Shut up and do it (please)

Through working with 20 talented and intelligent improvisers I have been challenged and tested a lot as a director. I have got 20 of the most wonderful caring cast members around. In fact the group we have sure feels more like a family then a group I improvise and work with. This has come with many hurdles as we developed a show format, workshopped, and advanced ourselves as a cast. It has been a great way for me to grow quickly as a director. Being pushed and challenged on my ideas is something that motivates me further to learn and attempt to perfect this imperfect uncertain art form. Improv is seen as the “fun, happy, silly, love-each-other performance art” What people don’t see is the hard work that goes into this process. We make it look easy when we get up there and do a great scene. What the audience doesn’t see or understand is the road blocks we hit as we work and push ourselves. Improvisers, who have been doing this for at least a couple years, know that point you get to where you just can’t seem to do a good show no matter what you do. There is the frustration and disappointment in yourself, the continued beating yourself up and wondering if you should bother to continue pursuing this thing. We all get past this but the ebbs and flows will continue throughout our inspiration to be better performers. The note below was written and never intended to be released but I do feel it is a good look into the frustration I was feeling at that time. What is amazing is that the piece is null and void at this point. We, as a cast, have come SO far and grown SO much. The trust is at a level I never expected. It’s simply a look into a rough workshop I had. (What is funny is that once the yelling settled we did have a great workshop. I just felt ganged up on. This is easy when you have 20 people looking to you for an answer that you can not give because there is no answer. This resistance is also expected because I want SO much from this group. We aren’t gonna settle for being just “okay” I expect AWESOMENESS from everyone involved) I should say that I do often say “Shut and do it” I stand by that. It’s because your brain gets in the way of letting your body improvise. So “Shut up and read it already” HAHA

Shut up and do it!

Something I say a lot is “Shut up and do it”. This may sound so negative when in fact it is intended to be a positive push towards freedom and success. When I am setting up a new exercise, improvisers sometimes ask a million questions before they are willing to attempt it.  I think this can be a case of improvisers not wanting to, or not trusting themselves enough, to jump headfirst into it. They wind up in their heads over thinking the exercise then create a block for themselves. Before they will jump in they have this need for all the answers. It’s safer if they don’t think they can fail. If they can play it right (or at least in their head attempt to play it right) they feel free of the possible judgment that may follow. I will say once again that there are no wrong ways to do an exercise. The exercises are simply a place to “fail” or attempt new things and to push further.

If you are looking for certainty in improv you are in the wrong art. Exercises and scenes, for the most part, need to be felt not explained. Each exercise needs to be done as if it is the only exercise you have ever done. If rules are set up, follow them and test yourself within that specific exercise, yet don’t restrict yourself to the rules because, as we all know, “rules are meant to be broken.” (As said in another post it’s all about the exercise not the outcome) I am never totally sure of what I need or want the outcome to be when setting up an exercise. I am hoping that some result will come from it and then, that once discovered it can be applied to our format or scene work. If people challenge the idea of the rules we may discover things we didn’t even know we were looking for.

A problem I face is that sometimes I appear to contradict myself. I feel there are a couple of reasons for this. Reason 1 being that I am always discovering new ideas and concepts. I may have thought one way and then literally the next day changed my mind completely on that idea. Reason number 2 may be that when I give an exercise to try, I want the improviser to ignore the ideas from all previous exercises so we can explore what the outcome will be with independent rules relevant to the new exercise. I have a million different things that I say are “The most important thing in Improv” and that’s because everything we learn is just as important as everything else. Nothing is more important then any other thing we learn. We all learn differently and need different things at different times. All these tools become essential and will be needed at different times during scenes, games or exercises. So learn them all and put equal value on them and tuck them in your improv toolbox. Then learn to let them go. (Rules when learned need to be worked on until they become second nature and no longer thought about). Something I really try to do is allow freedom for the improvisers to try new things and challenge themselves. Sometimes my uncertainty on specific rules to follow creates a misunderstanding and confusion. I am expecting faith where perhaps there are no grounds for any. I always know that an outcome will happen and that from it we will benefit. That is something I am VERY certain of. I never attempt something without a reason. Also the thought of no structure or concrete rules can be too overwhelming to attack confidently. The idea of freedom can seem scary. We like rules. I am the first to admit that I do not have all the answers. We are in a constant discovery mode in workshop. I am also finding that a lot of improvisers are very intellectual, or book smart as I call it. I am a very physical performer and go with my gut fairly easily. I relish in the uncertainty created in scenes and exercises. There is no bad outcome. Everything we discover is right because it happened. In all exercises I ever participate in I am asking myself what can we learn and take from it. I am always saying “There are no wrong answers or mistakes” To hear that is one thing but to truly believe it and trust yourself enough to jump off the cliff with no net is another. This is something I expect and perhaps I should learn to ease into it rather than applying the push-from-the-nest method. It will work differently for each individual group or performer.

As I get older (I know I’m not old but I am also far from a baby) I am starting to take more risks in my improv. I feel I can do this because I have cemented important rules and always have my partner in mind when I am performing. I try to never hurt them or the scene. I relish in freedom. I take this to exercises as well. I almost don’t want too many rules or restrictions because these holes will be filled as we go. Let’s try to build each exercise and experience organically. As we learn new material we are going to end up in our heads over thinking the new knowledge. This is all part of the process until these new ideas become muscle memory. The group dynamic is so important. Without a trusting caring group no one will feel safe or grow. Some improvisers are also just too damn smart for their own good. You know who you are. Continue to trust your gut and take a leap, or just shut up and do it! HA!