How Improv Changed My Life

By Sue Brody. This article was the winner of the Martin de Maat Scholarship at the 2002 Chicago Improv Festival. Way to go Sue!!

I saw my first live improv show during First Night Boston '99. I waited outside in 0 degree weather with friends for nearly an hour. We were shuffled into the back of a small auditorium, so far back I had to stand on tiptoes to see the stage. I don't remember which games were played or who the performers were. All I remember is an infectious vibe.

I began taking classes at ImprovBoston in June 1999. Despite being considered witty and outgoing in everyday life, I froze onstage. I was afraid to fail, afraid to jump into scenes lest I make a mistake. I didn't understand that on stage, as in life, you are given continuous offers and there are only stronger or less strong choices. As workshops passed, I wondered why I continued. I wasn't having fun; I was self-deprecating and self-critical. I felt I could never be as good as the ImprovBoston mainstage performers I watched weekly. I devoured theory but I couldn't put what I understood into practice. Why? I kept a journal, I asked others, but I couldn't get past my insecurity.

In April 2000, I began playing in Micetro. I participated every weekend, watching in frustration as my classmates and even novices won while I was eliminated. What were they doing that I wasn't? I was moving up in workshop levels and taking classes with improv veterans. I studied improv, watched improv, ate, breathed, and slept improv, yet I felt as if I still didn't get it. Then one evening, I realized that I could do as well as I allowed myself to. It was that simple. The strong work would come if I let it, but first I had to give myself over to the art and allow myself to be fully in the moment.

Intensive character work helped me develop confidence and allowed me to enter the stage as someone other than myself. My fear of object work slowly receded as I began to add emotion to my gestures and responses. But most importantly, I stopped taking everything so seriously. Suddenly, improv became a place where I could have fun, and as I supported myself, I learned to support others. I developed trust in myself and in others, and they began trusting me. By welcoming new situations on stage as opportunities instead of fearing them as threats, I began to allow the same in my life outside the theatre.

I just performed in my ImprovBoston graduation shows, yet I see this as a beginning. Like life, improv is a process, and I've only begun to explore its possibilities. I direct a longform troupe whose premiere show is in March. By doing so, I am sharing my enthusiasm, knowledge, and experience with others, and I can't wait to see the results! And I hope someday soon I'm able to help others feel the rush I first experienced at Boston's First Night '99 celebration just over three years ago.

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