It takes courage to do Improv Comedy.  But it also builds courage.  Like a muscle that you train, the more you use it, the stronger it gets.  The more you do Improv Comedy, the more you build a sense of trust in yourself and in the flow of creativity and spontaneity that can carry you across the abyss of daily life.

 

You are going to live your life – but you can live it with courage or without it.  If you are just living in a box of safety, or other people’s versions of reality, you are going to feel a loss of vitality and courage.  This is because your courage muscle isn’t getting any exercise.  It is good to push yourself in class because you strengthen this muscle, and then that muscle becomes stronger for the other areas of your life where you need to expand your potential.

 

“Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.”  Anais Nin.

 

Improv is exciting precisely because you can’t entirely predict what is going to happen.  You have to let go of the reins in order to succeed.  Some people find this challenging, and in emotional terms, it feels like skydiving.  Use this class to practice and get used to the sensation of emotional free fall.  It is exquisite.  Explore emotions you don’t usually play with.  Move your body in ways that are brand new.  Use your voice to express nuances you didn’t know you had.  Playing with the same couple of emotions is like playing with a crayon box of four colors.  Why play with a box of eight Crayola crayons when you can play with a box of 64?  Improv is about allowing the unexpected, unplanned genius to flow through you.

 

The great dancer and choreographer Agnes De Mille said: 

 

“Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how.  The moment you know how, you begin to die a little.  The artist never entirely knows.  We guess.  We may be wrong, but we take leap after leap in the dark.”

 

Jump Up!

 

In class, it is better to jump up and try something – even if you “fail,” than to sit there and let an opportunity to learn go by.  When I ask for “two people – jump up!”  Don’t even let me finish the sentence, be on your feet, up on the stage.  It’s an exhilarating feeling -- not to be an observer -- but to be a participant.  There are some life situations where you need to exercise caution and critical thinking!  But in Acting Class, there are no hidden tigers.  So go ahead!  Leap up on stage and make it happen.

 

It is ironic, but many great improvisers and even stand-up comedians are shy people.  Or they started out that way.  Improv comedy becomes the process of how they move from the cocoon of shyness into the butterfly of full-self expression.  So, it doesn’t matter if you start this class as a shy or somewhat shy person.  That is simply where you start. What matters is where you end up.  And where you end up has all to do with the choices you make in class.

 

Choose Courage

 

Whether you feel brave or not is not as important as how you act.  This is an acting class.  Act Brave.  Act as if you have courage.  The reason that this is important is that you actually teach the brain courage not by thinking about courage, not by talking about it, but by actually doing it.  In other words, you might feel frightened when you first stand up, but as you move into the process and the character, the courage finds you.

 

I believe that the fact that you are reading this, that you are in this class, means you have what it takes.  You just have to believe in yourself!

 

It only takes one brave person to change the world!   Want a free hug?  Watch how one person’s courage can start a whole new ball rolling.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vr3x_RRJdd4&feature=related

Genie Joseph, M.A.