Improv and the Three A's

They say that Improv is all about the "Yes, and..." which is true. As I have taken a few Improv classes, I now think it is more about the three A's.

When Pedro went to treatment for anxiety and depression, the family also had to go to therapy school along with him. "Your child didn't get here alone," said Hector, the family outreach director told the parents at an outreach weekend. "If you aren't in therapy, you need to be." 

In the course of recovery from my own mental health issues*, I have learned about the three A's:

1. Awareness
2. Acceptance
3. Action

These are in order for a reason. We need to be aware of a situation first, before we can accept it. Without acceptance, we react or try to force solutions. As we accept, we become open to different options and respond accordingly.

I had my first Improv performance a few weeks ago, which placed me firmly in my discomfort zone. After the performance, I was talking to my friends who attended, who were giving me all sorts of high-fives and you are so cool, etc. I was feeling great.

Then the instructor came by and gave me a low-down on the show. The dude has been in Improv since the 1980's and was trained initially as an actor. Improv is his life and he knows a lot.

"You guys dropped the ball on that scene with the foot," Matt said. Stacy launched the foot into the sky to where the giant lizard were.** "She gave you Godzilla and you missed it."

At first I was annoyed that he was throwing cold water on the warm feelings from my friends who were amazed. I was basking in the glow of my performance and here comes the teacher telling me what went wrong. Seriously?

When I got home, I kept thinking about Godzilla. Matt had hit on a very important point, something that stuck with me. When I was on the stage watching Stacy hit the foot into the air with a gold club to the land of the giant lizards, I had thought "I need to go on stage as a dinosaur."

I didn't act on my instinct, impulse or intuition. I knew I needed to go on stage as a dinosaur, but I was worried I wouldn't know what to do as the dinosaur. The thing is, I didn't need to. I needed to trust my instinct, trust my gut and my intuition, and most importantly, trust my team that we would find the next indicated step. As I imagine the scene now (in slow motion and ten days later), I see myself walking on stage with a royal British accent, sharing the delicious foot with my handsome partner, Tyrannosaurus Rex. I would have been Tyrannosaurus Regina, begging Rex to go to the village below to get more feet for the dinner party with the Dragons.

I've had the intuitions and impulses before. There was another scene where I felt like a pregnant woman in labor, and other where I was in a soap opera where I needed to hire a hitman to kill my father before he gave away my inheritance of a collection of Vogue magazines.

Improv is really about the three A's: 

1. Awareness of the scene played before you. What are the other actors giving you for the next scene?
2. Acceptance is where we understand what is before us, and open ourselves to options.
3. Action is where we step into the scene, ready to go and be willing to respond to what is before us, and move the narrative forward.

I signed up for another round of Improv starting this week. In the first three courses, I was developing my awareness of what is going on in the scene, which is no small task. 

Acceptance is the next level. As improvisors, if we don't accept the premises we are given, we leave our team and the audience frustrated. No one is having fun, and the story we are telling doesn't build. Once I see the scene built before me, I need to agree with what I have been presented with. I let my soul/subconscious/intuition/right-brain take over from there. 

I am finally getting the intuition of what needs be done next. Now I just need to step on to the stage and act on it.

* As I have gone on this journey, I think everyone has some form of mental health issues, giant or tiny. The degree to which our issues impairs our connection with others or our ability to function varies greatly. The people with the greatest hurdles to overcome are those who are outwardly successful. 

** You had to be there. Improv can be a little wacky.