Originality
When doing scene work in an improv workshop, I've seen people get stuck in their heads trying to come up with a response that is out of the box, funny, and original. That's a lot of pressure and it takes it's toll by pulling focus away from the scene. You can almost hear the wheels turning in their head as they look off into space in search of the perfect comeback. The secret, of course, is that the answer is right there in the scene. Focus on being in the scene and say the first thing that comes to you. It's obvious. Wait, they say, it can't be obvious. You have to mine for the gold to make a scene really funny. One must think outside the box. The "box" contains the who, what, where, and why of the scene. Stay in the box and use what you've been given. Keith Johnston, a pioneer in improv and father of Theatresports, teaches us that the more obvious one is, the more original one appears. In Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre he writes, "I con