From the world of Improv Theatre, where actors have to think and act on their feet, comes a new way of living in the moment and making the most of change
In my work as an improvising performer, I have benefited from learning a set of simple laws which have helped me greatly in life – the fundamentals of improvisation.
If you think about it, we are improvising all the time, reacting to information and producing a response which hopefully serves our purpose. If you’ve ever watched a show like Whose Line is it Anyway?, you might wonder how these people can somehow magically create a coherent narrative that is enjoyed by an audience, spontaneously and without any forethought, seemingly out of thin air.
It might appear that these people are massively talented or enjoy some form of supernatural extra-sensory communication, but they don’t. They simply practice what we can all easily learn.
In a workshop with MBA students where my colleague and I teach improv, we get people to come up with a product, a tagline, a jingle, a celebrity spokesperson and a target market in a group in under 120 seconds using these tools.
To make it easier, it has to be a product that ‘can’t be sold’. Soon, things like glass trousers and a host of pretty rude concepts have people in stitches of laughter. Every idea is affirmed and greeted with a high five, as the clock ticks down.
None of the students thought the task was possible in the time available, and afterwards are always amazed at their collective ability. One thing that people seem to realise is that improv is very good for collaboration and strengthens relationships.
Personally, as I face a huge prospect of change, with my children attending school in another country, I use the first law of improvisation: ‘let go.’ That’s right. Let go of any particular outcome I have in mind, any specific story that guides my anxiety.
For really, anything can happen, and it’s more exciting to be ‘in the moment’ and letting it guide you than holding onto old stories about myself and others that do not serve me well.
Letting go does not mean give up, it means being present, breathing, pausing before I react to anything, which gives me that split second when I can choose to behave in a way that is aligned to my values and what I care about. (Most of the time. I’m not perfect. That too, is something worth letting go of, the idea of perfection.)
Letting go is utterly liberating, and leads into the second rule of improvisation: saying ‘yes, and…’ Professional performers describe this as first recognising and then ‘accepting offers,’ without judgement or fear.
This means some deep listening has to happen. We often play a lovely game in pairs where each person must start their sentence with the last word spoken by their partner. Naturally, no-one can predict the word they have to use, so you have to listen closely to everything that is spoken.
Saying ‘yes, and…’ means acknowledging that all ideas are valid, all have massive potential, and can be built upon. I don’t have to wait for the ‘perfect idea’ that is ‘better’ than any other, which is the way nothing gets done.
The ‘and’ part of ‘yes, and…’ means adding to and affirming whatever is proposed, instead of ‘blocking’ it with a ‘but’ or a no. So, I practise the art of saying yes, and seeing where it leads me, because I have let go.
The last rule of improv I know is to ‘notice everything and use it.’ This means paying attention to the multiple resources I already have, and understanding that they are sufficient to my needs.
So what if I don’t know what the future holds, and am anxious about my lack of income? I can focus on other things to nurture me.
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