I love a good cat video or dog video. Hell, send me a video about an ant on a mission to cross a sidewalk and I’ll be there….but give me a second to grab some popcorn.
And, while most videos are the “oh that’s adorable, and it made me happier for a couple of seconds and now back to my regular life” variety, some animal videos have a bigger impact.
Like….this one!
We should all improvise like these dogs. They are all so happy to experience the slide AND they seem just as excited (maybe even a little more so) to watch the others come down. I loved the dog cluster at the bottom of the slide. It says something. It’s also about the group.
See where I’m going?
You’re smart….I think you do.
As a performer, we should absolutely love our own ride, our ideas and our contribution to the scene. We should be proud of what we offer in an improv game. But, like these dogs, after making our offer we should spin around, and wait excitedly for our scene partner. What will they say? How will they respond?
We have two options in an improv scene. We can choose to care or we can choose to be indifferent. When we care about what someone else says, they’re more willing to trust and open up with more ideas because they know they’ll be heard (this applies offstage too), and that leads to more creative and unique scenes. When we’re indifferent our improv scene partner will close down, because, well, what’s the point if their partner chooses to ignore the ideas?
It's a choice. We always have that choice onstage. Like those dogs. You know which dog I think about? It’s the dalmatian. He was wagging, ecstatic, and watching at the bottom of the slide, welcoming all the other dogs as they came down. Sure, maybe some other dogs raced to the top to slide down again, but the one that stood out was the dalmatian.
And, just like everyone on Instagram hitting Like on this video, our audience watching improv can choose to like or be indifferent. What helps them Like a scene? It starts with the improvisers choosing to like the scene. Sure, I enjoyed watching the dogs slide down (Like), but I LOVED watching the dogs care about eachother (Like button times 100). When we care about our scene partners and what they say, it magnifies the value, the fun, the joy…for everyone! Performers and audience.
The audience will feel that, and your team will feel that. It doesn’t matter if it’s a show, improv drop-in or an Improv 101 class. Everyone notices how excited you were to care, and the next time you step onstage you’ll find everyone will want to step onstage with you, because they’ll feel safe, supported…and ultimately more creative.