UCB 201: Putting it all together

So, class finally was fun again for the first time in like 6 weeks!! We just started running the Harold. Three quick monologues, scene premises from the monologues, second beats of the first scenes. We did that over an over again and we actually were doing well. We found games, we justified things, we heightened the games. wow. I was beginning to wonder if I should take 201 over again, but now I feel like we are getting it... FINALLY!!! after being so frustrated!!! I think the biggest difference was we were allowed to play without specific boundaries. For so many weeks we were playing games that were so specific and had a lot of limitations, so that we could learn a very little piece of the tool belt for improv and everything was new. Now it's time for review so we can culminate everything together.

I ha a stuffy nose this class and I wasn't feeling one hundred percent, so I told myself that tonight I wasn't going to stress. I was going to relax and absorb the information. And I had a huge revelation. when you are relaxed and not freaking out about a scene idea, your brain actually work better and can make a good connection. For example, my partner initiated a scene where a husband wanted to infest the entire town with termites so that his termite exterminating business could get rich quick. I "yes and-ed" until I established that he wanted to exploit people for money and I thought it was kind of immoral. He was the crazy man and I was the strait man. Simply responding to what he said last and really listening. Trust that we find something. I think that's a HUGE KEY! Much bigger than any of the experts let on. We did our scene heightened it and we got edited. And then, the panicking ensues. Ah!!!!! I have to figure out what the initiation is for the second scene, to play the beat correctly, play the right game. Pressure, pressure building. Then, I remembered my resolution. "Christina. No freaking out. Just stop an watch these other scenes. Something will come." And so I stopped, and like a miracle 10 seconds later I got an idea for a way to heighten the game!!! How like life is that! The second you let something go, it falls right into your lap.I started the next scene with us being husband and wife and him kidnapping children to "get rich quick" and it worked! yay!!! breakthrough. Yes, its a small scene, but it symbolizes that I can do this. It isn't as distant as I'd thought.

The main notes that our class got in the games is looking for the why of the weird character. If he/she can say why they hold this strange philosophy, it actually makes the scene more successful and it makes my job easier. So that will be my next focal point. If I am the unusual man, say explicitly why I hold this philosophy and if I am the strait man, push for why the other has this philosophy. If we are peas in a pod, say the why. The clearer the better because so MUCH is lost in translation in improv, even if you are trying your hardest. Lamens terms are best.

I am still not really laughing at the shows even though they are well done. I see more of the language that they use and it's not as much of a mystery to me anymore. I see their science and so, its almost as if a piece of the magic and awe has disappeared for me. But as I am trying to become a magician myself, that's probably for the best. My brain is till actively tracking them, watching their moves. "Oh, I see what they did there." "This worked really well." It's fun, but in a deeper way. I was reunited with some of my 101 friend so that was definitely a highlight! Yay friends! People to process with!