Don't Think?

[thestorie]

I tend to think of all those rules as things I'm trying to become "muscle memory." Second nature so that I don't think about them anymore. If I get those things drilled into me during class/practices, when I get to the excitement of a show, I don't worry about them as much. They're just there.

... The problem with reacting in the beginning and intermediate stages is that often our totally "natural" reaction to initiations would often be (1) blasé/nothing (if the initiation was something slight or super-neutral, (2) anger (as so many initiations are somewhat confrontation even when they don't mean to be), (3) to call your scene parter crazy, or (4) to ask a follow up question (if you don't know what the hell they're talking about.

agree with this completely. The point of the classes is to think and remember and learn things until they become instinctual.

Personally speaking, the phase of the work in which I struggle most with thinking is in the reactions. It's always tricky to judge the line between, how would I react vs. how would my character react. The thinking or hesitation in performance usually comes from running my responses through that filter.


In general it's good to remember, that no improviser will Ever perform an un-notable scene. And likewise, there's never a second draft of whatever scene you've just done. So the most important thing you can take from each class and each session is, are your instincts adjusting.

 

[benorbeen]

here is an example: i've been thinking in this thread (scene) way too much. 'i shouldn't say that, i suck at improv, ugh, wtf is wrong with me, nobody cares what you have to say, you have no business adding anything to this discussion, etc. etc'; so i say nothing except maybe to post a snarky reply. but if i just process my response as the character i established at the start of the thread, one who isn't filled with nigh-on crippling self doubt and just reply my gut response, i can keep the thread (scene) moving with something substantial to discuss (play with).

And you've contributed to this thread something I find genius, zomby!

 

[Dro]

Release your inhibitions

Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten, yeah

 

[capitolgoga]

The "muscle memory" sentiment seems to be the consensus- but what is it you are making the muscle remember? How to think - and do it quickly (often without even realizing you're doing it).

In the meantime when you do an exercise that works out a new skill, you are placed in a struggle btwn listening/remembering/thinking and not thinking/letting go/being in the moment.

That's my conclusiorized thought.

 

[Lord Hatsumi]

In improv terms things I don't think about anymore.

Matching
Characters
Object work

I didn't actively make these into muscle memories. They have just become part of my overall talent and skill base.

I don't really think about my replies anymore until after I say them. Mostly because anding isn't my strongest suit. I yes really well, but I often times do not and to the extent in which I am capable of.

Muscle memory just comes with practice. It isn't an active choice. I think that is why UCB harps on Yes AND so much! That is skill that needs to become muscle memory the most because it always needs to happen no matter what.

 

[rixtyseven]

I write all my improv scenes at least 2 weeks in advance and then I print the script out really small and staple it to my hand. Sometimes I forget its there and later when I go home to jerk it, my dick gets a bunch of paper cuts. Welp, see ya later.

 

[John_Frusciante]

In the meantime when you do an exercise that works out a new skill, you are placed in a struggle btwn listening/remembering/thinking and not thinking/letting go/being in the moment.

The purpose of taking classes and doing exercises is to learn new skills and build new muscles. Someone made the analogy of improv practice being like sports practice, which I fully agree with (and is the reason why I call it "TRUCKS practice" and not "TRUCKS rehearsal"), and to that end doing exercises in class is like running through tires in football practice. Of course you're not going to actually be running through tires in an actual game (unless it's the Canadian league), but when you get out there on the field you will have developed your agility significantly. So when you're in improv class or practice and you're doing silent scenes or Meisner exercises or that weird thing that Nate Smith does with teams where he has everyone stand on their hands and sing 80s cartoon theme songs, you are honing a very particular, specific skill. If you are trying to be hilarious during exercises, especially ones that work skills you need some honing at, you might be missing the point. Being hilarious is for show situations, where you then forget about all the mechanics of the exercises and trust that what you've learned will come out in your choices. If you are trying to work the mechanics of exercises in shows, you might be missing the point. No one steps up to the plate with the donut still on their bat (unless they play for the Cubs).

