One Man’s Quest for Improvisation: “The First Day of School”

I came in truly having no idea what to expect. The class consists of five of us, and we got straight to warming up and improv exercises.

Our instructor is ComedySportz Indianapolis Artistic Director Ed Trout. Having spent just two hours with him, it’s easy to see why he has had so much success in the area. He is incredibly observant and has an astute vision of what should be happening on stage. Perhaps most important of all, he is a terrific communicator and is very specific, constructive and supportive while giving feedback. For someone like me with comedic experience but plenty of room to grow, he is a valuable person to be around.

The focus of this week was scene-building. The truth is…a lot of people are funny, but it takes a lot more skill to translate humor into a specific character and into a specific scene. The exercises focused heavily on certain elements of building a scene, such as establishing and staying with your character or defining and maintaining the environment you’re in.

My first observation was this…the stage is 1000 degrees. Most stages I have been on in my life have been hot, and this one is no exception. It’s like an improv microwave. An improwave.

My second observation…this is truly challenging. I did not go in thinking it would be easy, but the exercises push you out of your comfort zone and force you to face your weaknesses and improve on them. For example, something I’ve learned I need to work on is making quicker decisions about who my character is going to be and what his relationship with the other participants is. During many scenes we started off slowly, but once we got our feet under us and really established who we were and what we were doing, things took off.

Overall, I left week one feeling challenged and encouraged. There is a lot to work on, but a class isn’t worth taking unless it can make you better. This is a class with good students, a great instructor, and a supportive atmosphere. My initial review from Ed: “So far, so good.” I can’t ask for much more than that.

And if nothing else…I spent my Tuesday night as a bitter agent driving through the Bermuda Triangle, an Italian thermal underwear manufacturer, the Jersey Shore producer, and a confused southern professional bodybuilder-physicist. What did you do?

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Bio

My name is Andy Ober. I am Senior Writer/Reporter at Inside INdiana Business. I have worked in the media for more than ten years and have performed comedy in some form or another for just as long. I fell in love with ComedySportz after seeing a few weekend shows and have made it my goal to become part of the group.