23 January 2007

A Star is Borne

My life is pretty much Groundhog Day. I tend to do the same things at the same time, or thereabouts. It's not as bad as Harold Crick, quite, but it's pretty rare that you find me doing something completely new.

Last night I did something completely new. Something that made my brain stand up and say "Hey! What is going on here?" No, not Ecstasy, silly.

I took an improv comedy class. Me and 7 other lunatics met in a tiny cold theater downtown to be coached by a tall, funny director named Gary. All of the other lunatics were return vistors, so I was the only complete bumbling newbie.

But I knew a thing or two. I have visited Thr Groundlings on several occasions. I have watched Whose Line is it, Anyway? on occasion. So I am practically Ryan Stiles, eh?

I was prepared to commit to my character. To stay in the moment. To loosen up and let go. And even knowing all that, I failed miserably at times. But, hell, kids, I got up on stage in front of a group and made crap up and had a blast doing it. Even got a couple laughs with my elderly pole-dancer routine.

There were games and exercises, mostly to teach you how to listen and to stay present. We did skits, too. I was floored by how good everyone else was, and how nice they were to me. Almost everyone was young (read: younger than me), but there was one senior-citizen aged guy who killed me with his beautiful timing.

I came home all happy with my brain clicking and firing in a whole new way. It felt cool to leave Groundhog Day behind for a couple hours.

Check Linkateria for some new links.

15 comments:

super des said...

Good for you! That sounds really fun, and a good way to break the routine of regular, scripted life.

QT said...

That is so NOT something I would be able to do! Kudos to you for breaking the rut and in a brave way -to me at least!

Lisa said...

How cool is that! I'm impressed and I'm DYING to see the elderly pole dancing routine. Please video tape and post.

Oh and FYI -- I talked of TEC and linked you and the new site. SOrry it took me so long.

Anonymous said...

Wow! That is so cool of you - very brave and fun! Rock on with your bad self.

Anonymous said...

I would SO get into the improv. Whose Line is it Anyway was one of my favorite shows when we still had tv at the house.

Love.It.

I'm sort of scheduled too. Okay fine, I'm REALLY scheduled. So, stepping outside of my regular day/routine is nice, BUT I prefer to do it minimally b/c it throws me off.

Anonymous said...

That is so cool! I've always had a flair for drama and improv was my favourite aspect of it. I'd love to do something like that. You've inspired me!

Anonymous said...

I did something new last night, too. Instead of having 3 Tums before bed, I had 2! See, I can be spontaneous too!

Anonymous said...

Oooh, FUN! Good for you!

I was in an improv troupe for a little while...it was SO much fun. Well, that is, until the point in the games where I had to sing in front of people - something I just DO NOT do. That was terrifying.

I love improv stuff. There are some insanely talented people out there!

lizgwiz said...

Good for you! Improv is so much harder than it looks.

Anonymous said...

Awesome! Is it a class that repeats or a one time thing?

And I call for a YouTube of the elderly pole dancing.

Lynnea said...

Wow! Color me impressed - this would scare the crap out of me.

I loved Whose Line - both versions. I miss TV for that and maybe one or two other shows.

meno said...

That is wondrous brave of you. I would probably be good at improv too, if i wasn't so self-concious. Just like most people.

Anonymous said...

You are my hero! My whole life people have told me that I should try stand-up (bet you couldn't tell that from my depressing blog posts!), but I've never had the guts.

You go, girl!

Anonymous said...

That sounds great! I'm sorry I missed your pole dancer skit. Next time...

Mignon said...

That's amazing, SueBob. I have huge respect for anyone that does that. Way more than open mic poetry, singing, acting, all that lame stuff - trying to improvisationally funny in front of people? That's terrifying to me.

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