Showing posts with label psychology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label psychology. Show all posts

Saturday, 23 March 2019

5 ways to be a better actor or performer

In this blog, I will discuss the uses of five ways to be a better actor or performer. These come from my experiences and desires for and within improv. I warn you, there is a mini blog in this on clown... just so you know, as most other points are brief and concisely given. However, I like clown quite a lot. To be an actor or performer comes with assumptions and the main one is that improv uses them. This is to be pointed out, as a lot of people that get into it are not actors or performers, they are computer software engineers and veterinarians (etc.). Performing comes after and with a lot more value added into one's life too. So, here is how to become a better actor.

1. Take classes, any classes helps but acting classes works for this blog
Through taking further training outside of improv, you can gain skills in physical representation of the character, vocal training to produce increased control, sound quality and accuracy to the needs of them. The training can provide experiences in the differing rhythms, cadences and timing of a character. Whether this is RADA providing you with professional skills that will enrich your creative journey, or LIPA with their psychological and physical processes of acting. There are many well-established and famed school for actors to professionally develop. In this case, all that improvisers may desire is the exploration and not a full three year course. What aspect of acting training will best suit your current needs? Perhaps a bit of Meisner, a bit of Meisner, ...or maybe you wish to listen to Mamet’s acting approach. In any case, it is wise to find your route through the treacherous path.
I will advocate various paths in this blog, and the first (and largest section of the blog) is clown. Do clown. Not circus clown, but theatre clown… Whether it is a Lecoq-based class or a Mario Gonzales class, try it out. There are many styles to all art forms and clown is included. It could be that you wish to do the six masks of yourself with Sue Morrison, which has your personal mythology define your clown. By doing this you adopt the Native American and European style based on Richard Pochinko’s work. However, it could be that you instead wish to try renowned french teacher Phillipe Gaulier and his approach of childish pleasure and play to respectfully avoid the (Mr.) Flop. There are various types of clown teachers too. It is possibly a good idea to find out how the teacher works, if such information is available. The stereotype of a clown teacher is that they are brutal. However, this is not always the case. Dependent on their approach to being the clown (that is you) and how they go about teaching will result in vastly different results in the performer’s take-home discoveries. Whether that is ‘aren’t we all really stupid in the world’ or ‘connecting to one’s naivety helps personal growth’, we can celebrate all impacts that it has for individuals.
I teach clown. I teach it for its own sake and for improvisers. It works well for self-discoveries that support the basis of how people develop within their work. It translates into important stylistic methods in improv. This includes those that focus on Game of the Scene to those that enjoy thriving in short-form games. Clown centres around playfulness through listening, so the value strives from inputting this into your performances. It is good for life too, as we get to acknowledge when we are stupid and connect with others. When I first performed with Denni Dennis’ Company Clowns in Cardiff, it was an experiment - that was the performance - and was entitled, ‘Connections’. Clown is based on making those connections with each other and especially the audience.
A closely linked lesson to get involved in is tumbling. I recall Keith Johnstone stating to go take a tumbling class in 2009 to the whole room. Physicality can bring so much to the production that you improvise. The skill that is attained can bring a professional air to the work that you do. To bring an ability to be so vastly physical can open the windows of prospects to the comedic theatre that you create in your ensemble. Imagine being able to improvise something so beautiful (and funny) like it is directly from Gecko Theatre’s The Wedding. Having only personally taken a little bit of this, I still await the day when I can do a triple backwards somersault in some devastatingly exciting spontaneous car chase, as the vehicle caterpaults over a cliff and into the depths of the deep, clashing sea. One day.
Even non-acting classes help. Deepen your knowledge-breadth and it will bring more insight into the philosophical underpinning of the work: more understanding. I am not overly keen on clever d*cks prancing around spouting all they know; however, specific knowledge at points in a production that seems to have a use to the whole theatre show in-creation can be awe-inspiring. Any adult-ed class will enrich what you do, even if not directly the information gained.

