mocktoblog

(Picture via the official DSI Facebook page.)

Giuseppe, the improv team I’m on, had its first show of the year last Friday, and it was pretty excellent. Everyone was great, the crowd was amazing, the new folks showed how far they’ve come (pretty dang far!) and I told the best 185 joke of my life. But the most important moment of the show, for me, was this:

I was in a scene with Travis, the guy in that photo up there, and I really wanted to say something, and I didn’t get a chance to. The scene progressed, and I still really wanted to say this one line. It no longer fit in the scene. It certainly didn’t follow the game of the scene, which would have been hilarious had I stuck to it. It wasn’t particularly funny, nor did it open up more opportunities for comedy. But I still wanted to say this line. And I did. And it was a mistake.

Improv is all about adapting to your scene. It’s all about finding the game of the scene and maximizing its comedy potential. It isn’t about backtracking and going against the scene, hanging on to a stupid line until you get a chance to spit it out. And that’s something I’m still having trouble with.