What I learned from improv
It was Ramadan, back when I took that kind of thing very seriously, and we were in a bar that overlooked the Thames for someone’s leaving drinks. My boss had just abandoned me with the promise of procuring water and crisps for breaking my fast later.
The most senior person in the bar locked eyes with me from across the room and I forced a nervous smile. She started making her way over to me. Oh no. I’m hungry and unsupervised. This is very bad timing. ‘I heard you’ve been doing improv’, she said. 'How’s that going?’.
I didn’t even know she knew I existed until this very moment. I wasn’t ready at all. How did she know about my improv thing? A bunch of rats, my colleagues. I hadn’t yet learned the art of preparing little stories ahead of work socials, so I started rattling off the most uninspired answer. A plain news update, full of boring details and devoid of wit. Something you’d save for your mother or someone who loves you too much to leave you. Her eyes were fixed on me but I could tell I was losing her. Where the hell was my boss?
‘It’s brave of you to take up something like improv,’ she said, once I’d finished my spiel. ‘What’s the real-world application you’re getting from it?’. Real-world application? I stared at her, dumbfounded, because I didn’t have the skills to professionally rephrase my answer, which was: Oh, I just like to roll around on the floor and pretend to be a rock.
I have no clue what I said. I must’ve rambled about how it made me more confident (the pre-class ritual of downing two shots of spiced rum deserves credit here) and that I was transferring that confidence to work presentations. My boss joined us while I was mid-stammer, holding up a few bags of salt and vinegar crisps. I had never been so happy to see a Scottish redhead in my life.
There is a real-world application to improv. I just didn’t know it then. Improv taught me how to react in the moment. I've learned that my lifeguard, in moments where I freeze and feel that I have nothing to say, is to start verbalizing exactly what is happening. It is often what other people are thinking too, what they wish they could say, what they wish I would stop overthinking and spit out already.
The funniest thing you can do when there is a sudden vibe shift is acknowledge it. When something weird happens in a group setting and it goes quiet and nobody knows what to say to bring it back to what it was, sometimes the thing to do is simply say ‘What the fuck was that?’.
It’s an act of subversion, in part. People want the vibe to go back to what it was and the only way to make it go back is by stepping into the present. And it feels good when someone isn’t trying to orchestrate the funny and to the naked eye, there is no orchestration in reacting. But I’m here to tell you that that’s not true.
The first thought that occurs to you will not always deserve to see the light of day, of course. You may be surprised by the thoughts roaming freely in your head, because thoughts often come to us as fast as they go. Sometimes the first thing that comes out of your mouth will be inconsiderate, or unkind, or bigoted, even.
You will start to learn what it feels like to use certain words or make certain comments or say certain jokes out loud, and through watching them land in people’s ears, they will naturally change shape. Saying the right thing - the funny thing, the smart thing, the thing that most accurately represents your values - will take form from learning what it feels like when you say the unkind or boring thing.
Slowly, your brain rewires itself, caught in an alchemical dance. The better you get at saying the right thing, the quicker those thoughts spring to mind. Soon enough, the first thought to pop into your head starts to carry far more kindness and wit. That was something that chee taught me, too. She is her own school in improv, even though she is not its biggest proponent.
So that’s the real-world application, Ms. Managing Director. I've learned that my lifeguard, in moments where I freeze and feel that I have nothing to say, is to start verbalizing exactly what is happening. It is often what other people are thinking too, what they wish they could say, what they wish I would stop overthinking and spit out already.
So here I am, years later, spitting it out on the web, for your entertainment.