Best moment in my teaching career thus far happened tonight in my second Level 1 class. Granted, I haven't been teaching all that long. But improv is like a precious gem to me. I treasure it. I want other people to see it's beauty. I look forward to introducing new enthusiasts. There's a guy in my L1 class I really like. I don't know how else to express what I see in him other than he has a lot of potential. I think if he sticks with improv, he can do some amazing things.
I talked a bit about group mind tonight. I had mentioned it last week, and I touched on it again this week. The last warm up I had the class do was count to twenty. We stood in a tight circle, shoulder to shoulder, with our eyes closed. The first try we got to 12, which is pretty damn good considering they've never done it before. It only took a few times before we basically got to twenty. I say basically because two people said twenty when we hit it, so technically it doesn't count, but I ended the warm up there. When it was over, he had a comment.
"I could tell who was going to talk next. It was like I could feel it." Duke's response: "That's group mind, my friend. Welcome." This kid was completely blown away. There is no way to really truly explain group mind to someone. You have to experience it. And he did.
I have never been more excited and enthused about improv. I'm in a really good space right now. Yes, I'd like to be performing on a regular basis. But Golden Girls has a couple of shows and Duke and I are working on a two person show that so far has two performances set up. We've only played together a handful of times, but I can already tell this is a good pairing. I want to show Austin improv that it doesn't have to be about jokes. Improv can be serious and compelling and still be incredibly entertaining. We did a scene the other day that was going to end in a kiss if it didn't get edited. It was a realistic scene with a serious relationship. Emma said afterwards that she really liked watching that scene. When you can captivate a teammate to the point that they forget they're not an audience member and that in fact they should be watching the scene for an edit, you're doing something right. I'm just incredibly happy with the work I've been doing lately. I want to be the best two person team in Austin. I want people to know who we are.
Tomorrow is a full day! High school kids in the morning. Atchatina Atchatina in the evening. At the party, Kate said some really nice things to me as a person and as a coach. I really like this team and am glad they've stuck together after the cagematch win.
This bird is happy.
I talked a bit about group mind tonight. I had mentioned it last week, and I touched on it again this week. The last warm up I had the class do was count to twenty. We stood in a tight circle, shoulder to shoulder, with our eyes closed. The first try we got to 12, which is pretty damn good considering they've never done it before. It only took a few times before we basically got to twenty. I say basically because two people said twenty when we hit it, so technically it doesn't count, but I ended the warm up there. When it was over, he had a comment.
"I could tell who was going to talk next. It was like I could feel it." Duke's response: "That's group mind, my friend. Welcome." This kid was completely blown away. There is no way to really truly explain group mind to someone. You have to experience it. And he did.
I have never been more excited and enthused about improv. I'm in a really good space right now. Yes, I'd like to be performing on a regular basis. But Golden Girls has a couple of shows and Duke and I are working on a two person show that so far has two performances set up. We've only played together a handful of times, but I can already tell this is a good pairing. I want to show Austin improv that it doesn't have to be about jokes. Improv can be serious and compelling and still be incredibly entertaining. We did a scene the other day that was going to end in a kiss if it didn't get edited. It was a realistic scene with a serious relationship. Emma said afterwards that she really liked watching that scene. When you can captivate a teammate to the point that they forget they're not an audience member and that in fact they should be watching the scene for an edit, you're doing something right. I'm just incredibly happy with the work I've been doing lately. I want to be the best two person team in Austin. I want people to know who we are.
Tomorrow is a full day! High school kids in the morning. Atchatina Atchatina in the evening. At the party, Kate said some really nice things to me as a person and as a coach. I really like this team and am glad they've stuck together after the cagematch win.
This bird is happy.
posted by a c at
10:27 PM
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