SPOLIN Games
[cross-posted in the group blog: EarthNinjas.com]
At the Nature of the Village I was formally introduced to SPOLIN GAMES, community-medicine-style improv theater. I've played similar games before (Make Me Laugh in NJ and random games at RDNA) but without the full understanding of their uses. What made the difference was the facilitator, Lisa Wells, a superbly kind, outspoken, rad young woman.
If you've ever watched "Whose Line is It Anyway?" you've seen Spolin-style games tweaked into comedy-only, regurgitated commercial junk. The games we played were passed down from Viola Spolin who created most and adapted some from Neva Boyd. In the 80's Spolin used these games as they were designed to be used, to help regenerate community in the poor urban neighborhoods of Chicago. Her son, Paul Sills used them to found the famed comedy club "Second City.
The games are "community medicine" in the sense that they are designed & facilitated with the intent of identifying personal issues, breaking down barriers, and building self-confidence in a positive, collaborative team setting. Some people might describe them as "ice-breaker" games, but that totally leaves out the games' potential for deeper bonding, continual group ____ and even personal healing/growth.
For example, Lisa showed us a game called ______ where 5 people volunteer to stand in a line facing the rest of the group. These five people are asked to tell a story and the audience is asked to provide the "Who," "Where," and "What are they doing." The facilitator stands behind the five folks and places their hand on the shoulder of the person who is to begin the story. I think our first one was Lincoln; in the mall; buying 40s; or something.
So the first person starts telling the story and stops as soon as the facilitator's hand is lifted off their shoulder.
"So Lincoln was hanging out with his bros and they got really thirsty..."
[Facilitator lifts hand just after "thirsty and places it on somebody else]
"...And so they decided to go to..."
[Hand switched]
"...the mall to grab some..'
[Hand switched]
"...40s and some tacos. See what you didn't know about Lincoln is that he LOVES HIM SOME TACOS. His favorite is..."
[Hand switched]
"...uhh..."
[Hand quickly switched]
"...catfish tacos with a side of guac and washes it down with a Modelo."
And it goes on like that, heh, as creative or as absurd or as sad or as happy as the group wants. The magic comes from not knowing who will be tapped next and yet still having to follow the story and be ready at all times to flow out some genius storytelling. I suppose the "flow" is not unlike rapping in that sense, though it's a collaborative effort instead of solo ...and has no musical style... okay so it's a little un-like rapping, but still...
Anywho, it's the COMMUNITY MEDICINE part that really makes these games different from just entertainment and this is the part that was illuminated by Lisa's skill & I guess her 'wisdom,' for lack of a better word, heh.
The community medicine deal is about allowing folks to get into their natural, relaxed, creative state. Lisa was so kind and masterful with her timing of placing her hand on different folks, especially the shy-er amongst us. She'd only provide as much opportunity/goading as a person could take at a time, frequently going back to them to provide a chance for them to overcome their ish, but not dwelling too long if they fumble and seem to be nervous. At the same time, Lisa wouldn't let anybody "take over the show" - not that anyone seemed to be going for that - and would challenge someone who seemed to get into the swing of things by switching at odd times and attempting to catch them off guard. She did such a great job providing a challenge/opportunity appropriate to each person to allow them to contribute their best and get a little better at the game, for the full benefit of all involved.
Some might call what the game does, "pushing people's edges." When the facilitator gets the game started, she moves around to everyone to get a feel of their ability and makes it easy to start off and get rolling with the original subject material. As the game and story progresses, the masterful Spolin facilitator provides "easy" sentences to complete for the players to encourage their participation at first, and varies the level of difficulty for each player by the timing of placement and the duration of hand placement (time of "putting someone on the spot") to the level where each person feels slightly challenged. This is an opportunity for that person to grow and get faster, better, stronger, hah in a silly, fun, supportive rad way.
You can watch this come to life in the TrackersNW video where 5 of us made a strange collaborative bio/description of the Nature of the Village & of the Adult Immersion program. (video to come soon...)