WEBVTT 00:00:00.490 --> 00:00:03.330 Hey everybody, welcome back to the Socap Improv 00:00:03.330 --> 00:00:05.830 Comedy Podcast. My name is Ralph. I'm the owner 00:00:05.830 --> 00:00:08.070 and artistic director at Socap Improv Comedy 00:00:08.070 --> 00:00:11.630 Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Socap .ca. 00:00:11.810 --> 00:00:15.910 Come take a class. Come see a show. I love hearing 00:00:15.910 --> 00:00:18.949 from people, so please send me questions, comments, 00:00:19.190 --> 00:00:22.670 good or bad. I recently got an email from someone 00:00:22.670 --> 00:00:24.769 in Turkey. I hope I'm pronouncing that right. 00:00:25.570 --> 00:00:28.050 The new name of the country formerly known as 00:00:28.050 --> 00:00:33.140 Turkey. But Turkey, that was delightful. So if 00:00:33.140 --> 00:00:35.299 you have listened to this podcast or taken a 00:00:35.299 --> 00:00:38.140 class with me, you will understand I'm a huge 00:00:38.140 --> 00:00:41.899 fan of practicing skills in improv that you take 00:00:41.899 --> 00:00:47.039 into the real world. I live my life as much as 00:00:47.039 --> 00:00:51.740 possible based on the same things I've learned 00:00:51.740 --> 00:00:54.020 in improv. I take that out into the real world. 00:00:54.359 --> 00:00:56.759 And what I'm going to talk about today is... 00:00:57.679 --> 00:00:59.840 One of my favorite, one of the things I think 00:00:59.840 --> 00:01:03.159 that's helped me a lot, and that is reframing. 00:01:03.399 --> 00:01:07.299 So in the real world, you know, reframing is 00:01:07.299 --> 00:01:11.340 taking a situation. It's noticing your sort of 00:01:11.340 --> 00:01:13.859 knee -jerk reaction, human beings being such 00:01:13.859 --> 00:01:21.799 creatures of habit and biases. Well, biases, 00:01:21.900 --> 00:01:25.260 yes, but, you know, learned sort of reflexes. 00:01:26.170 --> 00:01:28.590 we tend to have knee -jerk reactions to situations. 00:01:28.930 --> 00:01:31.909 But reframing is about like, okay, understanding 00:01:31.909 --> 00:01:35.709 your reaction, taking a step back and thinking, 00:01:35.810 --> 00:01:38.290 okay, is this the only way to see this? You know, 00:01:38.310 --> 00:01:40.390 what else could this situation mean? How else 00:01:40.390 --> 00:01:43.469 could I react to this? I'm always recommending 00:01:43.469 --> 00:01:47.989 books. And one book I'd like to recommend is 00:01:47.989 --> 00:01:51.390 Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning. Viktor 00:01:51.390 --> 00:01:55.189 Frankl spent years in a Nazi, well, not just 00:01:55.189 --> 00:01:58.709 one, in Nazi concentration camps. So if there's 00:01:58.709 --> 00:02:02.109 a person who can talk about taking a moment between 00:02:02.109 --> 00:02:06.109 a stimulus and a response, he's got my vote. 00:02:07.370 --> 00:02:09.509 He's got a quote, and I'm going to butcher it 00:02:09.509 --> 00:02:12.469 because I didn't write it down, but it basically 00:02:12.469 --> 00:02:16.250 goes, between the stimulus, you know, receiving 00:02:16.250 --> 00:02:19.009 some kind of stimulus and your response, there's 00:02:19.009 --> 00:02:22.069 space. You know, you don't have to react. You 00:02:22.069 --> 00:02:24.810 can respond by taking a moment. And in that space, 00:02:25.050 --> 00:02:28.330 there's wisdom, there's growth, there's power, 00:02:28.469 --> 00:02:32.090 there's a lot in there. And we often don't take 00:02:32.090 --> 00:02:33.889 time to consider that or even think it's possible. 