2. Western vs. Eastern acting
A valid point about acting is that there are many approaches, and, furthermore, these are entrenched in the culture that surrounds it. Therefore, the western style of acting, albeit developing over the years, still has more of a psychological system than the eastern. Admittedly, this is a generalisation and it does not fit every practitioner and teacher. A good example is Tadeusz Kantor who treated theatre like visual art (to an extent). The meaning behind the theatre was tremendous and dealt with psychology of humans: our memory is forever dying. We only remember the last time we remembered that memory. Gloriously true from my experience. In any case, we can opt to discover what the opposing ‘broadly-speaking’ system can offer. If we were to act and perform from embodying a physical form first, then the results could present the inner workings of the character from an external-inwards approach. This is in comparison to the inner-outwards approach that configures how the character functions and brings about their physical form of being thereafter.
Eastern acting tradition comes from the combined duality of mind/body. This tradition stems from the thought that all performance comes from spirituality. It is about non-attachment and being ego-less (Forsythe, 1996). This approach has more focus on acting through movements, such as the Noh kata (movement patterns; Thorpe, 2014). Therefore, the system that an actor can work within is vastly different to the one’s that (perhaps) we are used to already.
By all means, this does link to the first suggestion of taking an acting class, but, more than that, explore where you come from as an actor. In the next few years, it is plausible to explore the eastern philosophy in your acting life (in which, I do mean your improv).

3. Study people; be interested in how people are
I have found that most actors have a common fascination: people. Actors like to watch others. On the tube, these types of people will be observing how people are within their bubble of existence, or even those doing the same thing and they briefly lock eyes with you (it has happened). So, study people. Personally, it is more of a natural tendency than a skill that I chose to engage in, as I probably could not act out how family and friends behave. However, I have brought observed behaviours and subconsciously embodied traits of many people I have met onstage. I do accidentally use other’s characteristics in my daily life, anyway. Through increasing your interest in other people, you can engage in these qualities in many ways for the spontaneous creation in the productions you improvise.
It could be suggested that more importantly you should study yourself. Be interested in how you are. This skill is very useful in improv. All the reasons to explore how other people present themselves are reasons that you should notice how you are too. What do you do? How are you in certain and various situations. By paying attention to whatever aspect that you so desire, you will conclude (to a level of accuracy) performable aspects of yourself. Furthermore, by being able to do so in the moment, you can begin using the skill onstage. The latter is probably more greatly useful than the first.

4. Be entrenched in the character
You are an actor. You are onstage. You (hopefully) have an audience, unless you chose not to for that huge artistic reason. This means that they see what you are doing, saying, being and, as a theatre production, it holds meaning to the overall piece you perform. What you bring to a scene, firstly, is a character. For that character to exist, you must be within it completely. There is no longer the actor acting, but the character being. This implies an acting approach, to some extent. However, even if those not willing wished to explore this, it translates: commit one hundred percent, be fully invested in the character.
I explored trance-based improv a couple of times over the last few years and this links to that practice. This is without masks, just performers being in trance. This sounds the same as being entrenched in the character. I will write a blog about this topic, separately. It is more to do with flow and trance, with a little potential for NLP and hypnotic states (areas for me to look into for practice-as-research sometime).
Nonetheless, the idea of a character without the actor present means that the audience can be with the character too. You can think of films that had famous actors in and you only noticed at the end or part way through; this is because they were swept away and you went with them. Be encompassed by what the character is - go on the journey with them and see where they take you.

5. Explore mentalities and physicalities
Fundamentally, these prior four suggestions are all about exploration of mentalities and physicalities. You can achieve a lot by leaning into the discoveries and letting go of what the usual practice is. What more can you do? Try a distinctly new mentality of your practice and within your practice of improv. The characters can come from a novel mental state. Explore who they are and what that means for the scene. Likewise, by adopting some of the previous advice, you will be performing from a mentality that could bring about something cataclysmically different. Similarly, the exploration of physicality can lead to stylistic choices that could be of great intrigue. Who improvises Beckett? What is that physicality to your scene? How about Berkoff? I taught improvised Berkoff once. It asks so much more of your improvisers - even more in a rehearsal room, as to teach a short class requires reducing it to more usual improv gimmicks and games.  