Here's another analogy about improv classes that I like to use: taking improv classes is like seeing a therapist. If you are walking out of therapy sessions smiling brightly and clicking your heels together, you are wasting your money. You should be walking out of therapy thinking, "Oh my god that was a heinously uncomfortable 50 minutes and I can't believe all the crap that came out of my mouth, but oh boy did I learn something about myself. The same goes for improv classes. If I don't walk out of most of the eight weeks of an improv class thinking about how hard I got my ass kicked and what I subsequently learned from it, I feel like I wasted my money (if I was an intern and the class was free, I felt like I'd wasted Mop 'N Glow). And when it comes time for class shows, I do my best to trust that all the stuff I learned is in my body somewhere and I concentrate on having the most fun possible, and that anything I forgot about will be picked up by one of my awesome classmates. And if all else fails, I stand on my hands and sing the theme song from Gem.


John.

 

[El Jefe]

The purpose of taking classes and doing exercises is to learn new skills and build new muscles. Someone made the analogy of improv practice being like sports practice, which I fully agree with (and is the reason why I call it "TRUCKS practice" and not "TRUCKS rehearsal"), and to that end doing exercises in class is like running through tires in football practice. Of course you're not going to actually be running through tires in an actual game (unless it's the Canadian league), but when you get out there on the field you will have developed your agility significantly. So when you're in improv class or practice and you're doing silent scenes or Meisner exercises or that weird thing that Nate Smith does with teams where he has everyone stand on their hands and sing 80s cartoon theme songs, you are honing a very particular, specific skill. If you are trying to be hilarious during exercises, especially ones that work skills you need some honing at, you might be missing the point. Being hilarious is for show situations, where you then forget about all the mechanics of the exercises and trust that what you've learned will come out in your choices. If you are trying to work the mechanics of exercises in shows, you might be missing the point. No one steps up to the plate with the donut still on their bat (unless they play for the Cubs).

Here's another analogy about improv classes that I like to use: taking improv classes is like seeing a therapist. If you are walking out of therapy sessions smiling brightly and clicking your heels together, you are wasting your money. You should be walking out of therapy thinking, "Oh my god that was a heinously uncomfortable 50 minutes and I can't believe all the crap that came out of my mouth, but oh boy did I learn something about myself. The same goes for improv classes. If I don't walk out of most of the eight weeks of an improv class thinking about how hard I got my ass kicked and what I subsequently learned from it, I feel like I wasted my money (if I was an intern and the class was free, I felt like I'd wasted Mop 'N Glow). And when it comes time for class shows, I do my best to trust that all the stuff I learned is in my body somewhere and I concentrate on having the most fun possible, and that anything I forgot about will be picked up by one of my awesome classmates. And if all else fails, I stand on my hands and sing the theme song from Gem.


John.

I disagree completely. Her name is Jem.

 

[John_Frusciante]

You and I are really going at it the past couple days, huh?

 

[bozarth]

The purpose of taking classes and doing exercises is to learn new skills and build new muscles. Someone made the analogy of improv practice being like sports practice, which I fully agree with (and is the reason why I call it "TRUCKS practice" and not "TRUCKS rehearsal"), and to that end doing exercises in class is like running through tires in football practice. Of course you're not going to actually be running through tires in an actual game (unless it's the Canadian league), but when you get out there on the field you will have developed your agility significantly. So when you're in improv class or practice and you're doing silent scenes or Meisner exercises or that weird thing that Nate Smith does with teams where he has everyone stand on their hands and sing 80s cartoon theme songs, you are honing a very particular, specific skill. If you are trying to be hilarious during exercises, especially ones that work skills you need some honing at, you might be missing the point. Being hilarious is for show situations, where you then forget about all the mechanics of the exercises and trust that what you've learned will come out in your choices. If you are trying to work the mechanics of exercises in shows, you might be missing the point. No one steps up to the plate with the donut still on their bat (unless they play for the Cubs).

