Talking Improv

The Daily Grace: I'm an Improviser! Grab Me!!

thedailygrace:

Maybe I’m in a little bit of bad mood today. Maybe I’ve just had too much caffeine. Maybe I’m nervous about the way too many things I have going on today but I just want to talk for a minute about the perception of Improvisers being open and fair game for anything from anyone at all times. Am I…

Doing improv is not a excuse to social graces and folks’ boundaries.

Improv is about trust. Trust is something you earn. Just because you are on stage with someone, it does not give you permission to grab someone in a way you’d not grab anyone you have just met.

This extends beyond physical contact, of course. I know we (improvisers) are wary of putting limits on subjects, etc., but there are moves and scenes that should send warning sirens up n your brain before you say them. Sure. If you have earned the trust of your teammates because you know them and they know you, opens doors. But you should be thinking twice about certain things before they come out of your mouth.

The amount of times I’ve seen the following in jams: rape, asking for a blow job, calling out a performer’s race, violence, etc, etc, etc..

When TYR was starting to get going as a team, I remember we were having a night of bonding, hand out and, yes, drinking. I asked the men on the team if, a scene called for us to kiss, is it okay to kiss or do we do the hand-covering-mouth thing. I dislike the hand covering mouth thing. But I also know my limits are not the limits of others. I know that and respect that. So I asked. And then I knew.

(I didn’t asked the women. Why? I suppose because I knew I wouldn’t be comfortable crossing kissing them on stage. This is a whole other issue and brings up my own hang ups, I suppose. It is always curious to me that you are most likely to see two men kiss on stage in improv. Second most likely? Two woman. Least likely? A man and woman kiss. Even on teams that have know each other forever. Curious. And mostly unrelated to this topic.)

This is an excellent topic of discussion . Those outside of improv think that there’s no end to how far we can go. That’s an absolute myth. Maybe it’s because we make it look so easy, so casual, that it’s all “fly by the seat of our pants.” That’s true in the sense that we don’t know what we’re going to say or do, but as Morgan said above, there are rules. There are also unwritten rules customized for each performer.

Personal boundaries are just that: personal. There are reasons why a person may not be alright with you getting extremely sexual, or even something as “seemingly innocent” as a violent arm pull. If they confront you about it afterward, let them have their reasons, don’t question it and make that mental note. Yes, it’s supposed to be an improvised show, but when you hear the audience go “Ooo…” in that ominous, disapproving kind of way, it’s safe to assume they think you might be going too far. And you probably are. I’m all about realism on stage, but if it’s at the expense of breaking a performer’s self-worth, there’s a problem.

I’ve seen performers use improv to escape their daily lives, which I completely understand. We all have crap days. While I was coaching Swash and Swish at East Carolina, I always told the improvisers to leave their day at the door. If you’re angry, don’t take it out on your fellow improvisers in the scenes. That can really break trust and make them that much more unlikely to support each other in future scenes.

I’ve also (sadly) seen improvisers take advantage of “making it all up.” Yes, that girl you’re in a scene with is attractive, but that doesn’t give you the right to grope her and fall all over her. Did you really make all that up on the spot, or did you decide earlier that you were going to touch her inappropriately? Because honestly, you’re not that good of an actor, and it’s obvious that you planned it. I’ve seen this exact thing happen, and I call it out every time. The group needs to know that “playing” like that is not okay, especially in college.

Now, if you’ve been on a team with friends, but you’re also good friends with them outside of practice/shows, you already know exactly how far you can go with each performer, and you respect their boundaries. Over time, you get to know what each person is capable of; each person’s limits (both physically and performance-wise). The familiarity and comfort breeds better improv.

Jams, eager audience participants and classes with what you can mostly call strangers is another thing entirely. They are a clean slate. They know nothing of your boundaries and they know nothing of yours. In that case, the best crazy choice is probably the one you don’t make (Note: when I say “crazy,” I mean touching, grabbing, intimate moments, overly-physical bits, etc.).

Source: thedailygrace