00:02:34.949 --> 00:02:36.810 So that's where reframing lives. It lives in 00:02:36.810 --> 00:02:38.770 that space. You know, you get, for example, get 00:02:38.770 --> 00:02:42.050 a criticism. Somebody criticizes you for your 00:02:42.050 --> 00:02:46.009 work. your look, something, and our knee -jerk 00:02:46.009 --> 00:02:48.949 reaction for many of us is to react in one of 00:02:48.949 --> 00:02:54.009 two ways. One is to get angry or defensive, you 00:02:54.009 --> 00:02:56.129 know, fight or flight. We get in this state. 00:02:56.689 --> 00:03:00.370 And reframing, you know, you can take a moment 00:03:00.370 --> 00:03:02.849 and go like, okay, well, maybe they're right. 00:03:02.889 --> 00:03:05.710 Maybe they have a point, right? Or is there something 00:03:05.710 --> 00:03:09.949 useful here? Or, okay, I get they're trying to 00:03:09.949 --> 00:03:13.860 help. It may be clumsy. but they have better 00:03:13.860 --> 00:03:16.479 intentions. And I'm going to take a moment because 00:03:16.479 --> 00:03:19.520 reacting this way might just escalate the situation. 00:03:20.860 --> 00:03:22.680 And these things are hard to do. I'm not saying, 00:03:22.740 --> 00:03:25.060 oh, you can just do that tomorrow. This has to 00:03:25.060 --> 00:03:27.240 be something, I think, you've got to get in your 00:03:27.240 --> 00:03:30.800 body, learning and make this the reflex. The 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:33.419 reflex is not to react. The reflex is to take 00:03:33.419 --> 00:03:36.439 a moment, take a breath, okay, and think about 00:03:36.439 --> 00:03:40.520 it. Now, why is improv a great place to practice 00:03:40.520 --> 00:03:44.300 reframing? Because there's such low stakes. So, 00:03:44.300 --> 00:03:47.120 you know, if you get criticized in an improv 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:50.460 scene, it's very, well, I shouldn't say it's 00:03:50.460 --> 00:03:52.800 very easy. It's much easier, I think, because 00:03:52.800 --> 00:03:57.340 the stakes are lower, to practice reframing and 00:03:57.340 --> 00:04:00.419 staying open and responding instead of reacting. 00:04:00.780 --> 00:04:04.280 And think about different ways to handle a situation. 00:04:04.419 --> 00:04:07.159 You know, in improv, if a character comes in 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:12.719 and criticizes us. We can practice the knee jerk. 00:04:12.819 --> 00:04:15.360 What are you talking about? Getting angry. Or 00:04:15.360 --> 00:04:19.319 we can practice different kinds of responses. 00:04:21.740 --> 00:04:25.620 You were late. Man, I know. I know I was super 00:04:25.620 --> 00:04:27.720 late. But I got to tell you, I was having so 00:04:27.720 --> 00:04:29.660 much fun, I lost track of time. Or you were super 00:04:29.660 --> 00:04:31.899 late. Well, I just did that because I knew it 00:04:31.899 --> 00:04:34.019 was going to upset you. You can think about different 00:04:34.019 --> 00:04:38.519 ways to respond and then... Take this out into 00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:41.800 the real world and try them out and see how it 00:04:41.800 --> 00:04:44.899 goes. One thing I have learned in my nearly 60 00:04:44.899 --> 00:04:48.839 years on this planet is as much as I used to 00:04:48.839 --> 00:04:51.399 despise conflict, and I don't relish conflict, 00:04:51.540 --> 00:04:55.180 but I'm okay with it now because I try to see 00:04:55.180 --> 00:04:59.839 it as an opportunity, is that these kind of situations 00:04:59.839 --> 00:05:02.360 that are kind of conflict -y almost never go 00:05:02.360 --> 00:05:04.139 the way I think they're going to go. They've 00:05:04.139 --> 00:05:06.399 