4th
Finding The Pleasure of Being On Stage
Improv classes drill students on scene initiations, story-telling, finding the game, characters, environment, etc. but there’s something else that a performer needs to really capture an audience’s imagination. That ineffable quality is the ability to convey the pleasure of play. An improviser may be technically proficient, great at making offers or whatever, but if they can’t connect to their pleasure then there’ll be something dead in their perfomance.
There’s no one exercise that teaches this. You need to feel genuinely inspired, connected and interested in your performance. The best improvisers glow with energy and its difficult to take your eyes off of them. We need to know what it feels like when we’re inspired and inspiring, and when we’re not. And in the future, seek out that pleasure, and let the audience in on it, and they’ll love us for it.
-marc
