Improv

Originally published on Tumblr.

This week I signed up for an improv class. Why? Because a friend told me it would be “good" for me. I didn’t know what she meant, but I’m always up for self-improvement. It wasn’t an impulse buy from a chronological perspective — it’s been on my todo list for about two months — but certainly was from an end goal perspective.

I’ve only been to one improv show in my life. It was a required part of freshman orientation at my university. If there was a lesson in that outing, it was lost on me. I found the whole thing bewildering. I didn’t for a second believe that the show I watched was completely spontaneous.

Last night I had dinner with my improv-pushing friend. I told her about my early brush with the art form, and she told me that if it was billed as “improv”, it was. Amazing. I still remember the final line of the show: “Why do they call it Wien Stadium since nobody ever wins there?” Being brand new to American university sports, I had to have the joke explained to me. I laughed later.

My friend explained that improv requires giving up control. The idea terrifies me. I love control, especially when I present in public. Besides an ability to “go with the flow”, I have a feeling that a deep well of cultural knowledge might be helpful. Mine isn’t. It’s not just not deep, it’s barely an indentation. I don’t know anything about sports, TV, movies, or popular music. I might be in trouble.

I may not be equipped for this, but I’m going to do it. Until I ran my first marathon I didn’t think I had any real athletic ability. Now I think I can perform just about any physical feat with the right preparation. Maybe improv will have the same effect on my self-confidence when it comes to public speaking. Or maybe it won’t. I’ll find out.

When I’m through the class, I’ll let you know now it went. And if I’m feeling either proud or able to endure ridicule, I’ll post a movie of my performance.