Talking Improv

When You’re Not Performing

If you love to improvise as much as I do, you find that it’s more than just a hobby.

When that thing is taken away from you, either through an illness, injury or through other circumstances beyond your control, a piece of your identity is missing.

Lately, I have been suffering from a type of improv withdrawl. I have not performed regularly in well over two months. I have been actively doing improv in some facet since I’ve moved back to Raleigh. This time for my club to “re-evaluate” our longform nights has been giving me fits. I just want to get back on the stage.

It has gotten to the point where I had considered going back to short form, but that just doesn’t satisfy the hunger to perform. I like the feeling of a well-worked show, not about having the best punny joke in a game. I suppose I like acting without a script. It’s a challenge and the feeling of accomplishment after a show is unlike any other. I want those times to come back.

Have any of you ever experienced a dip in performance time or had shows go on hiatus? Tell me about your experience.