Improv as therapy? Absolutely!
When I was four years old, I had an often-fatal childhood illness called Reye’s Syndrome. In order to reduce the swelling on my brain, the doctors put me into a medically induced coma for a week. One of the potential complications of this disease is brain damage. Thankfully, I did not have any intellectual damage (I have an MA in International Relations), but I have had to deal with some emotional development issues throughout my life. I am not bringing this up because I want anyone to feel sorry for me, I just think that in order to understand the story of why I do improv, it helps to know where I’ve been.
Ever since I was four years old, I have had a hard time processing emotions the way a “normal” person would. I lack the filter that says, “Now you’ve gone too far. It’s time to pull it back.” Consequently, I was often mocked for overreacting or being a baby by my peers. My solution was to bury the emotions as much as possible. Unfortunately, it is impossible to bury emotions for any length of time without having it drive you insane, so at a certain point I realized I would need some way to release what I was feeling. I could either have a violent, no holds barred, freak out session, or I could use humor to diffuse my tension. Thankfully, being the good girl that I was, I went with the less traumatic for all option of humor.
My first foray into the world of comedy was the open-mic stand-up circuit in the comedy Mecca that is Indiana. I had some level of local success, but deep down wanted to branch out into other areas as I had hit a brick wall in my writing. In 2005, one of my fellow comedians suggested that I take some classes at Second City in Chicago. “Why not?” I thought. After all, I had called up to Second City Chicago after finishing college in the hopes of performing there, but had decided against it early on because I honestly did not think I needed classes. Well, seven years and a masters degree changed my view on classes and I immediately looked into signing up for the beginning improv program.
Fast forward five years and a move to Chicago, and I have now completed the beginning program at Second City, the program at iO (three times), and the Annoyance program. All that was left was ComedySportz, which I am working on now. I am addicted to the process of creating scenes out of nothing and seeing what happens. I love the idea of going on stage without a plan.
This brings me to the therapy applications of improv. The most common note that I have been given throughout this time, and this relates to the earlier emotional thing, is that my character choices tend to be either very bland, or too “jokey”. I must admit, this has been the hardest part of improv for me in terms of both short and long form. I am learning to not be afraid of opening up too much and not being able to pull back. It is something that I have gotten better at, and hope to continue to progress even more as time goes on. My hope is to not only master the art of playing in-depth emotionally deep characters on stage, but to continue opening up emotionally off-stage as well. I have noticed that as I’ve progressed through these various programs, my ability to interact with people and function in healthy relationships has improved dramatically. In less than five years, I have gone from standing against the wall in a crowd to walking into a room and knowing how to own it. It has been a liberating journey and I hope to continue it for the next five decades, provided I can find a retirement home with a decent stage.
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