On Sunday, I taught a sold out advanced improv workshop at ComedyWorx (my old stomping ground) in Raleigh, NC. It went really well - the class was hungry for more advanced improv and acting instruction from Chicago :) I focused on the Annoyance aesthetic as well as Viewpoints training. Since I had received Viewpoints training probably 5 times in my life, I knew the value of exploring the space and being aware of your body and warming it up before performance of any kind! No matter how many times an instructor would teach the basics, I always thought it was a useful reminder. In addition, everyone has something different to say on the same subject. For example, one student is actually an improv teacher in the area and she said I taught the viewpoint "architecture" in a way she had never heard before!
A surprising amount of improvisers are not actors and vice versa, but I think experience in both is valuable for any actor or improviser - especially in the current trend of commercial auditions which favor actors who can improvise. (I got to audition for KFC because I was an improviser! That was a treat :) And on the other side, if I had not had experience memorizing lines and auditioning in front of a camera, I would not have been ready for that audition.
I could tell what I had to teach blew their minds a little bit, but that was definitely the goal. I think they appreciated the challenge, and I savored the ability to get to put my experiences into words! I remember when I was in school I wouldn't really learn something until I understood it well enough to feel like I could explain it to others. This workshop was a prime example of me putting my money where my mouth is, walk the walk and talk the talk, and any other idiom that fits this situation :) I hope I get to teach there again and explore what other knowledge I have to impart!
A surprising amount of improvisers are not actors and vice versa, but I think experience in both is valuable for any actor or improviser - especially in the current trend of commercial auditions which favor actors who can improvise. (I got to audition for KFC because I was an improviser! That was a treat :) And on the other side, if I had not had experience memorizing lines and auditioning in front of a camera, I would not have been ready for that audition.
I could tell what I had to teach blew their minds a little bit, but that was definitely the goal. I think they appreciated the challenge, and I savored the ability to get to put my experiences into words! I remember when I was in school I wouldn't really learn something until I understood it well enough to feel like I could explain it to others. This workshop was a prime example of me putting my money where my mouth is, walk the walk and talk the talk, and any other idiom that fits this situation :) I hope I get to teach there again and explore what other knowledge I have to impart!
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