In conclusion, try stuff. Not the normal tenets of improv. That has existed for quite some time and we can explore further. Comedy happens in Beckett, in Berkoff, but theatre practitioners (more generally) create different theatre to one and another. We can do so in improv too. Skill-up, explore and you can bring about improv that is definitely performed better than most.

Those names in parentheses:

Forsythe, J. (1996). Spirituality in Actor Training. Theatre Research in Canada, 17(1). Available at: https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/TRIC/article/view/7160/8219.

Thorpe, A. (2014). How can Westerners study Japanese Noh? An interview with Richard Emmert, Director of the Noh Training Project and Theatre Nohgaku. Theatre, Dance and Performance Training, 5(3), 321-333. doi:10.1080/19443927.2014.940113.

Wednesday, 28 November 2018

The ‘Improv And’ Series: Anxiety

In this series of ‘Improv And’ blogs, I shall be quickly discussing the use of improv for certain diagnoses and other uses. For this posting, the topic is anxiety. This is close to my research and an important topic in modern society.


Picture from uofmhealth

Anxiety can be diagnosed in various ways, this includes Social Anxiety Disorder, General Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, and more. These all have differing criteria for being labelled with, which you can look at on the NHS website. Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), as well all of them, impact life in a major way. SAD makes social situations become an overwhelming fearful circumstance. As it affects everyday activities, relationships and people’s self-confidence, there is need to find a solution. What is also the case is that many people feel anxious and may not be diagnosable, but still require help. There are many remedies that are offered. Some people found improv comedy to be beneficial. 

The research suggests that using improv comedy could be an effective intervention. When we improvise, the basic requirement of the participants are that they support one and another. This equates to a room full of people that are being non-judgmental and accepting. A social situation, which includes everyone knowing that others are in the same position, means that no one will be forming negative perceptions on anyone - not that this would occur in any other group, anyway. Also, improv forms communities. These communities and new friendships build trust in the participants and create long-lasting relationships that help sustain positivity and a supportive group. Furthermore, the fact that we do comedy, create funny moments, means that we gain laughter from watching and participating. This laughter leads to catharsis and can notably be healing. A group of people laughing together forms stronger bonds and builds trust once more. 

It is important to state that improv comedy is not therapy and should not be used like it is. The advice organisations suggest is to attend these classes as well as the therapy that professionals advise. There are programmes that are run that use improv and therapy in one intervention; these are usually run by therapists that are keen to bring the value of improv to anxious people. In some cases, improv has out-performed therapy. For example, an intervention that mixed Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) and improv, gained the same results in a shorter time. This was found to be better through the use of externalisation (an outward focus) as it gives a positive affect. 

Overall, the benefits of improv could be: 

  • Being with supportive and non-judgmental people; 
  • Forming positive feelings through community-building and new friendships; 
  • And laughter as having catharsis and can be healing.

