Thoughts for Beginners

Many thoughts on the importance of failure swirl around in my head. A few weeks ago I read an article about the role of mistakes in the classroom. Then I read on Mental Floss a piece about successful folks who got fired from their jobs. I’ve had some experiences lately that were starting to get me down and it occurred to me that these can serve to help me learn and grow.


On Facebook yesterday the quote above was posted by a few friends. The quote is attributed to Ira Glass, host of This American Life. The quote will be getting re-posted here and over on the LindyGroove Technique Class Notes blog.

Let's apply the thinking here to improv. It was either Rachel Dratch or Tina Fey who said that most of the time in improv you spend sucking. Maybe 10 percent of the time hits the mark. I don't have the Second to None DVD handy so until it gets returned to me we can just guess about who said it.


After a recent Improv Trick student showcase, a student approached me and apologized for failing. Firstly, I didn't feel that the student had failed. Secondly, if by their own standard they had failed then at least they have a way to measure their success. Perhaps, if they're lucky their will to improve will be strengthened. To be quite fair though, sometimes the lesson has less to do with actual failure and more to do with how we deal with our fear of such.

As I had mentioned, I'd recently had some experiences that were getting me down. I won't elaborate on those here, but suffice it to consider that suckage happens. The best thing to do is get off your ass and do it again!

Here are some podcasts that address this notion:

Loserball - Jill Bernard teaches an exercise designed to help students embrace their failures. You can listen to her interviewed on the Improv Resource Center Podcast.
Zenprov - Marshall Stearns and Nancy Howland Walker built an entire podcast around the theme of failure: Failure and Space.


Bonus: since this post was about comedy and referenced Ira Glass, it might be well to link this interview. WTF - Marc Maron interviews Ira Glass

EDITED TO ADD:
Now with video!

There's a moment you know...

An entire Broadway production of Spring Awakening is on YouTube! It's clearly a bootleg, but really worth watching. I'll add that if there's a touring production nearby, you should go out of your easy to buy tickets and watch it live. In the meantime, set aside 2 hours to watch one of the best shows of the decade!

Blackwater Rafting!!!

This is a video of Jill Bernard doing a solo improv musical. The show is called Drum Machine. Holy Mackerel!

Digging in!prov

There's a ton of improv stuff available on ye inter-tubes lately. I faintly remember the days when Harold was only a hushed rumor and you had to fly somewhere to watch one. Nowadays improvisers can watch them on YouTube with little to no effort. Them kids these days...

Here's some stuff I've been finding on the interwebs lately:

Some Things I Learned as Artistic Director of the UCB Theatre, by Anthony King

Here are two clips from Whose Line is it Anyway, featuring Robin Williams!




TEDtalks: Charles Limb - Your Brain on Improv


Next, the basics of Improvisation in one short and easy to digest package!


Lastly, a letter from the late and great Phil Hartman to aspiring comedian Mike Scott
Letters of Note

A variety of scenes for study!

A question we could start with is "what makes good scenes?"

Here are some classic openings:

Star Wars


Jaws


Swordfish
Actually, this video only contains the opening speech. You can watch the longer video here: http://youtu.be/wmtSLpNriTM

What is it about these scenes that make them so memorable?

When Harry Met Sally


Young Frankenstein


Swingers

edited to add:

Homework from week 3



Carol Burnett - Sorry, part 1 and 2


Monty Python - Four Yorkshiremen

Here's a link to The State.

Evening Primrose

Back in the days before YouTube, I went to the Museum of Television and Radio (now the Paley Center) and watched this whole thing. As a giant musical theater nerd, it was cool to see this long lost footage. I guess it's on DVD now. I'd like to pick up a copy.

Time to start saving!

I'm planning to hit Europe next year. Here are some things I'd like to do over the course of two-ish weeks.


Here's a short list of places I'd like to check out in Europe:
Belgian Comic Strip Center - What can I say? I'm a big fan of Belgian cartooning. You might be familiar with Tintin or the Smurfs. There's just a certain quality of line that I've always appreciated. Heck, in researching this entry I found this amazing little tour: Brussels Comic Strip Walk.



Moi, j'm'en fous je triche - I want to play board games in French. They play a lot of the same games that I know, only they play in the language of love.

By the way, the pic above is from a filler game I've been enjoying recently. Travel Blog by Vlaada Chvatil is a ton of fun.

I want to take yoga classes and dance the lindy hop too, maybe catch some improv shows if they exist, all the stuff that I love doing at home, but more expensive and foreign. I'd like to eat cheese, yogurt and lots of fruit. Perhaps take in a game of petanque if I can find anyone to play.

Ooh, here's an idea: let's visit spooky places. Anyone got any ideas?