Dropping what is in your head is such an important step for folks. I started a scene once stumbling through an airport with two big bags, a coffee and a Cinnabon. That would have been OK.
My teammate made it much better by initiating with "I love your cats." Fuck being the busy business traveler. I want to be the guy sneaking 7 cats into a plane. Younger me would have been confused.
I saw this video recently about how to stop thinking for meditation. And the way that it is done is through very engaged listening. I’ve been thinking about this a lot as it relates to listening, being present and improv.
Not chattering permanently is something you can practice, but you have to have a partner who won't freak out and run away. If I may, David Razowsky is incredible at holding tension in silence. He has some great info on his website, along with links to videos. Check out his concepts of "Sit in it" as well as "Wait until your partner says something that moves you" Very helpful, I thought.
Yeah, I love this and it's like leaving your ego shatter into a thousand pieces when your brain likes to think your idea is earth changing. Looking through the comments, it seems to be encouraging less brain work, more body/breath/calmness. This for me comes when I trust the people I'm with completely. Otherwise I feel a nervousness or sitting on the back foot more. Hard to articulate.
Active listening and sensing what is going on that is unspoken in the scene is so important. We focus on words so much, but it's often what happens in the silences that is the most funny. I'm a stickler for 'everything being in play' and everything having a purpose and meaning. Even a throwaway line raises questions.
Talking of questions (smooth sequeway), your first example in this Active Listening thread threw up a question in my mind: What is your perspective on 'initiation etiquette'?
I love this framing and deep dive into this type of play. I feel like I’m naturally drawn to this type of play, but to the point where I end up dropping things that I bring in to a scene because I’m so focused on trying to pick up and incorporate what everyone else in the scene is putting out there.
The most magical improv scenes I’ve seen are when the performers are slowly shifting and evolving with the vibe of the overall scene while also developing their own thing, also slowly, to allow for the other performers to do the same. It’s like tempering eggs to make a nice carbonara without scrambling them.
Dropping what is in your head is such an important step for folks. I started a scene once stumbling through an airport with two big bags, a coffee and a Cinnabon. That would have been OK.
My teammate made it much better by initiating with "I love your cats." Fuck being the busy business traveler. I want to be the guy sneaking 7 cats into a plane. Younger me would have been confused.
I saw this video recently about how to stop thinking for meditation. And the way that it is done is through very engaged listening. I’ve been thinking about this a lot as it relates to listening, being present and improv.
https://youtu.be/YiLkudRIqLg?si=PgRxvyoJN_S9YYkX
Thank you for sharing this! Appreciate this and this post too.
Not chattering permanently is something you can practice, but you have to have a partner who won't freak out and run away. If I may, David Razowsky is incredible at holding tension in silence. He has some great info on his website, along with links to videos. Check out his concepts of "Sit in it" as well as "Wait until your partner says something that moves you" Very helpful, I thought.
https://www.davidrazowsky.com/recommendedvidedos-blog/2022/2/18/this-is-a-list-of-videos-that-best-represent-the-methodology-i-teach-enjoy
Once again, this improv skill applies
So profoundly to how we should interact with people in our regular lives.
Yeah, I love this and it's like leaving your ego shatter into a thousand pieces when your brain likes to think your idea is earth changing. Looking through the comments, it seems to be encouraging less brain work, more body/breath/calmness. This for me comes when I trust the people I'm with completely. Otherwise I feel a nervousness or sitting on the back foot more. Hard to articulate.
Active listening and sensing what is going on that is unspoken in the scene is so important. We focus on words so much, but it's often what happens in the silences that is the most funny. I'm a stickler for 'everything being in play' and everything having a purpose and meaning. Even a throwaway line raises questions.
Talking of questions (smooth sequeway), your first example in this Active Listening thread threw up a question in my mind: What is your perspective on 'initiation etiquette'?
I love this framing and deep dive into this type of play. I feel like I’m naturally drawn to this type of play, but to the point where I end up dropping things that I bring in to a scene because I’m so focused on trying to pick up and incorporate what everyone else in the scene is putting out there.
The most magical improv scenes I’ve seen are when the performers are slowly shifting and evolving with the vibe of the overall scene while also developing their own thing, also slowly, to allow for the other performers to do the same. It’s like tempering eggs to make a nice carbonara without scrambling them.
Another banger
thank you