6th
Play
Improv is about play, about being playful. It’s not rehearsed, there are no rules and it’s ephemeral.
Numerous other improv voices (Johnstone, Close, &c.) have spoken of having to create a space where people feel playful, to recapture the spirit of play we innately had as children. And I fully agree with this.
I think athletics/sports are an excellent analogy for improv. I’m constantly referencing them in my classes. Professional athletes play at a high level and they are equally unrehearsed, there are no rules (the structure of the game has rules but playing the game itself does not. How to score on a breakaway? How to deke an opponent? No rules for that) and, again, the performances are ephemeral.
We are socialised at an early age to limit our play because play can (should?) be disruptive to routine and our society relies heavily on routine. We compartmentalise our time for play and we learn that “there is a time and a place for play” when our instinct is to play all the time. As such, we build walls around our play and playfulness. We do NOT play with strangers. We train ourselves to play only with those we feel comfortable with, our close friends, our loved ones. As such, we begin to associate intimacy with play. Which is bad.
The barrier to reveal our intimate selves is much higher than our playful selves but as the two merge with age (or worse “maturity”), the barrier to our playfulness is equally raised. Improv suffers when we shield our playful selves. We wear “masks”, personas that conceal our true playfulness. You can see it when a player speaks in a stilted “stage voice”, is constantly avoiding eye contact, is trying to control a scene. These barriers to play prevent people from being free and from being reflexive. Everything passes through a censor that asks, “Will this reveal too much of my real self?”
Digression: Marc and I have often been asked if we were a couple or dating. One time we were walking down the street and a person took the time to yell out of their car: “HEY, ARE YOU GUYS TOGETHER??”
I’ve often wondered why people get this impression. It’s not like we hold hands walking down the street or kiss each other goodbye. But I begin to suspect that people conflate our playfulness with intimacy (which some people will also conflate with sexuality). Either that or it’s the matching tattoos.
-fv
