Comedy Improv Workshop

Last night a dozen people gathered in a room for three hours to participate in a Comedy Improv Workshop.

It was an interesting mix of performers (doing voice work, auditioning for commercials in Los Angeles, getting into stand-up) and folks that were shy and came to have fun, meet people and improve their public speaking skills.

I went because I enjoy new experiences and this seemed like a hoot.

Which it was.

There was an ice-breaker bingo card whereby we had to go around and find people that:

1) had the same thumb size
2) loved their job
3) had a mystical experience
4) were wearing the same color of clothing as ourselves

and so on and so on.

I found the questions intriguing and it broke down some walls right away.

Which was the idea.

We make judgements about people immediately but those can change as we discover more about each individual. At one point, the instructor asked us to visualize our favorite male friend and favorite female friend as if they were sitting next to us. Think about that. Are they the folks we would have pictured if we were to go out now and choose new friends?

Then there were games.

And acting out words....my favorite was the woman who embodied a car travelling down the road and getting a flat tire. She really threw herself into it and I was ready to call Triple A.

The instructor turned on the music and told us to dance.

So we did.

Later we formed small teams. Using only the first two lines of a children's song, we had to express an emotion --- angry, suspicious, etc. until the others guessed our word/emotion.

My 'determined' face and tone was described as 'psycho' so perhaps I need to work on that skill.

Good enough reason to go back next week.