A Moment about "The Moment"

I was sitting at Caribou Coffee tonight reflecting in my journal about all that I've gone through in 2009. I realized something about my own personal life that has a quality application to improvising - being in the moment.

We hear the term "be in the moment" a lot in our improv classes and when we talk about improvising. "Boy I just wasn't in the moment, I was really in my head." ... I don't know if I've ever heard someone say "Wow, I was really in the moment up there." But if you've ever seen a great scene, or great character reactions in an improv scene or regular theater, you've seen someone "in the moment."

In my life, "the moment" refers to my innate ability to over-analyze everything. Anyone who knows me can attest to my ability to over-think something to death. In some ways it's a blessing - because I get stuck here - writing things down. But in many other ways it's a curse. I end up missing the pleasure of the moment. I miss just being there in time and enjoying wht's happening.

And that translates to the stage.

How many times have you been improvising, if you're an improviser, and you get off the stage and are like "man, that was a great scene... What did I do again?" We forget, because we were just there - experiencing it in the moment. We weren't analyzing it, we were just doing it. I can remember many times being on stage trying to think of clever things to do, or trying to remember what had happened so far - NOT being in the moment at all.

So what is it like to be in the moment? Good question. I think that answer comes in what's given to us on stage... In our reactions to each other and to what's going on.

One of the most wonderful parts of rehearsing a written script is moments of discovery. This is one of the reasons I love Shakespeare so much. In his plays we don't have a lot of stage direction, so it's up to the actors and director of a production to discover the actions and motivation in the text. The discovery of character-driven doings and reactions is one of the most exciting moments to me because it's so fun - and often it comes from the actor being in the moment and reacting to what's just been given to them, as their character.

On stage we'll often find ourselves resisting an urge to move. If you've ever heard yourself in rehearsal or afterwards saying "I felt like doing X then" that's more than likely an in-the-moment impulse. In a scripted rehearsal it's up to the director to decide if that impulse would or would not work. Often they'll test it to see, and keep it or change it and build on it. That is your script coming to life on stage and it's wonderful.

In improv, there's often not a director there to go to for guidance, and you have seconds to react. While it is hard to do, if you're reacting in character, go for it. It's the moment coming upon you. How many times have you seen a scene or been in a scene where terrible information is delivered from improviser A to improviser B and improviser B barely reacts? 99.9% of the time the reason is that improviser B is in their head thinking of a clever response... or still thinking about what their last line was, or thinking about that plot idea from 30 seconds ago. Improviser B, in this example, is far far far away from the moment. Even a reaction that asks a question is better than ignoring the terrible news. Look at how YOU react to bad information - you often ask a question, WHAT? WHY? HOW? WHO??? Questions are native to being in the moment. If a question comes from a character-driven moment, ASK IT. You are in the moment, go for it.

Being in the moment is one of the most basic of improvisation principles. It keeps us connected to our scene, to our partners, to the audience, to our characters. It's all about reacting to what is given to you. Reacting to the moment, reacting from your character's point of view, and not analyzing it for correctness, appropriateness, or brilliance. Leave that to the audience or your director to determine.

Most importantly, enjoy the moment on stage. Enjoy the opportunity to play, to be a kid, to forget about what's happening off stage and just be in a different, fun reality. Enjoying that moment can help you realize that you can do the same thing off stage. You can be in the moment at work, at play, or at a coffee shop in downtown Royal Oak, smelling the coffee, listening to the murmor of conversation, and tapping a few thoughts down into a PDA.