Improv & going with the flow

The time has come. Here is… My article about improv. After months of mulling it aroung, I finally have a good idea about what I want to share about the positives of the art of improv on mental health.

It’s good to read that you believe that you have good ideas.

Thank you very much.

So what’s improv? Is it some kind of self-development scam?

No, the word doesn’t come from improving. It comes from improvisational theatre. It’s like theatre except the plot, characters, dialogue, scene, story, etc. are created in the moment. No writing, no rehearsing, no idea of what will happen. Whatever happens on stage will be unique and will never happen again.

Wait a minute, that seems impossible?

Well this is the whole point of this article. Some things are required for it to happen smoothly. But the essence of it boils down to two words… Are you ready?

I’m mildly interested, yes.

Ok here it goes. Yes, and.

That’s it?

Yes, and-

Well it was nice reading you, I’ve got an appointment for aquaponey and-

WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! Let me explain. Those two words are containers for an important attitude to adopt in Improv. Yes means accepting whatever happens as true and real in whatever setting it is being played. And means adding elements to what happened to develop what happened.

This sounds very abstract dude.

Ok let me give you an example of an exercise called goalkeeper that I had recently. The idea of the exercise is to make a three sentence scene where one shoots or proposes a sentences, the goalkeeper catches and throws another sentence. This then concluded by the shooter who concludes the scene with a last sentence responding to the goalkeeper’s sentence bringing it all together. This is how it went.

A: (full of tears) SPIDERMAN DIED !
B: The cat escaped
A: (Even more tears and almost fainting) AND SPIDERMAN WON’T BE ABLE TO BRING HIM BACK TO US ANYMORE!

You were obviously the overdramatic one.

Obviously it was me, But I chose this example because we failed at the exercise.

What do you mean?

The point of the exercise is that the goalkeeper has no idea what the other will say but has to react as fast as possible in a logical way.

Let’s go deeper. I bring the information of 1) I’m dramatically sad and 2) Spiderman died. The Yes part on the part of the goalkeeper would be to accept this information as true. The And part would be to add new information, maybe something around who the characters are (A or B) and their relationship, where they are or what time it is, or what their goals are. Here would be responses right out of the top off my head.

B: It’s OK Son, it will be fine. (about characters and relationship)
B: But who will stop our train from crashing? (Location, situation, event, etc.)
B: Splendid, Now I can now the world ! (Goals, character)

Those are just examples but notice that response 1 accepts the sadness (Yes) and adds the parent kid relationship (and) 2 one accepts the spiderman death and adds info about the location. 3 one accepts the spiderman death and adds the goals and character info.

Very interesting, but what’s your point?

Almost there: Depending on the goalkeepers answers, the shooter has to accept what the goalkeeper answered and add something logical based on the first two lines of this scene. I hope you can notice that this ping pong demands very good listening and adaptability. Which is the point of the exercise. And here is where we failed, B didn’t understand the exercise and thought she had to invent a line and say it as an answer to anything I said. And I’ll be honest, I don’t feel like I accepted her idea, i just continued with mine.

Yes and what is your point?

The point is that B added a fourth line and here it is: Damn, the cat only trusts people in spiderman costumes. She said this line full of energy. I share this example because I noticed a shift in her after that moment. We talked later about it. B told me that at that precise moment, she became an improviser. She understood the state of mind. She felt the attitude the exercises were trying to stimulate in her. A king of letting go of the paddle of control and-

Let me guess: Going with the flow of the river?

Exactly! In improv, your worst enemies are your ideas, expectations, plans, past experiences, biases, routines, habits, practices, etc. B understood in that moment that she can let go and trust whatever happens in the moment. She really felt that state of mind of whatever happens is good and I’ll react to it accordingly in the moment. She also added that she didn’t have to control or do everything perfectly. That she could just react to whatever happened.

No, no, no. I refuse. I see where you’re going, Life is not that easy.

I know, you’re right. Yet I feel that some concepts of improv can help make life a little easier. I talked about Yes-And. But there are other concepts that make improv smoother when playing scenes. Obviously being completely present in the moment with the people you are playing with. This will help to get the full picture of what they’re giving you. Being adaptable and flexible to whatever happens, being able to give up second by second whatever you were doing to serve, the scene, your partners or the whole story. Being absolutely clear about what you propose to others, because it will help them to understand you and react better. Being brave and doing the things you normally wouldn’t do and trusting that your scene partners will be there with you and more importantly supporting partners who are doing brave and difficult things. Play or interact with people who are different from you, they will force you to interact or adapt to them. This is very true in improv, playing with different and even difficult people challenges you to think differently. And last but not least yet to me one of the most important things.

Wakes up Yes, yes the important thing.

HAVE FUN ! In improv it is magnetic. When a player has fun doing whatever they’re doing, everybody feels it. The audience and the players. This lightens the mood and decreases stuff like risk, fear, danger, control, etc. A interesting thing almost every improviser notices after a while is that the audience never laughs when you do a scene perfectly. They laugh when you fail spectacularly and get back up again as a team. Those failures are usually the best callbacks and the audience comes to talk to you about them.

Enjoying failures?

YES ! There is an implicit contract with the audience. They know everything is improvised. They know it is hard. So they forgive the failures if they lead to amazing scenes. And if I can conclude on something, it would be this: Couldn’t we in life and in our daily interactions cultivate this kind of implicit contract? Nobody is perfect yet we expect them to be. In a lot of ways, someone who hasn’t failed at something, hasn’t tried at anything. I would like to see a world where failures are not punished with a zero on a test or someone getting fired or socially ostracised but accepted as natural part of life, just like ‘success’ is. (I have a weird relationship with that word…)

Alright hippie, what are your call to actions this time?

Sign up to an improv class
Go see an improv show, I’m pretty sure improviser won’t be on the top of the ‘culture to save’ list.
Start accepting the world as it is (Yes) and add something beautiful to it (And)
Cultivate this going with the flow attitude
- Sure it might not work for everything. But B confirmed me that her life became easier after she started having that attitude outside of improv
Improvise lyrics to a song you like
Start being clearer in your communication
Be brave, trust others will follow and support brave people
Interact with everyone, you might learn something
Have fun