more improv thoughts
my harold team had a middling show last week- talky, panicky at times, not as real as it could've been, not as active as it could've been, and occasionally Totally incomprehensible. The audience reaction was generally positive, there were a fair handful of huge laughs, but for the most part I was deeply dissatisfied afterwards.
Today in rehearsal, our coach Anthony A. said, "I heard you guys had a pretty good show this week."
and we were incredulous, 'who told you that?'
"That's actually the worst I've felt after a show," I said.
He asked why, I explained, "Because the last show was so good, I thought that we had evolved past a lot of the mistakes we made this week."
and his response was so insightful and encouraging, it's a good thing for improvisors to keep in mind:
"You can't think in linear terms with improv. This idea that the next show always has to better than the last show- it's just not true. What it really is, is a sine wave that trends upwards: there are bumps and dips, but the overall trend is that you get better."
Such a good, reassuring point. Our November worst was better than our September worst; our November best was better than our September best. It was nice that a very smart guy, who's known this team from the beginning, reminded us of that.
other news:
• The Longest Harold Night Of The Year!, in which all 8 harold teams perform in a row, is this Tuesday. Longest Harold '05 was one of the earliest UCBT shows I saw, right after I finished my Level 1 class; so it's very special and exciting to participate in '07.
• My flight to Texas is the next day. I'll be in Austin December 19-January 13. Hope to see you all while I'm there!
Today in rehearsal, our coach Anthony A. said, "I heard you guys had a pretty good show this week."
and we were incredulous, 'who told you that?'
"That's actually the worst I've felt after a show," I said.
He asked why, I explained, "Because the last show was so good, I thought that we had evolved past a lot of the mistakes we made this week."
and his response was so insightful and encouraging, it's a good thing for improvisors to keep in mind:
"You can't think in linear terms with improv. This idea that the next show always has to better than the last show- it's just not true. What it really is, is a sine wave that trends upwards: there are bumps and dips, but the overall trend is that you get better."
Such a good, reassuring point. Our November worst was better than our September worst; our November best was better than our September best. It was nice that a very smart guy, who's known this team from the beginning, reminded us of that.
other news:
• The Longest Harold Night Of The Year!, in which all 8 harold teams perform in a row, is this Tuesday. Longest Harold '05 was one of the earliest UCBT shows I saw, right after I finished my Level 1 class; so it's very special and exciting to participate in '07.
• My flight to Texas is the next day. I'll be in Austin December 19-January 13. Hope to see you all while I'm there!