KISS

from the streets of Chicago...near my favorite Panera's

You may have noticed that I started the blog by listing day 1 and day 2, but have you ever noticed how many days there are? They just keep coming. Yeesh.

So we're going to jump to “Week 2 of Second City:” new week, new teachers. Often, I think of improv as being a male dominated art form. Really, don't know why, especially considering how many hysterical women I know. So, I was delighted to have two kickass lady teachers (what a terrible descriptor) for this week of class. It became very clear, very quickly that the training wheels were coming off.

My improv teacher, Rachel Mason, is a goddess, the patron saint of improv wisdom. Nuff said. She would speak and I would have to hold my hands together to prevent constant outbreaks of exuberant clapping. I also took notes like a conscientious and slightly obsessed court reporter.

Lessons learned:

1. Know who you are first before you go trying to become other people
2. Show us who you are
3. You are wholly accountable for your joy
4. Make the choice to be open
5. Don't just confront your fears- run after them
6. My favorite, “If you are not having fun, then you're the a$*hole”
7. KISS = Keep it simple stupid

These Faces

How do you know that you're at Second City? Well, for me I knew I was living the dream when I got to see these awesome faces everyday. These peeps kept me honest and in stitches.

You also know you're at Second City when you pass these cheerful gargoyles on the way to class...

 I am desperate to set these guys up with these ladies...

Ah, l'amour, l'amour, toujours l'amour

DAY THREE

DAY THREE

As I keep taking classes at Second City, I am gobsmacked by how the lesson I learn can be utilized in everyday life. It's true: life is improv and improv is life. 

LESSONS LEARNED:

IMPROV

1. Whatever you say is perfect and awesome (tell that to my mom)

2. You don't have to talk about your location → ex: Don't say something like, “Wow, Bob I'm so glad we're on our honeymoon 20 miles north of Deluth. Too bad about that bear attack that's happening right now.”

3. Pauses can make a scene more alive. In fact, say less and often the scene will go farther.

4. Build a scene one line at a time WITH your partner

5. Get physical...let's get appropriately physical

6. Yes, it is easier to say “no.” However, when you say “ok” to something you'll go places you never expected. We love conflict, but when you say “no” it's harder to get actually get somewhere and someplace.

7. Saying “YES” leads to TRANSFORMATION

8. Know your objective even if no one else does. Know what you need to get; play it; put it into all your actions.

Pure Imagination

In improv class, I'm rediscovering how much fun it is to imagine. In fact, I find myself humming “Pure Imagination” from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the good version) all the freakin time. Here's a link to the video. Seriously, if you haven't watched it recently take a gander. It makes me believe that my secret dream of someday having a rootbeer float swimming pool isn't just some fanciful pipe dream. Bread bowls are a miracle people!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ-uV72pQKI

I remember watching this when I was a kid. I couldn't have been older than 6 and that part where he takes a bite out of his daffodil cup- blew my kindergarten mind! I remember thinking, “That man just ate that cup. That man just ate that cup! There are no rules! I can do anything.” I then ran out into the back yard and tried to make a grass shirt (I had heard of grass skirts and believed that people should be able to have grass on their torsos dagnabbit). It didn't work because our grass wasn't long enough to weave, but that didn't stop me from thinking up “doggie cereal” (a box of milk bones in my dog's watering bowl). Vomiting dogs aside, my point is that I think imagination is a greatest energy source on the face of the earth; we just need to learn to harness it and make grass shirts.

DAY TWO

DAY TWO

So, we're going to jump back into the handy dandy time machine to two weeks ago on my first day of classes at Second City's summer immersion program. Picture it, a Monday in early July. The men and women live much more simply then. They still drive cars.

I awake with the dawn. Being a crazy person, I spend way too long deciding what to wear. Final decision: my lucky yellow sweater, striped shirt, and jeggings. Jeggings, they are better than sliced bread and twice as comfortable.

Note the progression of photos. The one problem with traveling alone (aside from the mind-numbing loneliness and time for introspection) is that you have no one to take photos of your loneliness except for your best friend, mirror. Oh, mirror you're the best and that bright white flash, simply a product of our love.

First picture: Feigned confidence

Second picture: Practicing my “Will you be my friend?” smile → Hey, it worked in kindergarten

Third picture: Freaked out desperation

I hop a bus to the training center and run up the escalator to my first class. This week is Improv 1 (mornings), and Writing I (afternoons). Going up the escalator, I spot all these pictures of Second City alums along the wall: Gilda Radner, John Candy, Catherine O'Hara. I am filled with the 30 Rock Tina Fey line, “I want to go to there.” Then, I realize I am there, here. Cue: Delightful hysteria and well-covered panic.

We're divided into classes and I find myself with about 9 other Nervous Nellies. We introduce ourselves and I can already tell that I like these peeps. Our teacher is the delightful Micah with a spring in his step and a clever yet profound saying in his mouth (that last part sounded weird). But, anyhoo we jump right into games etc. I don't have much time to take notes; but, here is what I grasp.

1. Everything everyone (including me) says is awesome!
2. Never say no, always say yes...and...
3. Every mistake is a gift
4. If every mistake is a gift, then my life is Christmas

We break for lunch and a group of us heads over to Boston Market where I proceed to eat a chicken. About half of us pile back into Second City for our afternoon writing class with Andy Miara, another wise man and I must mention another comedy genius. Here is what I grasp from this afternoon's class.

1. Comedy writing is not about just writing jokes, it's about writing relationships
2. Get up and go for it/write it/act it...who the hell cares (aside from my mother)
3. At Second City, shows are written through improvisation → which means they generate many scenes and then test them with an audience
4. A comedy writer needs to develop an ear for an audience → how and why do jokes land? How and why do scenes succeed?
5. The RELATIONSHIP is the key to coherently building an emotional and yes humorous story
6. Once you find your hook (what's working) push and heighten → I imagine this to be like funny child birth
7. You don't have to have all the answers when you start writing something → let the scene work with you
8. We want to see TRANSFORMATION: characters and situations that are dynamic and always changing emotionally

By the end of the day, my mind is filled to capacity. I end up walking back to the hotel (2 miles) just so I can decompress. I grab a Panera's salad, baguette, and huge ass chocolate chip cookie and pass out on my bed. Today was amazing, but I definitely feel like I'm in the deep end of the comedy pool and I forgot my floaties.