Rose Island Playhouse

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Last night I went to an Improv Jam at The Rose Island Playhouse in Charlestown, IN. Chris Meier hosts the jam there on occasion. I first heard about it months ago when I went to see one of the playhouse's theatrical productions. There is no set schedule for the jams, it appears they happen when Chris is available. 

The Jam itself was great. There was no admission fee but there was a donation barrel. Chris provided drinks and snacks. There were six of us who signed up to be part of the jam and there were about 12-15 family and friends in the audience. We did some standard warm-ups, thank God we didn't Zip, Zap, Zop, and then we got going on improv games. Chris did a great job of running the games and keeping the energy flowing. 

I've been doing some form of Improv on and off for bout 25 years. I started in Denver and continued when I came to Southern Indiana. I've taught improv workshops and I've used Applied Improvisation in my work as a church and clergy coach. But it has been at least 3 years since I taught my last Improv workshop. I stopped teaching because the strain of constantly trying to bring in new students got to be too much. Then I went back to part-time parish work and just didn't have time to think about Improv. But having retired, again, I've resumed my blog and started to feel the itch to get back on stage. But after being away for that period of time, I felt a bit of anxiety in stepping on the stage with people I've never worked with or even met. There were a couple I knew from the theater community, but not well. All those inner voices tried to get to me. "You're out of practice, you're going to suck at this!" "Look how young everyone is, you'll be the unfunny old guy." 

But once we got started, all that went away. In Improv you can't fear failure, you face the fear and dare to fail often and, sometimes, spectacularly. Improv teaches us to turn off the negative noise and be as out there as you can. This is why I love Improv and use it as one of my Rules of Life. The foundation of Improv is to listen, respond honestly, accept and don't deny what you've been given, always add something and try to make it better, make your partner(s) look good, and don't try to be funny. Let the funny come but it's not your job to force it. 

So, how did I do? There were some games that I'm just not good at. Then there were times when I felt in the groove. Driving home, my husband commented on one of the participants. "I think So-and-So was the best one on stage tonight." Then turning to me he said, "oh, you were good, but that person was the best." And I said, "that's fine." I'm just glad I got up and did it. I wanted to know how it felt to be on stage after 3 years, and it felt pretty good. I may not be Second City material, but that's not why I do it. I do it because it makes me a better person. 



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