Testing out my Improv Game

by jloftus1189

Hey everybody,

This weekend, I decided to try out my improv game that we played in class last Monday. In case you don’t remember which one it was, we all were assigned an individual of either upper, middle, or lower class status, but had no idea who the person actually was. We were forced to figure out our own identity through observing how the other people involved in the scene interacted with us.

I thought the game went well enough in class, but I was worried it would prove too difficult or intimidating for friends who had never had experience with improv before. I got a group of twelve friends together and explained the rules of the game to them. I sort of led the first scene and commented on what to do next while the scene was unfolding. Once everyone seemed to have an understanding of how the game was supposed to work, I let the first group of three give it a try on their own. To my surprise, the game worked extremely well! Everyone really found it fun and interesting, and a couple people even commented on how they gained some insight into social class perception and treatment. Most if not all of them were able to guess their assigned character by the end of their scene.

I was surprised that a group of improv rookies could tackle the game with such enthusiasm and success. I guess any group of willing people can improv with the best! I think it really helped that I didn’t emphasize the fact that it was an improv game. I merely told them that it was a party ice-breaker type of game. I think some people can be intimidated by the word improv, because they think the skill of improvisation is reserved for those who have either taken improv classes or are skilled in that area.

I also think the fact that I really tried to make the parameters of the game pretty tight, showing everyone how they should proceed if the game took various turns. With examples on what kind of questions to ask and how to respond to them, I gave everyone a templet to follow for their own acting.

However, it is always very important to emphasize creativity and spontaneity. I told everyone numerous times that if they had an impulse to say or do something, then they should go for it, even if they do not know how their action would turn out. I think this was one of the reasons everyone seemed so natural in the improvisational environment. That and the fact that we had all been friends since freshman year and felt comfortable around one another.

 

-Jason

Commentary from in class game

by jloftus1189

I wasn’t sure how the game I lead in class today would go. There were various versions flowing through my thoughts all day, so the one I presented to you guys I was hoping would make the most sense. I think that it was generally a success!

I noticed not too long after the first skit had begun that the game’s objective was changing from guessing one’s status to guessing one’s actual identity. I think the original idea of guessing one’s status might have been too easy, and I’ll agree that watching others going after their actual identity proved to be very enjoyable to watch!

I really thought that everyone did a good job at listening. Hearing what the others involved in the skit had to say about your character was essential to the success of every skit, and you guys all did so well! The game definitely went better than I had expected!

 

-Jason

I go down and You go up

by jloftus1189

The reading for this week really emphasizes one of the aspects that would help me most if I were trying to improvise a scene with a partner. I’ve never taken an improvisation class before, and any sort of complement or raising of my status during the exchange gives me the confidence to stay true to my improvised character and not worry so much about how well I am improvising. If my partner suddenly knights me king, then I will have the confidence to continue on as king. If he calls out to me about how hard the labor we are providing is as a fellow worker, then I can have the confidence that I can do whatever it is he is doing while still improvising a successful role.

Once again, the reading for this week also reminded me of many things I often forget to include in my every day interactions.

Applying Improvisation to Real Life

by jloftus1189

Just want to start off by saying I missed you guys last week! I was feeling pretty ill and had to miss out on my dose of improvisation for the week. Totally looking forward to getting back on track tonight!

When I initially signed up for this class, I thought I would be able to apply the things I learned directly to my everyday life, and that’s what has happened. The most important thing I’ve learned from this class is how to respond to a situation when it doesn’t go as planned. I have become much more adept at recognizing that the situation is not meeting my expectations, not dwelling on this, and thinking on my feet to adapt to the new unexpected situation.

I tended to try to predict how a conversation would go even before having it with someone, and sometimes I was right about how it would go. In this situation, I would have pre-practiced lines that I would use and the conversation would move along rather smoothly. Many times though, the conversation would take an unexpected turn, and I would be left speechless, partly because I was bewildered that it did not go according to my prediction, but also because I did not have any of my pre-conceived statements to fall back on. This bad habit of mine would often get in the way of me having a good time at parties or other social get togethers.

Obviously, this was quite the bad habit, and it kept me from fully enjoying the spontaneous aspect of life. It halted my creativity in conversation, and honestly probably made me look like a boring individual to talk to. The exercises we have been doing in class that force you to change your perspective on a seconds’ notice and develop a new train of thought have done wonders for me outside of the classroom. I now find myself talking to people I’ve never met before about pretty much anything under the sun.

Not that I wasn’t able to do this before, but now it’s a much easier task.

Give as much as you Take

by jloftus1189

I think the readings for this week are very applicable to any relationship that you would like to see grow. Whether it be a life long relationship like a best friend or a marriage, or a two-minute relationship between you and your partner during an improv exercise, if you want the relationship to be fruitful and enjoyable, you’re going to have to let your partner influence you.

We all have our own opinions and beliefs, and that’s fine, but one of the beautiful things about a relationship with another human being, is you get to have these opinions and beliefs challenged. If, say, you and your partner are given the topic of flying an airplane in a short improv skit, and your initial opinion of how to start the scene is to merely turn on the engines and fly away, you might be taken aback when your partner takes control of the scene by running through the mandatory checklist every pilot goes through before taking off (especially if your partner actually has flying experience).

The point is to honor and respect the person you are developing a relationship with, to treat their opinions and beliefs as equal to your own, and to make an effort to give in to the other person’s will just as much as you take.

 

-Jason

The Effects of Education on Spontenaity

by jloftus1189

I worked at a pre-school for a quarter last year, and I really came to see how important improvisation and creativity contributed to the children’s development on a day to day basis. The teachers rarely told the children what to do; rather, the children would be given some sort of decision to make. For example, the children could either play in the sand area and make volcanoes, choose their own book for a teacher to read to them, or play with wooden blocks to create their future household.

These children are constantly faced with situations in which they have to make a decision and apply their own imagination to their decision. I feel as though the older I got in life, the less I was encouraged to embrace my creativity and the more I was encouraged to seek out and learn concrete information. As an adult, people are often so set in their ways that they forget how powerful spontaneity can be if it is constantly applied and practiced. This is the kind of mentality I try to apply to my life. One day I might take a different bike route to class, or I might talk to a random stranger about a topic I usually don’t talk about, just to see how far into the conversation I can get and still feel like I am contributing to it. The more I practice being able to improvise on the spot like this, the better I find myself at it. Personally I think malleability in any given situation is an art unto itself, and is its own sort of intelligence.

Agreeing with the reading for this week, I think that education is a destructive process. I feel education past pre-school moves further and further away from teaching students to embrace their creativity outside of the classroom. Thus, when we try to be creative, we find ourselves having trouble viewing things from a different perspective or outside of the box.