I Should Practice What I Preach

So, can I take a second and point out something ridiculous I noticed about myself?

I teach improv and encourage improv students to take risks, let go of perfection, and live in the moment. Hell, you’ve probably heard that Improv Playground speech before we play games…every week.

Every week.

I share these thoughts every week.

But, here’s a little bit of truth I realized today: I don’t practice what I preach. I don’t practice my improv lessons in my own blog posting. I have a lot of ideas about blog posts, but never post them because I don’t meet my arbitrary threshold of “insightful,” and “funny.“ I’m nervous people won’t enjoy the ideas, so I don’t post anything. And that threshold shifts on how I’m feeling every day. I think about how long the blog post will be, and if it’s not long enough I think, “Well the SEO experts have always suggested blog posts need to be X number of words…so if it’s not X number of words I Shouldn’t post.“

Sound familiar in improv?

It’s the same as sitting offstage, refusing to try. Performers can have that voice creep in and whisper, “Improv experts say your contribution should be of X value. If you can’t do that don’t play.“

But…improv is play. Improv is just showing up and trying, being supported by a team, and discovering some amazing stories….and this blog should just be about showing up and sharing some stories. Maybe the stories are helpful, maybe it makes you smile….or maybe not…but at least I’m trying to create, and not sitting on the sidelines thinking, “I wonder what would have been.“

I think I’m getting to that place in life where I’m hearing that “I wonder what could have been,“ in the back of my mind…and I don’t like it. Time to change.

If I’m telling people to take risks onstage, I should take some risks too.

So, first very silly mini post….

THIS TRUCK

I thought this was such a fun example of taking an accident and making it THE important feature. A simple design, but the car accident becomes the standout element. I bet this driver does improv, because improv is all about taking those “mistakes“ and weaving them into the story so they become beautiful and valuable to the scene.

Have a great day! See you next week at Improv Playground!

How to be More Creative

I get stuck in ruts. In fact, before writing this article I was just scrolling youtube. Scrolling with a purpose? Nope. Just…you know….doom scrolling. Thankfully I caught myself and asked,, “why are you doing this?” I didn’t have a good answer, so here we are. I’m typing, you’re reading, and hopefully I get to something of value soon.

I think I have something….

Getting stuck in a rut is just a fancy way of saying I like the familiar. 

But, can I be honest? I’m realizing the familiar is creative death.

Actually, can I take another run at that sentence? I don’t think I got it right the first time. Let’s workshop this thing together.

Familiarity isn’t creative death, BUT looking at something in a familiar way IS creative death. What do you think? Let me know in the comments. Could I put it another way?

Sometimes we have to force ourselves into new experiences. If you’re seeing something in the same way, it’s not firing those little unique-perspective engines.

I have my gym to thank for this realization. For the next two weeks my gym is getting remodeled. It’s covered in clear plastic tarps, and looks like a Dexter kill room. They’ve closed off my normal workout area. I didn’t know about the remodel, so when I arrived it was a surprise. It was new. I wasn’t looking at sometime familiar. 

Wha? Where? Where do I go? How can I workout? I don’t have my normal little corner to jump on an elliptical, put my head down, and disappear. I couldn’t disappear. For the last 4 months the corner of the gym was my little oasis, the place I disconnected, and burned off some calories.

Well, they crammed some elliptical machines near the weights, and they asked us to survive over there. Same familiar gym, but I was looking at everything from a new area. It was a little weird. 

It wasn’t my normal escape. I had to engage differently. I was in a new spot, on new machines, and I notice my brain responded. It was firing in new ways. This was a new pattern. I was uncomfortable because this wasn’t familiar. It was a jumpstart. I thought of new games, sketches and jokes. I had deep epiphanies like, “my butt is never going to look as good as Bob [name has been changed to protect the innocent and chiseled].”

It was a unique little reminder change is good.

I guess I knew that. I mean, people tell me, “change is good,” and they’re smart people, so I should believe them. Experiencing it, though, and catching yourself feeling different because you’ve mixed up the routine is something else entirely. It’s one thing to hear it, and it’s another to do it.