almost never gone that way. And usually after 00:05:06.399 --> 00:05:10.040 some kind of conflict or airing of grievances, 00:05:10.060 --> 00:05:14.959 afterward, the air is much clearer. So moving 00:05:14.959 --> 00:05:18.920 straight into improv and being on stage, reframing 00:05:18.920 --> 00:05:25.560 in scenes is a critical skill. And one I highly 00:05:25.560 --> 00:05:31.519 recommend that you adopt and adapt. adopt for 00:05:31.519 --> 00:05:35.600 yourself and adapt for it to work for you. So, 00:05:35.740 --> 00:05:38.379 you know, here's like an example, because a lot 00:05:38.379 --> 00:05:43.579 of scenes will start with an original or an instant 00:05:43.579 --> 00:05:48.319 conflict. Particularly, I find this is more common 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:50.420 with newer players who think conflict between 00:05:50.420 --> 00:05:52.540 characters is something that they need to have 00:05:52.540 --> 00:05:54.839 for various reasons that I won't go into now. 00:05:55.500 --> 00:05:57.680 But for example, character A might come in and 00:05:57.680 --> 00:05:59.779 say to you, why didn't you come home last night? 00:05:59.879 --> 00:06:02.660 I made dinner. You stumbled in at three o 'clock 00:06:02.660 --> 00:06:04.939 in the morning smelling like alcohol. Now that's 00:06:04.939 --> 00:06:07.680 a lot of information and they put you in a strong 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:10.939 framing, right? They really want you to be a 00:06:10.939 --> 00:06:14.300 villain. They've really laid a lot of stuff on 00:06:14.300 --> 00:06:19.259 you. And in my experience, what you'll get most 00:06:19.259 --> 00:06:25.800 of the time is the character B being very, defensive 00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:29.160 and starts to deny a lot and will create confusion 00:06:29.160 --> 00:06:31.180 that muddles the scene. They might just say no 00:06:31.180 --> 00:06:32.759 right off the top. What are you talking about? 00:06:32.819 --> 00:06:37.480 I was home. Are you drunk? That's just a straight 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:40.180 out denial. And now we've got to figure out what 00:06:40.180 --> 00:06:43.509 the reality is or they'll downplay it. Why didn't 00:06:43.509 --> 00:06:47.310 you go home last night? Oh, I did. And I thought 00:06:47.310 --> 00:06:48.589 you were asleep. I don't want to wake you. So 00:06:48.589 --> 00:06:50.649 I just slept on the couch or I went into the 00:06:50.649 --> 00:06:53.350 basement or whatever. And that alcohol. Oh, that's 00:06:53.350 --> 00:06:55.689 because I hurt myself. So I was using some rubbing 00:06:55.689 --> 00:06:59.589 alcohol. You know, they'll try to somehow downplay 00:06:59.589 --> 00:07:03.649 it, reach a conclusion where they'll try to like 00:07:03.649 --> 00:07:07.350 we would in the real world. And reframing here 00:07:07.350 --> 00:07:11.480 in improv goes, oh, OK. I've gotten this letter, 00:07:11.560 --> 00:07:13.860 this letter. I've gotten this information. They 00:07:13.860 --> 00:07:15.800 want me to play a villain. So I'm going to lean 00:07:15.800 --> 00:07:18.240 into it. Why didn't I come home last night? You're 00:07:18.240 --> 00:07:20.620 right. I didn't come home. You know why? Because 00:07:20.620 --> 00:07:24.579 I didn't want to see you. Oh, okay. Now we have 00:07:24.579 --> 00:07:26.759 a scene, right? You've got a scene where the 00:07:26.759 --> 00:07:29.759 reality is maintained. We're in agreement as 00:07:29.759 --> 00:07:31.959 to what's going on, at least at this point. And 00:07:31.959 --> 00:07:35.379 we'll see how it progresses. So why this works 00:07:35.379 --> 00:07:39.160 is, A, you stop fighting for control. You stop 00:07:39.160 --> 00:07:41.800 arguing with your scene partner and arguing with 00:07:41.800 --> 00:07:43.899 the other actor, not the character, the actor, 00:07:44.040 --> 00:07:47.720 which I've talked about before, ad nauseum. That 00:07:47.720 --> 00:07:50.540 person wants me to be a villain, I'll be a villain. 