Tuesday, 2 December 2014

So Razowsky: Live Life in the Present

To continue the series of articles inspired by or based on words from the famed improviser and teacher David Razowsky from USA, once the artistic director of Second City, on SCTV, and a prevalent voice in the improv community all around. After some immense moments with the man, it has led to a lot of great results. Unlike the previous semi-season of articles, this completes this half of the series with aspects that are congruent with his thoughts. In this article the topic is about living life in the present.
Ambition drives people, but it controls people too. The drive is useful, but it is painful when you end up battling reality with desire. The persistent desire can blind the real, the present situation. As the moral of a Buddhist tale states fools get trapped by their desires. (Buddhanet.net, 2014)
What is happening is no doubt great. This offers a focus on the present moment. If it is possible to accept the opportunities that surround us, it is viable that the sense of happiness is present. Furthermore, reaching the space where living in gratitude happens it will stop misery from the 'future'. Live in the present, in the now, and be grateful for what is. Razowsky states, on his podcast (Razowsky, 2014), to replace ambition with gratefulness (Victor, 2012). Pick the Brain's editor in chief discusses how seeking more implies that the current is not good enough, there is unhappiness. Also looking to the future, to the ambition is deeming now as unsatisfactory. (Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement, 2007)
In a similar way, Razowsky, (ibid.) says how he felt he would be happy if, at any moment, the job ended. For example, for Razowsky, on 'Main stage' at Second City with Steve Carrell and other such well known names, if it had just stopped he would have been happy. This comes from the happiness in the fact that it happened in the first place; it is not about it having ended. As with all process-based approaches, it is a practice. Everyone fails at some point. Like the aforementioned mental adjustment to that special something stopping, failure is an opportunity to remind ourselves why do it in the first place.
A positive approach to life will be more useful than a cynical perspective. A car could die in the middle of a long journey. However, it got the person that far; what adventure, new experience, will it lead to and become useful or important for later? Steve Jobs states that after dropping out of college, the skills he decided to learn are now our norm in computing. Jobs took classes in calligraphy and without that our fonts would not be anything like they are now. (News.stanford.edu, (2014)
The origins of the phrase 'every cloud has a silver lining' comes from John Milton in 1634 (Martin, 2014) in the book Comus: A Mask Presented at Ludlow Castle; the term silver lining is used to offer the better side, the silver side of the moment. In 1840 the proverbial form arrived, which ever since has been a reminder of the positive side of a situation. In improv, seeking the new perspective is taught. In Charna Halpern, Kim “Howard” Johnson and Del Close's book Truth in Comedy they write about perspective with an analogy: "'You've got chocolate in my peanut butter!' The other replies, 'You've got peanut butter on my chocolate!'" (Halpern, Close and Johnson, 1994, p.3) What this gives insight into is seeing anything fom a different view. Everybody has a different look on the same thing, in improv we take advantage of that by putting it onstage. Not only that but being positive and supportive is taught too, hence the reason why the practice of a positive life is more apt. Everything has a purpose, maybe not in the moment or perhaps not directly relating to another era in life, but, as with improv, it builds to a total result, with all aspects accounted for.
Being in the present enables better insight into the moment; internal reactions; people's behaviour; the state of actions in the surroundings. It is these qualities that can start the long process and practice in self-realisation. To realise the reason for an anger impulse will calm it down quickly. Nonetheless, we can be present with the emotion; knowingly live with it or willingly release it. Razowsky uses the phrase, “lose what no longer serves you”. (Razowsky, 2014) A negative emotional state does not do any use, so lose it. It is understandable to be locked into an emotion, but once it is realised it can be dropped. A challenge is to be angry when the reason behind it is fully understood. Along with not externalising issues, obviously, then the emotion will deplete itself. This is what Steve Wells and David Lake (2010) call the dark side. Wells and Lake suggest that people wish to want the problem to exist. (p.144) It seems true that people avoid acknowledging and cannot connect with themselves, which hinders all realisation potential. Razowsky (2014) lets people have there emotion as it is not to do with him, even if it is at him.
Many people get stuck with themselves and are unable to release their capacity to achieve. Everyone has many reasons they tell themselves. A favourite saying Razowsky has from what he says is 'if you says so.' If the individual stops telling themselves these statements, which they hold on to, they will be what they say they want. This is one way procrastination happens. Craig Ballantyne says that people tell themselves these lies that they cannot do this or that. (Ballantyne, 2012) It is a stopping factor; it will stop someone from changing that thing that they want to. Many factors come into the problem, like Ballantyne suggests, such as social re-inforcement and societal pressure. However, we can look at the circumstances of various statements that are made: For example, 'I cannot stop eating chocolate biscuits.' The response to this is 'If you say so.' All these statements derive from the place of avoiding a task, i.e. cannot or can't, and labelling ourselves in judgement, e.g. I am too clumsy. The facts behind these statements are historical and not present. People that wish to change can. Holding onto the past means you are not present with what is. The phrase, 'if you say so' can free people from their lie. Ballantyne (ibid.) states the biggest lie we tell ourselves is we can't do something: we can.
Likewise, Razowsky also says to lose the why and the how of doing a task. Lois Holzman (2014) explains that we are trained to seek the causality of all situations and moments. Holzman describes the cause-effect thinking that most, even in psychology, hold to be useful. This is furthered by the example of how a therapist could open the possibilities of non-causality response by suggesting that the reason for the effect is seeking the cause or the resolution to the effect. The example (ibid.) is the patient is depressed and stayed in bed; Holzman suggests that the therapist states the potential that the reason the depression arose is due to seeking the cause and resolving it with staying in bed. Clearly in the article, Holzman is querying the use of asking why. Another perspective can also be to query why to do this or how to do that will merely be a procrastination to the actualisation of the event. Jenny Maryasis (2002) wrote, “procrastination thrives on a cycle of blame shifting and avoidance.” When people ask why to do a task, they miss the opportunity to find out. Although in generalisation the question is to avoid or judge the activity. A constant shuffling around the next step in the path that is available will only lead to it staying still. Improvisation teaches us to move forwards. If an improvisers hides in judgement or is asking why improvise the scene or how to improvise the scene, that scene will not happen. An improviser lives in the present; they live with what is present; they treat everything as gold, including the people around them.
So the important lessons from what Razowsky has found and speaks about, and linking to improv, is to replace ambition with gratefulness. The happiness this brings shall improve the quality of life, like not holding onto negative emotions; release the anger by realising why that exists. Similarly, procrastination comes in forms of judgement such as asking why to do an activity or how to do it. When it ends, it ends; remember that it at least happened.
Bibliography

