, December 20, 2009
7:00 P.M.
A Failure, But an Instructive One…
This is mostly for my own educational benefit. Feel free to ignore, especially if you’re not into improv esoterics.
Yesterday evening was my fourth improv class, and my third attempt at performance on the stage of the PIT during their Wednesday night Improdome free-for-all. To recap: My first performance was a miserable failure. My second was an encouraging success. Last night, my third performance, has turned out to be an instructive failure.
It’s interesting to discover that the primary problem that ended my improv “career” before it could really start is the same primary problem I’m experiencing now: Not trusting my partners leads me to jump headlong into huge initiations and I kind of “take over” the scene, which never actually goes well.
Sometimes I think the solution to that problem is to hang back a bit, and wait for my partner’s initiation. That’s somewhat useful, but not entirely so, especially when you do have a strong initiation in mind, and your partner does not. And if your partner does not have a strong initiation, the panic sets in, and there goes the trust, and then… things don’t go well.
After analyzing my performance both in class and on stage last night, I think that it’s not strong initiations I should fear. It’s initiations that are not grounded in emotional honesty. My mind conjures the situation so fast that it doesn’t take the time to put any flesh on the bones of the character, which comes out as a broad stereotype at best. Taking just a brief moment to imbue the character with some emotional truth will probably help a lot.
There’s a reason that the bible of the craft is called “Truth in Comedy.” When I got home last night, I pulled the book from my shelf. I haven’t read it in years. It’s time to crack it open, before I set foot on the improv stage again.
Yes, And… I’m Back in the Saddle Again
A few weeks ago, I went to see my good friend Alexandra Finger perform her Level 1 improv class graduation show at Upright Citizens Brigade. As is often the case with a Level 1 show, the performances were… shall we say… uneven. But Alex, as usual, was hysterically funny.
I haven’t performed improv in a very, very long time. It used to be my life. I performed with Comics Anonymous and Comedysportz in Florida. I directed the No Parking Players at Carnegie Mellon University. Then I came to New York City, and after working my way up through the system, I accomplished the ultimate: I was on a Harold team at UCB. We were called “Pole Position.” We were… not the best team in the house, and after a while, we were broken up. A few members of the team were reassigned to other teams to continue performing. I was not.
I took this as the ultimate rejection. People who I respect and admire essentially told me I just couldn’t hack it. I haven’t performed improv on a public stage since. That was… I’m tempted to say five years ago, but it’s more than that because I wasn’t married then. In fact, I think it was before I’d even met Paula, which would make it at least eight years ago. (Gah! I hadn’t done the calculation until I just had to type that!)
Seeing Alex perform woke something up within me. I knew right then and there that I had to get back on that stage and perform no matter what! I immediately signed up for a Level 1 class at the PIT. (Partially because I know more people there from “back in the day,” but mostly because they had a class open and UCB didn’t…)
At first, I stumbled a bit. In fact, I was kind of shocked and angry with myself at how rusty I’d gotten. But, like riding a bicycle I got my bearings and now I feel… well, not quite ready for performing at the upper echelon like back in the day but confident that my faculties are still with me.
After class on Wednesday nights, the PIT has something called “Improdome,” which is pretty much a “make your own team on the spot” kind of free-for-all. It’s an excellent way to shake the dust off in a totally non-judgmental atmosphere. I’ve performed there the last two Wednesdays, and by golly, I’m going to get on that stage again and again as long as they let me.
I’ve missed it more than I could ever have imagined. It feels really, really good to have a purpose again.
