I woke up this morning stiff and sore. What class did I go to at the gym yesterday? Did I spend the day lifting couches? What did I do yesterday?
Oh, I remember. Improv Class. Level 2, Class 2.
Last term, on the first night of my Level 1 class at Annoyance, we shared a room with Rebecca’s Level 2. They were a week ahead of us and were SO loud and boistrous. (THe room was divided with a sliding wall, that didn’t stop a whisper.) I remember being incredibly intimidated from the loud improv coming from the other side of the room. I was having a hard enough time saying my name outloud, how could I ever do what is being done on the other side of the wall?
So last night we found out what all the noise was about and, I am proud to say, I can be that loud. We did some frightening exercises. One that made me want to hide under a chair. My hands were sweating and clammy, like waiting outside of the movie theater for a date to show when I was 14. Eventually I got warmed up and even took to the floor first (after the break.)
Why am I sore? We were focused on the physical last night and not dialogue. So instead of walking to the middle of the stage and talking, we were leaping, running, crawling, and sommersaulting. Or I tried to sommersault and wimped out. Later though, I did some sort of roll, after some crawling.
No, it doesn’t make sense does it? It was fun, after I got over the painful fear of going out there.
After class I went to the Lincoln Tap with TD, Batman, Gimlet, and most of Level 1. Josh, my level 1 teacher commented, “Isn’t it wierd that your class never went out together?” “Yes, it is.” Improv people go out for drinks because community and networking is super important. Also, because you get to sit and LAUGH for another couple hours.
And laugh I did. During class I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt. After class I laughed so hard I could have peed my pants, but I didn’t.
Whew.
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