Agh my mind, my mind! Why is it replaying that cringy moment when I almost fell off the stage? Why is it remembering that stupid thing I said about wrists? Why is it ruminating on when I couldn’t think of the word weasel? Why is it torturing me? Several months ago, I was in aContinue reading “Perfectionism V.S. Perfectly Imperfect Improv”
Category Archives: Improv Skills
Bring a Brick
In an improv exercise last week, I talked for a minute about Lego Masters. It wasn’t long enough! I hadn’t mentioned technic bricks. Nor had I referred to unique-parts-usage? And I was only part way through fumbling an explanation of SNOT when the timer rudely interrupted me. Studs Not On Top, in case you wereContinue reading “Bring a Brick”
How Improv Can Help the Very Helpful
Are you a clown, a caretaker or a ninja? This was the question posed. I pondered it as I put down the pumpkin cheesecake I’d baked for rehearsal in case anyone got hungry. If I could just have a sign… I already knew I wanted to be a ninja; it sounded the coolest. But theContinue reading “How Improv Can Help the Very Helpful”
Critics and How to Face Them: Part 2 – Outer
Have you ever let a critic stop you in your tracks? Have you held a criticism close to your heart? Have you soaked up that critique, ruminated, let it speak to you in ways you wish it hadn’t? Well, allow me to let you in on a secret… You are not alone. In Part OneContinue reading “Critics and How to Face Them: Part 2 – Outer”
The Attention Game
The art form of improvised performance can sometimes feel like walking a tightrope between seeing and being seen, hearing and being heard, getting attention and giving attention. When I get out of balance I start to wobble. I start to shake. Sometimes I fall. I get this wobble sometimes when I’ve done a well-received thing.Continue reading “The Attention Game”
10 Ways to be More Tree in Improv
When was the last time you sat with a tree? Maybe it was yesterday, maybe last week. Maybe it was last month or year. Time spent with trees is good for our health. I went for a walk with my friend and her tiny son the other day and while we were walking through aContinue reading “10 Ways to be More Tree in Improv”
11 Ways to Own Your Own Scene
Do you ever get an offer and just think, my goodness, what the earth do I do with this? I was recently endowed as a prostitute. It wasn’t what I was expecting. It threw me to be honest. Maybe reading this statement threw you. It’s that moment, isn’t it? The moment when you think: woah,Continue reading “11 Ways to Own Your Own Scene”
Be You. No, thanks.
I can’t help but feel it’s a bit of a trap. And I don’t like traps. Never have. I made one once when I was on a Wilderness Survival course. It was a weird contraption made from a stick with a hole in the end, some string and a loop of wire. It was supposedContinue reading “Be You. No, thanks.”
A Cure for Writer’s Block
A surprising number of people claim writer’s block does not exist. What a strange thing it is to suggest that something you have not experienced, can not therefore exist. It feels as weird as declaring love does not exist or happiness for that matter. Can you imagine the uproar in claiming there is no happiness?Continue reading “A Cure for Writer’s Block”
Getting it Back Together
It had been over 18 months since we had done any real life improvisation together. Would we remember how? The date for doing it kept getting altered. Maybe I was secretly relieved. If we met at all, we’d chat and the time would slip away. The improv – politely waving at us to get ourContinue reading “Getting it Back Together”
Spontaneous Tortoise 