Fear is the mind killer

[erikamay]

here is my personal (and craft) philosophy:

when you are starting out in improv, you learn the rules (agree with your scene partner, build ideas with yes and, name them, be positive). the rules are necessary for play. there are a lot of them. you will only remember a few on stage, and even then you will undoubtedly screw something up.

when you have played for about 3 years, you figure out the thing that works for you. i have a thing that works for me (most of the time). other people have things that work for them. like jack palance, you got to find your 1 thing.

in the mean time (before you get comfortable with all these rules, or find your 1 thing), practice different 1 thing approaches in shows.

when i first started performing, i used to think of a one thing before rehearsals and shows and try it out. like - doing detailed object work or pledging to support one designated person in a show or playing specifically in one part of the stage (i was a back wall flower player for a while there). i still like to do this when i start feeling stale.

the worst thing you can do to yourself, jason is let your head drive your play. i inevitably screwed myself trying to remember everything. try the 1 thing philosophy - mebbe it's for you.

e