by Paul » September 6th, 2012, 12:22 am
I just took my first class tonight.
Needless to say, it was an experience. I went in with no expectations whatsoever. I didn't expect to dislike it (which I didn't), but I was perfectly willing to accept that I would dislike it if it came to that.
Not the case. I've never felt more at ease in my life.
It was strange. I'd never met those thirteen people before, and yet I already feel like I know them better than some of my more on-the-fringe friends. Just playing those simple games did so much for me. I felt so welcome, and everybody was so open and willing to try things out. It was clear to me that everybody there, despite being new to it, was very open and more than willing to bust out of their shell.
There was a defining moment in the night for me, though; the final games. At the end, we played some (what I assume were) simple scene games where we had to act under a certain restriction under a certain scenario. In my case, I had a person standing behind me acting as my arms while I spoke and reacted according to my hands. (Unfortunately we bunged it up a bit and ended up having our hands act according to us, but none-the-less.)
The scenario was a cooking show. We start off pretty good, whipping up a bowl of noodles... when suddenly [Jeff (I think his name was Jeff, may have been Josh, I only caught his name once. Feel free to correct me)] JON IT WAS JON, DANG asks "Do you have any special spices that you use?" Suddenly, my "hands" fly into a cabinet and pull out something small. Quickly, the lady I was in the scene with starts on about the "Zoobooka Pepper" or something along those lines, and I instantly chime in that it's one of the rarest and spiciest peppers in South Africa, and it can only be cut while singing in two part harmony.
My partner also chimes in that the pepper can only be cut with a special knife. My "hands" reach for the knife, which I pantomime to be freaking HUGE, and suddenly here we are, my partner and I, with her "hands" and mine chopping together, while we belt away the Alphabet Song in a dubious harmony.
That was the moment. Everything was very clearly teetering on the edge of disaster from the beginning, but already the lessons we had learned (always say yes, go with whatever your partner says) had begun to sunk in, and through some miracle we were able to keep the train wreck together until Jeff mercifully called it off. However, the moment stuck with me, as I slumped back into my seat. I mean, how could it not? I had done it. I improv'd. We created a story, no matter how tangential and nonsensical, out of nothing but our imaginations and each other's cues, and people were laughing.
I mean, after that, I know I'm done. That's it. Improv's got me, nothing to be done for it.
I got a nice little contrast an hour later, hearing what I would be eventually working my way up to. After the Hideout coffee shop closed up, I had to go up to the rehearsal room, where Roy and a bunch of people I didn't recognize but probably should have were wrapping up rehearsal. While I clearly didn't go in (because the last thing I want to do is suddenly burst in during a run-though, and thank god too because they were timing), what I heard in the room fascinated me. They sounded so... dynamic. Intense.
Now, I've been to a real show before, so it's not like I didn't know what to expect. However, having just had the fresh experience of merely dipping my toes into the pool, I felt a new perspective on exactly the kind of show they were doing. The sound! The lights! (The door was cracked a bit.) It was inspiring, and really gave me a good idea of what to expect in the future.
In any case, this post has rambled on long enough. Let me just finish with this: thank you, thank you, thank you, a million times thank you for the incredible welcome I've gotten from so many of you, largely online but also a couple in person. To see advanced improv'ers such as yourselves be so enthusiastic about just some college student giving it a run for his money means so much to me.
Expect to hear more in the future. It'll probably largely be about shows I watch until I'm able to take more classes next semester, but rest assured I'll at the very least keep an eye on this.
--Paul Henderson