00:07:51.939 --> 00:07:54.500 And the option that I gave, you're right, I didn't 00:07:54.500 --> 00:07:55.860 come home because I didn't want to be with you. 00:07:56.060 --> 00:07:59.959 There's only one possible step forward. There's 00:07:59.959 --> 00:08:03.199 other ones. So A, you stop fighting for control. 00:08:03.699 --> 00:08:06.860 You stop trying to force the scene into your 00:08:06.860 --> 00:08:10.000 plan. Right. And it becomes our plan that we 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:13.500 are created together. You accept the offer that 00:08:13.500 --> 00:08:16.220 they've given you. You justify it and you keep 00:08:16.220 --> 00:08:18.699 the scene moving forward. Keep going forward. 00:08:19.019 --> 00:08:22.019 The argument trap fails often because nothing 00:08:22.019 --> 00:08:25.560 happens. We just go back and forth like a hamster 00:08:25.560 --> 00:08:27.240 in a wheel just going around, around, around. 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:30.040 And also the scene becomes very clear and faster. 00:08:31.050 --> 00:08:32.970 What's at stake, what's going on becomes clearer, 00:08:33.210 --> 00:08:36.269 faster, and that becomes more fun for the audience 00:08:36.269 --> 00:08:37.730 and the players because now we have to do less 00:08:37.730 --> 00:08:40.490 thinking about, okay, I've got to solve all these 00:08:40.490 --> 00:08:44.769 problems. And I mean problems, again, as the 00:08:44.769 --> 00:08:46.830 actor's problems, like what's going on, who are 00:08:46.830 --> 00:08:49.429 we, what's real. We just have more fun and we 00:08:49.429 --> 00:08:53.710 play. Another way you can reframe things is a 00:08:53.710 --> 00:08:57.029 boring suggestion. into something exciting. So 00:08:57.029 --> 00:08:59.610 I don't know, sometimes I've seen this where 00:08:59.610 --> 00:09:03.389 someone will ask for a location and they want 00:09:03.389 --> 00:09:05.389 something dynamic and they'll get coffee shop. 00:09:05.669 --> 00:09:08.169 And you can see all the disappointment on their 00:09:08.169 --> 00:09:11.029 face and they go, oh, coffee shop, thanks. And 00:09:11.029 --> 00:09:14.929 we'll just bypass how much I hate that for a 00:09:14.929 --> 00:09:18.049 moment. But when you reframe, you can love being 00:09:18.049 --> 00:09:20.460 in a coffee shop. And maybe the idea of pouring 00:09:20.460 --> 00:09:23.360 coffee, you know, being a barista isn't, you 00:09:23.360 --> 00:09:26.139 know, your cup of tea, pun totally intended. 00:09:27.720 --> 00:09:30.500 But you can pretend to love it, right? Or you 00:09:30.500 --> 00:09:32.200 can think of other ways. Okay, what would be 00:09:32.200 --> 00:09:34.419 great about this? Oh, I know. I get to brighten 00:09:34.419 --> 00:09:36.519 people's day. People come in, they're tired. 00:09:36.820 --> 00:09:38.980 I get to make them coffee and they leave happy. 00:09:39.080 --> 00:09:42.000 Or I get to play the game of getting everybody's 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:45.059 name wrong on purpose. There are other aspects 00:09:45.059 --> 00:09:48.440 of this job that you can find exciting. remember, 00:09:48.679 --> 00:09:51.580 it's not real. You're not really working as a 00:09:51.580 --> 00:09:55.299 barista. You know, and apologies to baristas. 