Last night I went to an improv show and was asked to write down a suggestion of a New Year’s resolution. I racked my brains. After ten minutes of sitting painfully trying to think of something, a question occurred to me: are New Year’s Resolutions supposed to be fun? I wrote down: to wear moreContinue reading “New Year, Same You, Different Improv”
Tag Archives: improvise
Perfectionism V.S. Perfectly Imperfect Improv
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”
Energy Saving on the Run Up to an Intensive Improv Experience
Today I am pottering about. I’ve done some easy admin; I’ve sorted through a box; I’ve had a good breakfast. I’m hydrating. I’m half way through my rest time – a space I’ve set aside to stop, to get cosy and to nourish myself. It’s easy to assume because improv is so fun it isContinue reading “Energy Saving on the Run Up to an Intensive Improv Experience”
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”
Getting Lost
Have you been feeling weird recently? Like the world doesn’t seem to fit anymore? Is it you? Is it the world? And what is up with everyone else? I’ve been looking around at the chaos, confusion, conflict and sporadic commitment and wondering: are our hearts really in this anymore? In what? In anything? Or isContinue reading “Getting Lost”
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”
What to Do When Things Turn Toxic
In My Little Pony the Movie, the ponies were plagued by a weird enemy. It was a purple goo that seemed to be unstoppable. Slimy, relentless, ruthless, with no sense of boundaries, it was unclear whether the purple goo killed the My Little Ponies or just took them out of action for a while. DuringContinue reading “What to Do When Things Turn Toxic”
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”
How to Belong
Something wasn’t working. We tried to ignore it. It was the elephant in the room – a now gigantic beast wearing a tiny bowler hat and a monocle. The well-dressed Nellie was waving, pulling faces and doing parlour tricks. No one wanted to look him in that enlarged eye so we carried on regardless. Personally,Continue reading “How to Belong”
Critics and How to Face Them: Part 1 – Inner
‘Tis the season for trying new things! But how often do we start something with the gusto of New Year energy, only to be swiftly met with a barrage of discouraging voices? The mere whiff of New Year enthusiasm brings my inner critics to the yard like it’s two-for-one on stop-me smoothies. “What’s going onContinue reading “Critics and How to Face Them: Part 1 – Inner”
Spontaneous Tortoise 