Bunny, Bunny, Bunny....

Improv class is so awesome!   I had my first class two weeks ago, then last week I was in Atlanta to Emcee and host our Annual User Conference for work – fun!

Anyway, this past week I showed up to class a little early so I could chat with our teacher (Cary) who btw is an Improv guru. His backstory is fascinating; apparently as he tells it he came to his first Improv class about 12 years ago and fell in love with it almost immediately.   

After a fun filled and enjoyable Intro course he decided that he would pursue each of the Improv levels and over the ensuing years did just that, building his expertise, knowledge and willingness to embrace the “yes, and” mantra which is central to Improv.

Then about eight years ago he kicked in his regular job to pursue Improv full time, since then he’s performed on stage all over Canada and the US and now teaches classes at The Second City training facility when not performing onstage.

He’s got such a fun and playful way about him; I swear that he sees life as one big Improv skit just waiting to happen.

Anyway, so I went in early to ask about what the class had done the week before and he says a little of this and a little of that – none of which made any sense to me, but I reminded myself that Improv is about embracing the “yes, and” concept and just going with the flow.   Clearly I have to shed my corporate mental models and rigid process orientation to just be in the moment, which is easier said than done btw…I’m just sayin!  ☺

My classmates are an eclectic bunch to be sure.   The first night we broke up into pairs for our first exercise and we had to interview our partner to find out as much as we could about them then introduce them to the class in two minutes or less.   Now, to be fair I've done this one about a thousand times with work so I went into my work mode (damn I have to break that habit) and started by asking my partner Jason a series of open ended questions.  I remember at one point I had to slow down cos I think he felt as though I was interrogating him Vs. politely asking him questions about him and his life.  

Thinking quickly on your feet is a basic
tenant of Improv

I think he was surprised with the depth of info and the “spin” that I put on his story to the class, but I definitely made his sound pretty cool and almost a little larger than life.  On the other hand his intro for me was a little on the “thin” side shall we say.   Unfortunately I left him perhaps 20 seconds to ask me questions about my life.

Jason beamed as he said, “Hi, this is Terence.  He has two teenage kids, lives in the east end and has a corporate job where he has to travel for work”.  He then sat down – wow, the five second intro.   End of story…strangely I felt as though I had done both he and myself a disservice by hogging all of the time to find out about him and not leaving him much time for him to get to know me.    Lesson learned – don't try and be a smarty-pants!   

There are about 15 or so in the class, each week there are usually one or two away, but on average fifteen.  It’s strange how you can break the class into three distinct groups.   The first third are students, many studying film or drama at University or nearby colleges, the next third work within the industry – actors, screenwriters  voice over specialists, models etc, and finally the misfits (of which I’m included btw)….a skateboarder  an interesting and unusual man (no matter whatever he does he embellishes and/or exaggerates his movements and actions to the Nth degree, and surprisingly not on purpose), then there’s an IT guy, a woman who works in a bank, an new immigrant with little English and me the Corporate guy.   Did I say eclectic????

The thing I like about the group is there willingness to embrace Cary’s basic tenant of Improv “yes, and” which means that no matter what, you have to go with the flow and your interpretation of that particular situation at that given moment in time.   I must say its completely liberating to be in a group who display little to no inhibitions and are completely open in the most crazy and unusual ways.

Each week we practice a variety of games and skits to both build our confidence but also just get us used to putting ourselves out there.  This past week we played a couple that really stand out for me.  

Seriously its so much fun - you've
got to try it....

The most hilarious was “bunny, bunny, bunny”.   Everyone stands in a circle – one person is designated the bunny and pretends that they are a bunny with two big teeth (made with your hands), the person on either side are the ears and have to wiggle their ears (the outside hand) while they all chant “bunny, bunny, bunny” until the bunny points at someone else in the circle who now becomes the bunny and the two people either side quickly form to be the ears and so it goes.  It doesn't take long for the transitions to start to jump back and forth across the circle – you have to think and react quickly given the dynamic nature and speed of the game.

Just when you think you've mastered it Cary adds the next level (there are five levels of complexity in all) – he now added “moose, moose, moose” (a moose  nose made with the main persons arms, then add moose antlers on either side).  Now you have a choice – you can point and now make that person either a bunny or a moose.   

Let the games begin!

Again, just when you start to get the hang of it he adds level three – “aeroplane, aeroplane  aeroplane  – which is a pilot with goggles, and wings instead of antlers and ears….   Level 4 is “Charlie’s angels, Charlie’s angels, Charlie’s angels” – central figure has a gun, one has a walkie-talkie and the other has crossed Kung Fu hands…

Man, by this stage of the game you don’t know if you're coming or going as the pace continues to quicken.   The last stage is a “James Brown” – which is characterized by the entire group hopping backwards, thrusting your hips forward and a screaming “huh” as one large group.   

At this final stage you have to remember the movements and words to all five levels and depending on who in the circle has been designated as the bunny, moose, aero-plane, Charlie’s angels or James Brown – you've got to be quick to jump right in.   I laughed so much, which my sides hurt after doing this skit.

The final skit for the evening was a standard Improv game that I've seen on TV before, two lines of people on opposite sides of the stage or room, two people come to the center with one person facing away from the other.   The person facing the crowd decides on a pose, then the other person turns around and has to “go with the flow” and quickly compliment the first person in some way.  Mostly it’s about getting comfortable thinking on your feet and embracing the other person, but at this first stage it is only movements - no voices.   The second phase to this is that the person facing away now has to come up with a quick line and body movements to compliment their initial interpretation.   And I thought that “bunny, bunny, bunny was fun…its nothing on this game. 

It’s pretty obvious that creativity (and no shame) are a must, but after that it’s all gravy – seriously!