Ballantyne, C. (2012). The Biggest Lie You Tell Yourself. [online] Earlytorise.com. Available at: http://www.earlytorise.com/the-biggest-lie-you-tell-yourself/# [Accessed 31 Oct. 2014].
Buddhanet.net, (2014). Buddhist Tales: The Fortunate Fish. [online] Available at: http://www.buddhanet.net/bt1_36.htm [Accessed 30 Oct. 2014].
News.stanford.edu, (2014). Text of Steve Jobs' Commencement address (2005). [online] Available at: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html [Accessed 30 Oct. 2014].
Halpern, C., Close, D. and Johnson, K. (1994). Truth in comedy. Colorado Springs, Colo.: Meriwether Pub.
Holzman, L. (2014). Why Ask Why?. [online] Psychologytoday.com. Available at: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/conceptual-revolution/201410/why-ask-why [Accessed 4 Nov. 2014].
Lake, D. and Wells, S. (2010). Enjoy emotional freedom. Wollombi, N.S.W.: Exisle Publishing.
Martin, G. (2014). Every cloud has a silver lining. [online] Phrases.org.uk. Available at: http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/every-cloud-has-a-silver-lining.html [Accessed 30 Oct. 2014].
Maryasis, J. (2002). Procrastination: Habit or Disorder?. [online] Serendip.brynmawr.edu. Available at: http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/neuro/neuro02/web1/jmaryasis.html [Accessed 31 Oct. 2014].
Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement, (2007). Are Ambition and Gratitude Mutually Exclusive? - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. [online] Available at: http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/are-ambition-and-gratitude-mutually-exclusive/ [Accessed 30 Oct. 2014].
Razowsky, D. (2014). A.D.D. Comedy. [online] Addcomedy.com. Available at: http://www.addcomedy.com [Accessed 30 Oct. 2014].
Victor, P. (2012). My Nephew is a Poodle: Geeking Out with...David Razowsky. [online] Pamvictor.blogspot.co.uk. Available at: http://pamvictor.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/geeking-out-withdavid-razowsky.html [Accessed 31 Oct. 2014].

