How could I? It's our raison d'etre. Um, duh. Plenty of other schools teach plenty of other kinds of improv. Some schools even teach plenty of similar improv. But no other schools I know of teach improv to non-performers in a way that a) is approachable and accessible and makes sense to "real" people and b) still pushes those real people to improve in the core skills of improv. Which are, you know, the core skills of life.
It would be easy to have a "class" (and I use that term loosely in this context) where you just play around at improv games. People would have a blast and make friends and relieve stress. That's great; of course, that's also referred to as a "party" and those, I've heard, are quite popular.
It's also easy to have a class designed for performers, and push them hard to expand their acting skills and characterizations and commitment. Every acting school, improv school and mime school in LA does exactly that. Well, to be honest, I'm just guessing about the mime schools.
What's tricky is to have a class that strongly emphasizes the fundamentals of improv and requires dedication and commitment without demanding excellent performing skills. People who take H2G classes are most often taking them for personal growth - fun is usually on the list, along with better communication skills, enhanced relationship skills, improved listening, working better with others, etc. Naturally, our job is to push the students out of their comfort zone and help them get comfortable in the discomfort - while still making the overall experience fun. And improv class is fun... but it's not all about relieving stress. Sometimes improv class creates stress for students, especially when they are working out a particularly troublesome demon of some sort.
I, for one, am not going to apologize for that. Because when that struggly time comes - and it will, trust me - I know that if the student sticks with it and embraces that discomfort and commits to working through it, the result will be life-changing for them. Pushing yourself to overcome obstacles (of any type) expands your capacity and enhances your life. Anyone can stay the same. It takes effort to change and improve. Fortunately, Held2gether improv class can make that effort a whole lot more enjoyable - and effective.
Uh, that's why we call it improv for life, btw.
By Sonnjea Blackwell
