Only one more week of Improv class at The Barrow Group… my ten week class is coming to a close. How time flies!
A few reasons why I love Improv…
- You really get to let loose. One day before class – I had a pretty rough day. There was nothing specifically bad that happened, just one of those days where everything is frustrating and you just want to scream. During our warm-ups, we played a game that we had played before – pass the clap or something like that – but with a twist: every time someone messed up, the whole class had to run around, yell, and find a new place in the circle. What a gift! I almost made a mistake on purpose so I could run around and scream.
- You don’t even have to try to be funny. Often times, what you think is the natural thing to say, makes people laugh! We were doing an exercise where one person takes on a character and the rest of the class asks them questions. Simple questions, like how old are you, etc. Someone asked me “What was your first word” so instead of trying to think of something funny to be my character’s first word, I said my real first word “Bird”. And everyone laughed! I wasn’t even trying to be funny.
- You get to explore characters that you would never get to play in real life. This one is pretty self explanatory – in improv you can really be whoever you want with no limitations to gender, age, race – there is one boy in my class who has ended up playing a dog multiple times!
Please, share your favorite parts about Improv below!
PS I think everyone could benefit from an improv class – not just actors. So if you are a non-actor, you might want to consider taking one! I’m sure you’ll learn a lot about yourself.
