Improv is a weird thing. I suppose the same thing can be said for anything in the arts. The thing about improv is that it can be so ephemeral and so capricious. You can practice and practice and still not feel things click in any given performance. True, the more you practice the more consistent you can become. But it does sometimes feel like so much is left to chance.
One think that makes good performers good is confidence. So much of performance is just selling whatever you are doing as if you believe in it 100%. Look at karaoke. You can be a pretty mediocre singer, but if you stand up there and give it all of your heart, the audience will be with you. If you are tentative, you will fall flat.
For whatever reasons, I have spent a lot of my improv time being tentative, never quite believing in myself. For whatever reason I've started to get over that.
I had three great shows thins weekend. I can't say that moves I was making were that different from the moves I would have made a year ago... but I just wasn't second guessing them.
Anywhozits, TYR had a great send of show for Casey on Friday. Patient and confident. And I got to do a Twilight Zone scene, which always makes me happy. Nicole & Chris had a great set on Saturday at Action Pals. An incredibly simple monoscene with and incredibly simple game but layered with lovely fun to play patterns. I find working with Nicole so effortless. And then Saturday at midnight was Howarts Improvisation Society that went awesome and was just a hoot. For a show with 15 people (often on stage all at the same time), all with magic wands, it was amazingly controlled. Just a fun fun show. The audience seemed to like it.
So, yeah. I'm feeling pretty good. (An, hell, that was only the good improv things...)
