Embracing the Weird Twists of Improvisation
by theschan4
Improvisation can take bizzare paths. I remember in class that during the word-by-word story, we ended up with something like “Julie’s eyebrows were falling”. This is a rather gross scene if you envision it. I thought the strange result of this game was simply a one-time occurrence, but then I read the passage about the improvised end of the Hansel and Gretel story, in which the children became cannibals and ate the witch, then the hunters that wandered into the forest. These two impressions lead me to believe that bizzare-ness, in improvisation, is rather commonplace. On that note, I should learn to get over any trauma I may logically feel about the scene, and instead embrace and run with the most unexpected twists, whether they be gruesome or not.
Sarah
educ95si 
Sarah, this is a great observation. About improv and about yourself. You are not alone in that many many people who first do improv are taken aback (and frankly, simply horrified) by the bizarre situations that crop up. I am delighted to know that you’ve decided to just run with it and welcome the unexpected twists. I personally find it very liberating to do so. See you in class!
To echo what Saif said — there are a couple of approaches to this reaction we have like, something is weird, or bad, or bizarre — just running with it is definitely one way to go. But what does that mean? I see it as being one of two things: withholding judgment and trying to quiet down that little voice that says “uh oh, that was a weird thing to say”, or actually going the opposite way and saying “that wasn’t weird, it was GREAT!” or even better, “that was great because it was SO bizarre and inappropriate!”. I don’t think one approach is necessarily better — though perhaps improv would encourage the positive response — but I do think that withholding judgment is the easier first step.