Monday, 7 April 2014

Not So Razowsky Series: Try

Continuing the series of articles inspired by or based on words from the famed improviser and teacher David Razowsky from USA, once the artistic director of Second City, on SCTV, and a prevalent voice in the improv community all around. I spent some immense moments with the man that has led to a lot of wonderful results. I perform based on his teachings, I teach through some of his thoughts and proclaim the tellings that he once told in conversations to many improvisers. Nonetheless, not all of what I heard from the wonderful man I agree with, and this is what the series shall be about. I get to write these with consent to the concept of the series too. The topic at hand is going to be how Razowsky removes the term try. Razowsky, and many others, believe that we do not try in improvisation, we just do. I preach just do, except I also like the term try.

The history of what happens when Razowsky hears the term try goes back to how he was taught too. In 'Second to None,' 2009, in an interview with Scott Adsit, the answer that is provided is how Second City has taught them how improvisers do not try when they get onstage. Instead of trying to do something, they just do it. In Razowksky's podcast, 'A.D.D. Comedy' (2014), it is a frequent occurrence that the guest is stopped on their phrasing and questioned about if they really try, or another word that is not thought possible by Razowksky. Most times the guest gives into the idea that no one ever tries, you either do or don't. The term try also has its history.

try (v.) c.1300, "examine judiciously, sit in judgment of," from Anglo-French trier (late 13c.), from Old French trier "to pick out, cull" (12c.), from Gallo-Romance *triare, of unknown origin. The ground sense is "separate out (the good) by examination." Meaning "to test" is first recorded mid-14c.; that of "attempt to do" is from early 14c. Sense of "to subject to some strain" (of patience, endurance, etc.) is recorded from 1530s. Trying "distressing" is first attested 1718. To try (something) on for size in the figurative sense is recorded from 1956. (Etymonline, 2014)

Trying has been around for quite some time. The ability to test something out, like the common educational lesson that happens for the young in their schooling careers of trial and error, is an important aspect of life. Everybody in their everyday lives has to attempt to do some task or a method. It is plausible for someone to try to get to work today, as they will only know if they do or don't when they have completed the task with some result. In the UK, we are hindered considerably by the weather to an ever increasing eventuality that poor conditions stops most people doing anything. In the past few years, the snow has closed bridges, stopped workers traveling, reduced the days of school in a given winter term and so on and so forth. In the UK, for unknown reasons, the preparation for such affairs is non-existent. Therefore, in the days of snow or more recent, floods, we cannot be certain. Hence the use and existence of the term try.

Try is not a word that depicts success or failure, it is not a term to associate with a black or white point of view. Try is a process and to attempt to do an activity requires an open mind about its prospects. The Centre for Clinical Intervention (2007) state, “One of the things we have noticed is that people use unhelpful thinking styles as an automatic habit...One of these thinking styles is called 'black & white thinking'.” (p. 1) Furthermore, the idea that without trying, you are left with this way of only having the one extreme or the other. Anxiety BC in 'Thinking Traps' (2013) also progress this by explaining the need to a more real and moderate response. In life we encounter a lot, and most of these are never just one thing; it is often the case that whatever is found is a mix and a merge of complexity. A human can feel a whole web of emotions that cannot be put down to one word. Likewise, a human can experience more than just the success of what they want or the failure.

People seek a simpler life. It is a complex world that we live in; from the growing contradiction, melding of the bourgeoisie and the ruling classes historically to the present day not much has changed (Harman, 2008). People are complicated; it can be overheard frequently that it is desired to have a simpler life, or that he or she doesn't understand me. So much that surround us is complicated, from the development of new words that have been popularised and then accredited into a dictionary, ruining the old game of Scrabble for many (or making it easier for others), to the unchanged and complex needs of the individuals in the human race. In the action to seek a simple existence, we try; this is an indefinite journey.