So….ummm….Paul….how does this relate to improv?

Well, I think we all have the opportunity to mix up our familiar choices. Do you support a scene? Start the next scene. Are you always the guesser in an improv game? Give clues next time. Do you always walk into an improv scene….what if you crawled? (By the way,....quick shoutout to Angie in at Improv Playground on Thursday. She sacrificed her body in a game of Fortune Teller, diving to the ground to sway and plod like an alligator. Great mime work…and a great reminder to use the vertical plane as well as a horizontal plane.)

When you challenge your familiar choices, you’ll be uncomfortable. That’s OK! I mean, within reason of course. I don’t want you freediving with Great Whites because “Paul said it’d be OK!” Challenge your norms within reason. You can revert back to the norm. The change isn’t permanent…and in fact…if it was permanent you’d just be introducing a new rut. You always have the option to change.

I think you’ll like the new choices. I don’t think anyone ever said, “damn, I really regret having this new perspective and all these new ideas.”

Hey…. shameless plug time baby! If you want to challenge yourself to some new improv games with the best improv community in the world you should join me for the Improv Playground. We currently offer classes in Roseville, and online sessions coming soon!

Improv Guessing Games and Communication

This weekend I met the worst driver. I suffered behind this red Toyota Highlander. Sometimes they would go 40mph and sometimes dip under 25. I tried to pass them, but they'd suddenly have this desire to switch lanes too. Would they signal? Halfway through the lane switch, they would. This happened multiple times. It was a world of jarring speed and lane shifts. A man can’t live like this!

After 1/2 mile I started creating theories. Are they drunk? Maybe. Am I being pranked?  couldn't see the driver, but maybe it's someone on TikTok with a million subscribers, and their channel is called RageBoys. They’re hoping I'd lose it on them and the video would go viral? I didn't know WHAT was happening, but I knew this wasn't normal. It was all too confusing.

And, then, it happened! A little black Honda Accord behind me floored it, rocketed past me, and swerved in front of the Highlander. We all broke at a red light and the gestures began. Very confusing gestures from the Accord driver. Accord was waving their hands. Up and down, and then side to side. The gesturing was furious. Accord was mad. That’s the ONLY thing I could understand. The pointing wasn't consistent. I like to think I speak Hand Gesture, but I was baffled. The gestures were as erratic as the driver of the Highlander

Of the Highlander….

Of….the….highlander….

[lightbulb sound effect]

I had a breakthrough! Highlander was confused too! That explained the speed changes, and the "maybe left lane, and maybe right lane driving." Accord was trying to communicate, and confusing Highlander. They were likely trying to do what was requested, but Accord wasn’t getting the message across in a way Highlander could understand. And, even worse, it didn’t seem like Accord was going to change.

While I patted myself on the back and muttered, “Good job ol’ boy! You cracked the case!” I realized we face this moment in improv every time we step onstage. It’s one thing to share your thoughts, but it’s another to be understood. It’s Communication 101, baby! You haven’t communicated until your partner understands what you’re saying.

I love an improv guessing game. Dating Games, Press Conference, Interrogation, Late for School, Chain Murder….I’ll play those every day! It’s a mix of physical clues, verbal hints, and guessing. It’s a chance to hear someone’s interpretations. It doesn’t matter if I think I’m successfully showing “wash a dog,” it only matters if I’m helping my teammate guess, “wash a dog,” and right now they think I’m “watering the lawn.” The audience laughs with the “watering the lawn” guess because yeah, that makes sense. They can see that reality too considering all the motions and words. It’s important to be empathetic for our partner, they’re trying. Guessing games help us move slower through communication, and realize all those spaces someone can get confused interpret. I won’t say, “confused,” because your teammate believes they understand the information presented. In their mind, they’re not confused, but it’s our job to help guide them. They want to understand, we just have to slow down the actions and words. We’ll get there. We just have to put ourselves in the shoes of our partners. How are they seeing us, our movements and how can we better help.

I’d like to say the two drivers eventually understood eachother. But, not while I was around. The baffling gestures and driving continued until I turned left. Highlander and Accord are probably still out there struggling to understand each other.