I'm Planning to Give Up Planning

Turns out, the people at Krav Maga classes don't look like Raider fans after all. Just normal people with no knives or chains or biceps the size of my waist. So I lived. My apologies to those of you who were planning your spacework for my funeral. See what happens when you pre-plan?

Which brings me to my topic of the day: pre-planning. Do you love my segues? I like to say segue. It looks like it should be see'goo, not seg'way. Weird.

Right. Pre-planning. You would think having a little plan of your own would help out in improv scenes. I mean, it seems like that would help you avoid being caught with nothing to do or say in a scene.

But much like segue isn't pronounced how it looks (ha! to everyone who just thought I was drunk when I brought up the segue thing), pre-planning doesn't work the way you imagine. Having even the smallest idea, plan or agenda is the surest way to eff up a scene. For one thing, once you have that little idea, it's hard to let go of it, so you feel compelled to work it into the scene whether it really fits or not. B) Having your own agenda makes it difficult or impossible to truly listen to the other person, because you are busy trying to steer the scene towards your planned outcome. And VI: When you have an idea in your head, you've closed off the circuits to the free flow of ideas and information that should come in an improv scene. Like, if I'm already thinking about unicorns, I will tend to think of more things related to unicorns like sparkles or rainbows or pretty ribbons for decorating horns. Ideas about tacos or the stock market probably won't float into my brain, because they don't relate to what's already happening in there.

In improv, it's better to be blank. Then you don't steer the scene - or your own thoughts - in any particular direction. You can listen well, respond appropriately, and be open to all of those little details that pop into your head when you aren't trying to direct it.

Anybody want to try to guess this next see'goo? Yep. Real life. Don't pre-plan so much, peeps! It stifles all that amazing creativity and spontaneity that your brain would love to do if you weren't busy forcing it to plan, well, everything.

Take a chance! Come to a Held2gether 1/2-day Intro to Improv Workshop. If it makes you feel better, you can plan what you're going to wear to it. I'll be the one dressed like a Raider fan.

By Sonnjea Blackwell

Who Will Give My Improv Eulogy?

Several people in the Held2gether Long Form Improv Class had weird things happen or come up unexpectedly, so Darren moved tonight's class to Sunday night instead.

Lisa seized upon this opportunity to attempt to kill me.

I don't know why. Perhaps it's because I told people Anya wasn't real. Or because I sometimes write heady posts. Or because I've been known to be "Miss Negativity Pants" on occasion. Or because I believe unicorns (which are real, btw) are my friends.

In any event, I clearly did something to offend her terribly because she is making me go to her Krav Maga class tonight. I'm just telling you all this so you'll know why there are no more posts after tonight... it's hard to write blogs when you're, you know, dead.

Anyway, please take a Held2gether improv class in my honor and have a nice life. I'll miss you. :(

By Sonnjea Blackwell

Don't Beat Your Head Against the Wall

You can't make people be nice.

Turns out, even I don't have that kind of power. No matter how much you want to like someone or give them the benefit of the doubt or be nice to them, you simply cannot force them to be nice.

So you might as well stop beating your head against the wall. Metaphorically speaking, of course. If you happen to beat your head against the wall because it's some Krav Maga exercise you subject yourself to, then by all means, continue.

In the meantime, I'm going to talk about improv. Cuz that's how I roll, people.

First of all, improv people are nice. But in the same way you can't make people in real life be nice, you can't make your scene partner be what you want them to be. Improv is all about letting go of your own agenda and working together to create something funny. You might go into a scene thinking, "Oh! I know! I'm going to label him as a wimpy door-mat guy whose lunch I steal from the office fridge every day." But your scene partner may have the first line and say in a snooty, hoity-toity voice, "You know, Evelyn, I've about had it with your incessant stuttering. I want a divorce."

At first it's disconcerting to give up your ideas. I mean, I don't know about you, but I am generally really fond of my ideas. They're mostly pretty fabulous. But when you learn not to force your agenda, you are able to be in the moment and appreciate the natural evolution of the scene. And it's true what they say: two heads ARE better than one. What you and your scene partner come up with together is usually a lot better than what either one of you would've thought up on your own.

At Held2gether improv classes, we learn how much less stressful it is not to force people to be what we want them to be. Sure, in real life, you might still have to deal with those not-nice people and for that, we're sorry. But you'll also learn how to use those people to create hilarious characters to use in scenes... it's cheaper than therapy and way more fun!

Register for the H2G 1/2-day Intro to Improv Workshop coming up on August 14th, and save your head.

By Sonnjea Blackwell