00:09:55.379 --> 00:10:00.220 It's a totally fine job. And you can also, if 00:10:00.220 --> 00:10:02.919 you can reframe in another way, because if, okay, 00:10:03.019 --> 00:10:04.559 a coffee shop is boring to me, I don't want to 00:10:04.559 --> 00:10:06.500 be here. Okay, well, let's reframe it as something 00:10:06.500 --> 00:10:08.620 that I want to do. Oh, I know what, I'll burn 00:10:08.620 --> 00:10:11.779 it to the ground and go do something else. You 00:10:11.779 --> 00:10:14.139 know, remember, when we create things on stage, 00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:16.580 none of that is real. Like none of the stuff 00:10:16.580 --> 00:10:20.210 is real. Feelings are real. So when I say, you 00:10:20.210 --> 00:10:23.009 know, you can, the stuff you create, you can 00:10:23.009 --> 00:10:25.370 destroy without consequences, that has some caveats, 00:10:25.549 --> 00:10:28.629 right? You can't create babies and dogs and cats 00:10:28.629 --> 00:10:31.049 and destroy them because we will judge you harshly 00:10:31.049 --> 00:10:35.190 for that. And finally, reframing at the beginning 00:10:35.190 --> 00:10:39.690 of a scene to avoid fights over useless stuff 00:10:39.690 --> 00:10:44.169 or incidentals, right? Like if someone says, 00:10:44.350 --> 00:10:45.950 boy, you don't have much of a sense of humor, 00:10:46.009 --> 00:10:48.840 do you? I mean, do you really want to have an 00:10:48.840 --> 00:10:51.919 argument, a fight over whether or not your character 00:10:51.919 --> 00:10:55.080 has a sense of humor? I don't. And so you can 00:10:55.080 --> 00:10:59.659 reframe that into a friendly jibe and accept 00:10:59.659 --> 00:11:03.259 it and move on. You know what? I don't. I'm like, 00:11:03.320 --> 00:11:06.039 when it comes to jokes, I'm an idiot. Move on. 00:11:06.340 --> 00:11:08.340 And now we're still in agreement and we're playful, 00:11:08.500 --> 00:11:11.399 right? And you're going to be the kind of improviser 00:11:11.399 --> 00:11:13.220 other people really want to play with. That's 00:11:13.220 --> 00:11:16.059 the kind of person I want to play with. So in 00:11:16.059 --> 00:11:18.919 short. Reframing will make you a better performer. 00:11:19.100 --> 00:11:21.799 You become more playful. You become more open, 00:11:21.919 --> 00:11:26.019 more flexible. You can pivot easier, right? One 00:11:26.019 --> 00:11:28.460 of the analogies I often use is a tennis match. 00:11:28.600 --> 00:11:31.080 And the pivoting allows you to like, oh, this 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:33.120 is an offer I'm going to hit with a smash or 00:11:33.120 --> 00:11:36.659 a lob. Or I'm going to hit an overhand passing 00:11:36.659 --> 00:11:40.940 shot, forehand passing shot down the line. Where 00:11:40.940 --> 00:11:44.480 you avoid the argument trap, which goes nowhere 00:11:44.480 --> 00:11:48.070 often. Or it can go somewhere, but with more 00:11:48.070 --> 00:11:51.409 difficulty. It's more difficult to navigate those 00:11:51.409 --> 00:11:54.230 situations. The audience really likes watching 00:11:54.230 --> 00:11:55.909 people who are having fun. If you're having fun, 00:11:56.090 --> 00:11:58.250 you're not thinking and you're having a great 00:11:58.250 --> 00:12:00.009 time. And if you're having a fun time, your scene 00:12:00.009 --> 00:12:02.470 partner almost invariably is having a great time. 00:12:03.809 --> 00:12:07.090 