Improv Class #Eight

Finally! After taking a three-week hiatus from Improv Class (for Passover reasons, remember it takes place at a Hebrew school), it's time for *trumpet fanfare*...another blog post about Improv Class! Unfortunately, it didn't turn out to be as fun as it usually is because the whole group is feeling the pressure. In just about 10 days there's going to be an Improv Show that will be sort of a culmination of all that we've learned to do; make up a personality, put yourself in a specific and identifiable scene or location, and go with the flow.

Tonight we tried practicing a game that we would play later at the show, but it didn't turn out very good. Half of the group, the more experienced half who took this class before, showed us how they come up with personalities and phisicalize their environment and take whatever comes at them. It took a long time for them to finish though, and not everyone in the "audience" was being respectfully quiet. People were murmering to each other, and critiquing the performers.

Anyway, after the first half was finished, there was only about 45 minutes left in the class, so the second group, the newbies, had to make do with the time we had. Me, Bettina, and Adam were in that group. I would think that after 7 weeks of attending this class (at no time did I ever arrive tardy or miss a session), I would have no problem improvising a scene. The problem is, when it came time for me to do my monologue (it was about cruises) I had no idea what to say after establishing that I have never been on a cruise ship. I could have made something up or said something about the Titanic being my favorite movie, but my mind was eerily blank, and I panicked. I just stood there for about 3 seconds saying nothing, until someone came to save me with a monologue of their own. 3 seconds may not seem like much, but if you count to yourself "1 mississippi, 2 mississippi, 3 mississippi," then you might get some idea how much longer it is when you're standing in front of an audience with next to nothing to say.By now I've gotten over it, but I'm still pretty worried about how the show on May 3rd is going to be like. Maybe it'll be better, maybe it'll be worse. But by this time, I've told myself, "Either way, I'm still okay. It's not the end of the world. I'll just give it my best shot." Still, I hope I can find a way to practice improvisation so that I don't make too much of a fool of myself. Even if I do, it's no big deal. I've hardly ever made a fool of myself, so it might be an educational experience.

Before I finish up, I want to remember that my mom made spaghetti for us right when we came back home, and then we unwound with the movie "See No Evil, Hear No Evil" with the great Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. They are the best! So hilarious! Pryor is blind, and Wilder is deaf, what a scenario! I've seen the movie before, but it's still as funny as ever!