Point Of View - the power of knowing yourself

We recently finished a term of classes at Go U! which meant that I finished up my first time teaching Advance 1 - helping a group of students with their first foray into the world of long form, at least in a class situation.

Teaching long form in class feels a little more like coaching sometimes than it does teaching. In short form, you teach the game, you play the game, you discuss, and you move on to the next game. There is work both on the mastery of the game and mastery of skill - but learning how to play the game shares the stage with learning how to be a better improviser. And let's face it, sometimes knowing how to play a game well doesn't necessarily mean you have strengthened your improv skills.

For example... last night I played the game "The Difference" for the fist time. On Stage. In front of a nearly sold out house at Go Comedy!. OH BOY was I in my head. SUPER in my head. This happened after I had what I felt was an awesome scene with Cari Sue Murphy in the game "Confessional." It wasn't  until after the show that I got a really great note from Doug Kolbicz on HOW to play The Difference. Good to know for the next time. .

Knowing how a particular game works, or can be played, may not make you a better improviser, BUT, I will definitely argue that being a strong improviser helps you play virtually any game. Just as being a good improviser can make you a stronger actor, a stronger listener, a stronger leader, etc. It is a valuable skill set.

So teaching long form enables us to spend more time focusing on the skills of improvising. By the time a class has made it to the Advance program at Go, they've got the basics under their belts. Yes, And, do not deny, don't ask leading questions, listen, share focus, etc.  Short form teachers help you understand things like... this is why that short form moment worked for you, you do this really well. And this is why you're in your head, you weren't doing this. In Long Form, we can take a little more time to expound on that, to do excersises that help us develope those specific skills - beyond learning a game.

One of the things that was a constant in nearly all of my notes to my students this term was the idea of a character's point of view. I'm big on stopping a scene to ask an improviser why their character feels anything at that moment. Why are they there, Why is this important to them, Why do they care about the other people or person - or why don't they care. Why Why Why. Once we discover that, I always find that the work grows. To answer the question of WHY we have to determine the character's point of view.

Point of view is how a character sees the world. One time I was talking to a student about point of view and I asked him about his own point of view, how did he see the world? He was stumped, and as a teacher I was both struck and a little inspired at the same time. It made sense.

Ask virtually any professional acting coach, director, artist, etc and they will tell you that it takes a good level of vulnerability to make a strong actor. To truly touch the heart of a character, to know what makes them tick, to answer the whys about them, we have to have at least a base understanding of our own character, of our own point of view. We have to take a moment to understand ourselves. What drives us, what makes us curious, what makes us frustrated, and why is it that way.

You are your best resource. A script actor can dive into the words that have been penned by the playwright to guage his character's point of view. An improviser must rely on her own experience to levy onto a character in a scene in a second. Knowing your own strengths, yoru own weaknesses, your own vulnerabilities and why they exist will ALWAYS make you a stronger improviser. And, I truly believe this - it will make you a better human being.