On Improv and Awareness by Chris Pierce
When I think about how improv has affected my acting and, more generally my life, the first thing I come to is listening. Listening is an oft-overlooked art that is critical in our day-to-day communications with others, and absolutely without a doubt one of, if not THE, most crucial building blocks of improvisation. Without it, we might as well sit on stage, drool for 90 minutes and call it art. What is said? Is that what is meant? What IS meant? Is that all that is meant? What is hidden? What is revealed? Even the non-verbal communication requires that we listen. We listen to movements, the things people are telling us without saying a word, the things they cover up by staring too long at the mixing bowl or casting nervous glances to the clock. We listen to the scene and let it tell us where to go. We listen to ourselves, to our feelings, to our subconscious, to the sounds in the audience, to the music in the theater, to the squeaks in the stage, and it all affects us to some degree and changes what we do, the choices we make. Improv won't save the world or make you a better person, but the improviser, fully in the moment, is alive and bristling with awareness.
In our day-to-day lives, we get by with a lot of assumed information, information we take for granted. Think about it. I get up. I know the sun is up there somewhere, maybe behind a cloud, but up there. I know I’ll have a hot shower. I know I’ll get in my car, start it, and drive to work. I know I will unlock the door at work, go to my desk, and try to look busy for 8 hours. What did I miss? Details – the progressive shift of the seasons, the smell in the air outside my apartment, the stranger who dropped a box in a neighbor’s trash can, the cat stalking a squirrel, the distraught look on the face of the secretary from the office downstairs… Maybe I saw it, but did it affect me? To stay sane and get to work on time, maybe my mind filters things out that would interrupt my routine.
Now, think about things that change your day-to-day humdrum feelings and charge you. When do you feel that all your senses awaken, your brain ordering extra chemicals dumped into your bloodstream, your heart rate increasing or maybe even decreasing? More often than not, those things occur when there’s a change in your routine, you allow yourself to appreciate the yellowing of the leaves on the tree, or there’s an unexpected interruption that requires full physical, mental and emotional awareness…preparedness…for what? Anything could happen. On a larger scale, the hot water is out; my car won’t start; I get cut-off or sideswiped on the interstate; the door to the office is busted open; or maybe the office building is just gone. Something a little more subtle…I notice the distraught look on that secretary’s face and I ask her about it. Her reply somehow saddens or angers me…injustice.
In our scene work, each moment, every detail is critical. Listen to it. Process it. React to it honestly. If you don’t, it could be another humdrum day at the office.
