This is bookmarked in my improv folder of great posts to look to! I'm curious; when teaching improv, is GotS the first thing you teach? I'm assuming you do things like get people to know each other, Zip Zap Zop and such, but was just curious if this is the first thing or going into other things?
The earliest I would teach game is level 2. I might mention the term "unusual thing" in level 1. But I would just be saying "pay attention to what's unusual -- that makes the scene interesting." Not much more than that. Saying yes and playing it real are way more fundamental.
Serious question. In an era where we are trying to include the condition of neurodiversity into all aspects of our lives, including teaching improv, how to you suggest we approach “the unusual thing”? In a neuro-normative world one person’s “unusual or highly specific “ can be another person’s base reality due to cultural and environmental differences . How do we approach that with those who are neurodivergent?
This is a great question, and one that I don't have a great answer to. We use "unusual" to get away from "funny" since the word "funny" really distorts people's judgment. So maybe there's just another word. "interesting?" "striking?" Or maybe we just say "unusual to you" instead of implying there's a universal "unusual?" I dunno. Good question.
Amazing post, thank you! How do you explain the difference between the "unusual thing" and the "game"? It feels a bit confusing, these are two separate terms, sometimes they seem to be used interchangeably, but sometimes not, and I'm not sure I understand the difference well.
This is bookmarked in my improv folder of great posts to look to! I'm curious; when teaching improv, is GotS the first thing you teach? I'm assuming you do things like get people to know each other, Zip Zap Zop and such, but was just curious if this is the first thing or going into other things?
The earliest I would teach game is level 2. I might mention the term "unusual thing" in level 1. But I would just be saying "pay attention to what's unusual -- that makes the scene interesting." Not much more than that. Saying yes and playing it real are way more fundamental.
Excellent advice thank you.
Serious question. In an era where we are trying to include the condition of neurodiversity into all aspects of our lives, including teaching improv, how to you suggest we approach “the unusual thing”? In a neuro-normative world one person’s “unusual or highly specific “ can be another person’s base reality due to cultural and environmental differences . How do we approach that with those who are neurodivergent?
This is a great question, and one that I don't have a great answer to. We use "unusual" to get away from "funny" since the word "funny" really distorts people's judgment. So maybe there's just another word. "interesting?" "striking?" Or maybe we just say "unusual to you" instead of implying there's a universal "unusual?" I dunno. Good question.
I don’t have a good answer either and was hoping you could steer me toward one. I guess I’ll have to live in mystery.
Amazing post, thank you! How do you explain the difference between the "unusual thing" and the "game"? It feels a bit confusing, these are two separate terms, sometimes they seem to be used interchangeably, but sometimes not, and I'm not sure I understand the difference well.
To me there isn’t much of a difference.
Rather, not much of a USEFULE difference.