Here's another analogy about improv classes that I like to use: taking improv classes is like seeing a therapist. If you are walking out of therapy sessions smiling brightly and clicking your heels together, you are wasting your money. You should be walking out of therapy thinking, "Oh my god that was a heinously uncomfortable 50 minutes and I can't believe all the crap that came out of my mouth, but oh boy did I learn something about myself. The same goes for improv classes. If I don't walk out of most of the eight weeks of an improv class thinking about how hard I got my ass kicked and what I subsequently learned from it, I feel like I wasted my money (if I was an intern and the class was free, I felt like I'd wasted Mop 'N Glow). And when it comes time for class shows, I do my best to trust that all the stuff I learned is in my body somewhere and I concentrate on having the most fun possible, and that anything I forgot about will be picked up by one of my awesome classmates. And if all else fails, I stand on my hands and sing the theme song from Gem.


John.

This is all stuff I told myself when I first started taking classes and going to practice groups so I wouldn't quit.

 

[El Jefe]

We're like Sam and Diane over heah.

 

[benorbeen]

"Muscle memory" is just an analogy for doing something without consciousness ("without thinking"). You walk without consciousness. You put together grammatical sentences as you talk without consciousness.

Doing these things without consciousness took practice. You probably weren't even really all that conscious when you were practicing these things (you were a baby). You just did, did, did, did, did, did, did, did, and so on, until you had certain refined habits.

I see improv training as getting you to form habits rather than creating muscle memory. The analogies are similar, but I think "muscle memory" is ultimately confusing because there's no muscle involved. You're training in forming certain habits. The habit of saying yes to whatever you hear. The habit of reacting rather than deliberating. Etc. You especially want to train in these habits WHEN your natural inclination (your natural habit) is toward their opposites. You want to rehabituate yourself then.

So it's practice, but more so, it's conditioning.

All in all, though, I get the sense that maybe as a person (I could be totally wrong), when it comes to improv, or maybe the style of improv you're learning (I know you're an experienced improviser, Heather), you are not yet at a place where you trust yourself. Perhaps you judge yourself negatively, thus making yourself insecure, fearful of a mistake, and fearful then that you'll say to yourself "I suck" or some other punishment like that.

At this point, stop judging yourself, even if you try to do an exercise and fail miserably. Just try to get better and better. You'll accomplish things here and there, and as you do, your confidence will build incrementally. You will begin to trust yourself. And no more will you be having these debates with yourself and others about the balance of thinking and not-thinking. You won't care. You'll just care whether you got out there and had a great show. And where you didn't have a great show, you'll have a set of tools to analyze why it didn't. "Oh, I deliberated when I know I should just have reacted." "Oh, I denied her reality and it pissed her off and stalled the scene." And maybe next time, you'll care a little differently, pay a little more attention, or realize you want to recondition a habit of yours. "You got a little weaker so you need a workout."

Ben

 

[intelligentless]

Need more threads like this please.

 

[goldfish boy]

Need more threads like this please.

Yes, and you should start one.

 

[intelligentless]

Yes, and you should start one.

I'm too timid to start one. :mope:

 

[jomama]

"Don't Think" to me is: follow your gut

I'm in Jackie's 501 and she constantly reminds us that "she's the teacher! she gives us the notes!" Eliza did that w/us in the musical improv too. I think that's to get us away from thinking in our scenes. Practice/class/rehearsal is the time to experiment and take risks. It's the time where you should follow your gut the most.

301, damn, 3 - 0 - 1. I think that's the super overwhelming, too much information, it's time to write this shit down, level. I found that writing everything out during those times (like games we played, notes I got, "mistakes" I made) really helps things. I think writing after class helps too. Get all that overload out of your head and onto a page. You can always look back at it later. I still write notes out; I date it, make a note on which class/teacher/coach/group. It helps me recall stuff a lot better.

The muscle memory thing that everyone mentioned will come. Like everyone else has already said, it comes with lots of practice and doing.

 

[Sry An]

.

 

[Holmes]

"Don't Think" to me is: follow your gut

This is exactly it.

You train yourself so that your instinctive "not thinking" idea is better.
You learn about characters and games and patterns and what makes things interesting and funny... all of that stays inside of you and makes good things pop into your head or come out of your mouth.

It's different for everyone, but all of this training prepares you to do well automatically.
Be thankful that you're not being trained to think (which I personally hate) in terms of no questions, do it this way, you can't ___, etc.