Perfect Mistakes in Improv

I'm a bit of a app junkie....but a frugal junkie! I like getting my fix on the cheap. I'll peruse Apple iOS apps or even cross the tracks for a nice Google app.  Sometimes, however, I come across something worth a purchase. For instance, Lensflare is worth the .99  cents! "Why did you buy that?" you're asking.

"Isn't this a blog about improv?" you're thinking.

"Did I leave the iron on?" you're wondering.

I can't  answer all those questions, but I can answer the first two.....with a story! When I took Film Studies in college, the teachers always stressed, "you want to avoid lens flare. They are mistakes." The professor would continue, and share the lengths and methods with which photographers and cinematographers would go avoid the flare. We got it. Lens flare = BAD (Not just capitol B, but A and D too. Len flares are that awful).

However, over the past few years, opinions have changed. The flare has become a tool. I've spoken with directors from Roseville and Sacramento, who use a flare for transitions and emotional emphasis. In fact, among the thousands of free apps available Lensflare chooses to charge for their app, and they have buyers! Wired Magazine said, "...you don't know what you're missing until you try this app."

High praise for something that used to be a mistake.

How does this tie into improv?

Thanks for getting me back to my point. Sometimes, a 'mistake' onstage is anything but. Treat your 'mistakes' like a valuable opportunities, because that is what they are. Use them, weave them into the show and by doing so you're telling the audience, this 'mistake,' is wonderful. They'll believe you.

Expendables 2

As I read some reviews for Expendables 2 I come across critic Allison Willmore's take on the film. It's not a kind review, she shreds the film, but one of her principle criticisms sounds like a good thing to me. I'm assuming this is supposed to be scathing, but it sounds like smart directing/editing/producing to me. She begins:

It isn't a movie - it's more like the world's most expensive, elaborate viral video, making a detour to the big screen before being broken up into more easily consumable segments to be consumed on YouTube.

Oh, you mean this film will become an internet meme, clips recycled throughout cyberspace, gaining more and more attention? If I developed this movie, and read this blurb, I'd high-five my fellow Expendables 2 investors, because you just found a way to stay relevant for an extended period of time. Now, that's an accomplishment.

It's not about being good. It's about being different. If you're looking for something to do this weekend in Sacramento, and Roseville, and see this film, let us know what you think.