improv

I've just started a class in Improvisation. It's with a very good and well known theatre company, Bay Area Theatre Sports (BATS). The first class was last night. It's been very hot in San Francisco over the last 5 days or so. The theatre is on the third floor and was as hot as hades last night. We were running around. It was a sweaty old business. Still it was a really good laugh. The group, to my surprise was mainly men. Overwhelmingly men. I think it was 11 men and 3 women, one of whom was pregnant. I could be wrong. It was great gas. We were straight into the game playing and improvising. I for no apparent reason thought that there would be more sort of ice breaker excercises and spatial awareness and "pretend you're a raindrop", "act like a wild pig", kind of stuff that you hear about. Not this ... it was straight into being funny in a pose, working off other peoples actions. Real improvising. And you know what. Those people were damn funny. Class one and I was laughing. The teacher commented that watching a group start to improvise, and cast a little scene, and plot out approximately the idea, was like watching 6 year olds playing. We were "OK - I want to be Space Boy." ... "Well then I'm the teacher, and then you do what I say" ... "Then pretend that I'm an alien from Mars"... It was funny. Not one if us under 30, I shouldn't think. It was a throwback to childhood playing, pretending to be someone and just making things up ... and you know what ... it came to us all very easily.