Lose Yourself
Discussion of the art and craft of improvisation.
Moderators: arclight, happywaffle, bradisntclever
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- deroosisonfire Offline
- Posts: 553
- Joined: September 10th, 2005, 4:49 pm
- Location: Austin, TX
onstage i find that the best way to lose myself is to really connect with my partner and our experience. that is what allows me to react to the situation and lose the thinky, talky part of me.
"There's no such thing as extra pepperoni. There's just pepperoni you can transfer to another person."
-Wes
-Wes
For me, losing myself means immersion in an experience that transcends my ego. So my first job is to circumvent my ego, which wants to control things, not be swept up in them.
I've spent a lot of time over the past three years trying to let go of the idea that I know what's best for everything and everybody, and one of the things that draws me to improv is that there's no way to maintain that fiction and still function.
So I think I'm at the point where I intellectually accept that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. But I still want to get the point where I willingly dive into the unknown instead of merely allowing it to wash over me.
My experience in other areas tells me that when I can finally do that, THEN I'll be able to lose myself.
Also, I think humility has something to do with it, which is probably another reason it's so hard for me.
I've spent a lot of time over the past three years trying to let go of the idea that I know what's best for everything and everybody, and one of the things that draws me to improv is that there's no way to maintain that fiction and still function.
So I think I'm at the point where I intellectually accept that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. But I still want to get the point where I willingly dive into the unknown instead of merely allowing it to wash over me.
My experience in other areas tells me that when I can finally do that, THEN I'll be able to lose myself.
Also, I think humility has something to do with it, which is probably another reason it's so hard for me.