What would you do if you were having a conversation with a friend and suddenly they cut off their finger? Or, if you were talking with the person you had been dating for a while and you told them that you loved them and they went back to what you were talking about two sentences earlier? Or what would you do if someone stole your grandmother's heirloom ring from your night stand in front of you?
You would have a gutteral, instinctive emotional reaction, right?
So why do we see so many improv scenes where the equivalent of these things take place and it seems like it's a rainstorm on a Tuesday moment. We don't react... we're business as usual, we're stuck in five seconds ago and miss a critical moment.
These are the moments we simply cannot miss... They are the moments that define why TODAY is different than any other day. These are the moments improv was made for - the ripe and juice fountain of emotional raw discharge waiting to gush onto the stage.
DON'T MISS THEM.
Latch onto them with all of your might and ride the emotional wave into a meaningful, memorable scene. Get Angry, Get Happy, Get Sad... Punch Someone, Chase Someone, Fly off the handle - Give your character a come to Jesus moment and watch the rules and the instincts you've been building as an improviser pour out of you.
We go through our classes and workshops learning the basic skills of an improviser, the yes and's the heightening, the character and emotion work, etc etc. etc. AND THEN - we spend the rest of our time honing in on our ability to listen and react to each other.
In your next scene listen and pay attention to each and every moment and when one of them screams "I'M DIFFERENT!" jump on it. Your scene and your work will be so much better for it.
