*Lessons from the Stage* will be a series of articles discussing acting and improvisation, and is aimed at teaching how my passion for performance has applied to my social life.
As many of you know, I am trained as both an actor and improviser, and perform regularly in the Chicago improv scene. The art of improvisation, if you are unfamiliar, is getting up on stage with a small group of people and performing a show, usually 20-25 minutes, long, with absolutely nothing prepared in advance. It is standard in Chicago to ask the audience for some sort of suggestion, and then based on your day, your experiences, or just whatever pops in your head from that suggestion, you start a performance.
It’s not for the faint of heart. You also may see parallels between this and what I teach.
There are improv skills that are learnable. There are also acting skills that are learnable. And while both of these skillsets come into play when it comes to conveyance, they teach slightly different things and are therefore you can learn something from each of them.
When it comes to acting, you learn conveyance in its simple sense. You learn how to check in with your body and how to tell if you have proper posture, or if you are sore, or even how you are feeling emotionally. Several years ago I was very disengaged from my emotional state. I honestly couldn’t really tell what my emotions were in any given state. Can you? Sure, its easy to tell if you are very angry, or happy, or sad. But how about at any given second at your job? Could you just randomly check in with yourself at any time and tell what’s going on?
It also teaches you to recognize the picture you are painting for yourself with your stance, how you talk, dress, etc. For instance, one night I was at a bar and saw a group of women in a corner. I could tell they were there waiting for someone to come over and have fun (looking around, laughing when a guy walks by but calming down when he walks away, etc). So I went over with a high energy level, fun vibe, and made sure to really knock their socks off. Now, if we were out together and I told you to do that, could you? Acting classes would help you figure this out for yourself.
Improv is a little different. Improv allows you to take this character you have developed, and how to not flinch in the face of anything that comes. I found improv useful in social interactions because neither I, nor anyone else, can control your environment and surroundings. You never know when something unexpected will happen (her friends come over, there’s a fight next to you at the bar, the power goes out). When that happens, do you trust yourself to react in the moment, and without dropping your personality or character? Or would you shut down and not know what to do next, and therefore expose yourself as a fraud to the woman you were talking to?
Let me be clear, if you try to create a persona that you are not, you will fail. Even the best actors in the world are unable to do that. Instead, they take aspects of their unique personality and heighten and project the best aspects of it. The Chicago improv scene has helped me learn how to do that. And if you feel that classes in either of these arts would be the kinds of things you’d enjoy, I’d recommend looking into classes in your area.
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