“Even if you don’t get better at improv, you’ll definitely get weirder,” promised our leader during orientation…that alone would make it worth it for me…(Weird Al is one of my heroes, as well as Richard Simmons!!! When I was little, I didn’t understand why people didn’t “get” Richard; I said, “He’s just being himself!” And, I still adore him! I WISH I could try out to be in one of his aerobic videos at his gym, Slimmons in CA…maybe some day!!!)
Every time someone would mess up during 1 of the 1st games, everyone was instructed to supportively shout, “Yay!” It was comforting & effective in building confidence!
We were put into pairs to mirror each other and then for no one to lead…this was hard….we were mostly just making eye contact, blinking, breathing, standing still (when I saw my partner mirroring/imitating my mouth, I realized how AWKWARD I look sometimes!!! Good to know/enlightening…)….it was terrifying & good for me to have to focus like that without looking away…it took some self-control & we were taught it can be compelling to witness people doing “nothing!”
We played an eye contact game in which one other person and myself were instructed to make eye contact only with each other (no matter what!), while everyone else in the class (10 others) tried to get both of us to look at them….it was pretty humorous and fun!
Finally, being asked to have a conversation while feeling anger at a level 5 (of 10), but to appear to be happy at a level of 6 was challenging & fun!
I don’t know if I am good at improv or even really like it yet…but, I am definitely learning a lot & hopefully, if nothing else, will grow weirder!!!
Sequins instead of Pimples 
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