Number one word to describe tonight: fun.
For such a flat-footed, sallow little three-letter word, it sure encapsulates the intoxication I experienced from 7:05pm-7:55pm. Fun. Fun, fun, fun. Fun! In the parlance of the Internet, let me capitalize to indicate increased volume: IT WAS FUCKING FUN. Read more…
Showed up for an “extra” off-the-schedule class at Pan that our stand-in teacher D. offered to teach while A. is away in Ireland.
Only three showed, but what a class. Such learning. D. is really showing us some of the guts of improv, and how certain choices can yield different results. “Follow the fear!”
He instructs us to do the one thing the character doesn’t want to do; say the one thing that is hardest to say. That moves the action. That creates the tension of the scene.
We would do a scene over and over– “freeze!” D. calls out, and then asks us “what would be the most difficult thing to do right now? Great! Do THAT!”
Takes the scene somewhere completely new.
More and more I’m finding my stage craft to mimic any practice in life: be present. Trust. Embrace the fear or excitement. When in doubt, just say exactly what’s right in front of you. The juice lies in the difficulty.
Thanks, D. for the extra class. We are coming along.
Wow.
I come back from Vietnam, don’t write about being home in California, skip right over my trip to Manhattan and almost forget that I’m preparing to return to New Mexico. I’ve been too busy being here to remember to write about all the “theres.” It’s been so long, Not Keeping Score, that I almost forgot what you looked like.
[Scene: a fancy restaurant. Dim lighting. Sounds of wine glasses clinking can be heard. SHANNON, 28, sits at a table across from BLOG.]