Why you should learn Improv Comedy
Learn a lifehack in less than twelve months
The holiday season is upon us, a yearly variant that some people enjoy and others drink their way through. After eating/drinking/realizing their relationship is not as strong as they suspected, people look for a NEW YEAR, NEW BEGINNING, NEW YOU. One way to supercharge your life? Take improv comedy classes.
Taking improv comedy will improve your life regardless of where you are. I have been an improv comedy performer for years, and use the skill I learned in all life settings. Here is a non-exclusive list of the benefits, drawbacks, and overall hilarity of learning improv comedy.
BENEFITS
Gets you out of your head. It is impossible to be competent at improv if you are a judgy bitch during a scene. Improv forces you to be in the moment and connect with your scene partner or partners. It’s like being in an orgy, you have to give to get…and you cannot do either if you are focused on stuff like ‘buying the dip’ or ‘don’t jizz, don’t jizz, don’t…..damnit I jizzed.’ The practice of being in the moment and making eye contact has benefits to all aspects of life, especially with loved ones. Learn to make those connections in a fun, no jizz environment.
It’s fun! Improv is playing for adults. There is nowhere else in life outside of an insane asylum where you can pretend to be a teenage airplane, purr like a lion, or just be a complete weirdo. Many people have professional careers and improv is a great stress reliever. You can be your goofiest self and people will appreciate you giving your gift of goof to the group. Go act like a cat at the gym and let me know how that goes. No seriously.
Improv teaches you to focus on other people. Sounds weird, but ask yourself how often you actually look at what someone is wearing, or a woman’s earrings, or a dominatrix’s whip. When someone starts a scene, the person can describe themselves, and you can also add to their character. When someone describes themselves, you have to pay attention and use their gifts to add to the scene. This skill of paying attention to someone will translate to your personal and professional life. People dress and act certain ways on purpose. Being able to pick up on what someone is doing and complement them and/or understand them better is a superpower. People LOVE compliments.
Improv helps you make adult friends. It is tough to make friends as an adult, especially if you are in a relationship. Sure you hang out with other couples, but do you actually like Don? Probably not. Improv classes usually turn into an improv group where you hang out and perform shows together. There is an electricity when a scene clicks, and people want to carry that outside of the classroom. My improv classes were the best three hours of my week, hands down. I was so jacked up one night, I rode my bike past a ‘do not enter’ sign and immediately bit it on black ice. I then had to ignore my injuries and save my bike from skidding into a lake. Would I do that again? Of course, because I survived and have an above average story to tell my anonymous friends. Groups can be fleeting, so enjoy them while the energy is strong.
Improv shows you that reality is malleable. I am not sure how much I believe in the simulation theory, but there does seem to be code/an operating system to life. Improv is a hack to this system. You learn that almost every situation can be altered by your actions. Your actions on stage lead to your partner’s moves, and potentially audience laughter…or groans. You become the lead character of your life and learn to manipulate NPCs.
You learn body control and gestures. Many people speak with their hands down, in their pockets, eyes down. Improv teaches you to use your hands and arms for object and scene work; you learn eye contact to guide your partners, start and end scenes, and get laughs from the crowd/hit on the cute girl or guy in the front row. Watch someone speak and see how DEAD their body language is. Improv will teach you how to liven up any situation with eyes and arms.
Become quick on your feet. One of the saying in improv is ‘go to your third thought.’ Start with cat, go to cat in a band, then Metallica as cats. Someone can make that funny. If SNL was less woke, there would be a plethora of fun ways to do third thoughts for this administration. Biden trying to talk - Biden’s teeth fall out - Biden’s teeth argue with his tongue over who is to blame for his low approval rating. Too easy. It helps in life, especially with serious conversations. Let’s grab a drink some time - it’s Friday at 3 pm, let’s go drink some tequila - tequila fights COVID, let’s get saucy. I’ve been in a relationship for a while so no idea if that would work, but hopefully you get the idea. Third thought is usually more creative and fun.
There are different types of improv and they all think the other is not art. It’s a hilarious, non-aggressive modern day version of East Coast vs. West Coast rap. You have to be there to get it.
Learn how SNL works. I know SNL currently stinks, but it has had some incredible moments with amazing performers. You can perform on the same stage as Chris Farley or Tina Fey. Pretty cool.
Bill Murray learned improv.
Improv comedy has improved every aspect of my life and can for yours too! Let’s breeze through the drawbacks.
NEGATIVES
Improv is liberal. It’s acting with a twist, so you will get some predictable cast of characters - the woke, the obsessed with pronouns, the triple maskers. Best way is to enjoy their company, remember you are there to learn too, and have fun because life is short.
The pronouneeeeeeeers. You will get in a group and someone will say ‘let’s introduce ourselves’, followed by someone saying ‘and if you are comfortable, add your pronouns’. This is code for that person to dramatically share their ‘they/them’ pronouns while dressed as a goth woman with a mustache. Improv itself has no use for pronouns given you are ACTING AS SOMEONE ELSE IN EVERY SCENE, so like masks it is performative. I went along at first, then stopped. No one cared. If you really do not like the group (usually for drop-in improv), say your pronouns are BTC and ETH. If they can make up nonsense, so can you.
A year will cost .5 ETH. Not cheap, especially when coinz only go up. The skills you learn are more than worth it as long as ETH stays under $50k. Seriously.
In-person improv is hard to find, and since it is liberal and usually in blue areas, people will be in masks, they’ll require vaccination cards, and your car will be broken into and Seth Rogan thinks that is fine. It is what it is. One way to avoid is doing zoom improv. I recommend in person and was fortunate to perform prior to COVID variant #69, but we all have to make our compromises. I have an iPhone made by ethnic slaves; not proud of it, will eventually make a change, but I like my child labor sweat shop work camp made product.
The masks and pronouns. SMH.
Overall, the benefits outweigh the drawbacks. At a minimum, do zoom improv. You will get 70% of the benefit with none of the masking. If you can do in person, that will super charge your 2022. Have fun while in class. My improv groups have fallen apart, and it is hard to capture that magic again. Enjoy and ride the wave while you can!
If Bull is going all in for 2022, so can you. IYKYK. And if you like this, feel free to share with an NGMI.
Heart,
BTK