Trying, in comparison to success or failure, is like aiming for perfection. No one is perfect, it does not exist. One person may deem something perfect, but it is perspecitvely so only. In Hewitt and Flett et al (2003), the problem that this causes can be the psychological distress of regulating self-esteem. Aiming high and setting expectations at a 'challenge' rate (Petty, 2011) for that perfection is a positive and opening sensation that the target holds. It allows us to try to be the best we can. We cannot be perfect or imperfect, as the journey to it remains.

Try is improvisation like people are on a journey through life. The correlation has plenty of connections to what and where try comes into fruition. As people, we do or we don't do, when we do something and instigate the process of the task, we try it out. In any given moment of an attempt, we may be doing well or not. This is not the end of the task, the person that decides the end is the one who started it, based on that person doing or not doing. (An obstacle that is a person of more hierarchical value may attempt to hinder the trial of the unspecified endeavour, but only one person may complete it always.) Everyone improvises their life, life is a journey, so clearly improvisation is one too. Not many improvisers would disagree with that, I think. Mary Scruggs and Michael J. Gellman wrote a whole book on it, 'Process: an improviser's journey' (2008). So every time we enter the stage, we try out or attempt something new: We improvise. The short-term journey we go on together is a live experience of trial and error. With every error we make it great, allowing the process to be hugely positive.

Now it comes to the whether or not removing the word try is truly inline with the positive and open environment that the art form is. A removal of a term is not positive. Negating anyone the opportunity to say a word, like in the podcast aforementioned, is restrictive. So many beautiful languages have died out and become extinct; this is not to do with improv or people enforcing the opinion that the word has little purpose, but it does point out that we lose a lot when we rid ourselves of words. We do not rid ourselves of an offer an improv partner gives onstage. Many do have words they don't like, for example, in improv there is no should have or supposed to; there is in the rest of life. By restricting these, we open up the opportunity of, like Razowsky says, 'getting to' do. By not having to or supposed to, and getting to, we have a positive interaction whereby obligation does not hinder us. In comparison to the removal of trying where we either succeed or fail, with the removal of obligation and offering opportunity, we get a massive contrast.

All references adhere to the relevant copyright laws, whereby given reference to the original source complies with the laws, such as Copyright Act 1968 (Cth).

References

Etymonline.com. (2014) Online Etymology Dictionary. [online] Available at: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=try&allowed_in_frame=0 [Accessed: 17 Feb 2014].
Harman, C. (2008) A people's history of the world. London: Verso.
Hewitt, P. L., Flett, G. L., Sherry, S. B., Habke, M., Parkin, M., Lam, R. W., Mcmurtry, B., Ediger, E., Fairlie, P. and Stein, M. B. (2003) The interpersonal expression of perfection: perfectionistic self-presentation and psychological distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84 (6), p. 1303.
Petty, G. (2011) Have we got Equality and Diversity right?. [e-book] Institute for Learning. pp. 1 - 22. Available through: Have we got Equality and Diversity right? http://www.ifl.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/24552/Have-we-got-Equality-and-Diversity-right_-download.pdf [Accessed: 17 Feb 2014].
Razowsky, D. (2014) A.D.D Comedy. [online] Available at: http://www.addcomedy.com [Accessed: 17 Feb 2014].
Scruggs, M. and Gellman, M. J. (2008) Process. Evanston, Ill.: Northwestern University Press.
Second to None: 10th Anniversary edition. (2009) [DVD] Chicago: HMS Media.
Thinking Traps (2013) [e-book] New Westminster, Canada: AnxietyBC. pp. 1-2. Available through: Anxiety BC http://www.anxietybc.com/sites/default/files/ThinkingTraps.pdf [Accessed: 24 Dec 2013].