And you work to justify instead of denying, arguing, 00:12:07.330 --> 00:12:11.720 fighting, controlling. If you are one of those 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:14.240 improvisers who are very controlling, a writer 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:17.279 type, this allows you to not control so much. 00:12:20.200 --> 00:12:25.500 There are often in scenes these lines that come 00:12:25.500 --> 00:12:28.820 up that feel like hard stops, that just kind 00:12:28.820 --> 00:12:33.159 of stop everything. If character A wants to raise 00:12:33.159 --> 00:12:36.000 the stakes. For example, let's say a couple is 00:12:36.000 --> 00:12:37.460 packing to go on their honeymoon and character 00:12:37.460 --> 00:12:39.120 A wants to raise the stakes. And they say, oh, 00:12:39.240 --> 00:12:42.480 by the way, my mother is coming on our honeymoon. 00:12:43.240 --> 00:12:46.679 Now, for B, your logic and my logic might be 00:12:46.679 --> 00:12:49.139 absolutely not. That's crazy. This is our honeymoon. 00:12:49.379 --> 00:12:51.919 Come on, be an adult and tell them not. They 00:12:51.919 --> 00:12:55.419 can't come. But then that just stops everything. 00:12:56.179 --> 00:12:59.139 And the game your partner wants to play is mom's 00:12:59.139 --> 00:13:01.860 coming on the honeymoon. And why not? Again, 00:13:01.940 --> 00:13:04.159 it's not real. In the audience, I mean, as an 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:05.620 audience member, I want to see that. I want to 00:13:05.620 --> 00:13:09.759 see the train wreck that will happen. So if you 00:13:09.759 --> 00:13:13.159 can get into reframing and you can justify a 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:16.139 reason to let that happen, right? So, oh man, 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:18.159 your mother's coming on her honeymoon. Oh man, 00:13:18.279 --> 00:13:21.159 that stinks. But you know what? She is paying 00:13:21.159 --> 00:13:23.620 the bill. So I guess we'll have to bring her 00:13:23.620 --> 00:13:26.299 along, right? And now we get to have the fun 00:13:26.299 --> 00:13:28.720 of watching a honeymoon with the mother on board. 00:13:29.470 --> 00:13:31.990 uh much better than just fighting over whether 00:13:31.990 --> 00:13:34.730 or not your mother's gonna come i mean you can 00:13:34.730 --> 00:13:37.149 do it you can do it you know there's i'm not 00:13:37.149 --> 00:13:40.710 saying don't do that please please i don't have 00:13:40.710 --> 00:13:44.070 i have one rule that's not true i might have 00:13:44.070 --> 00:13:45.629 a couple rules but that's definitely not one 00:13:45.629 --> 00:13:47.850 of them um and now the scene is somewhere to 00:13:47.850 --> 00:13:50.029 go and we can have fun elaine may the great elaine 00:13:50.029 --> 00:13:53.149 may uh who i believe is still with us and i think 00:13:53.149 --> 00:13:58.080 she's got to be in her late 90s Her quote is 00:13:58.080 --> 00:14:01.679 the improviser's job is to justify. And I don't 00:14:01.679 --> 00:14:04.080 know if that's the job, but it is certainly a 00:14:04.080 --> 00:14:08.139 huge job. You want to justify the information 00:14:08.139 --> 00:14:10.080 that allows the scene to continue and allows 00:14:10.080 --> 00:14:13.080 us to keep playing. So in closing, reframing 00:14:13.080 --> 00:14:15.559 helps you stay playful, stay open, keep scenes 00:14:15.559 --> 00:14:18.379 moving, build real world flexibility and openness 00:14:18.379 --> 00:14:21.559 to learn, grow, avoid and downplay conflict. 00:14:22.299 --> 00:14:25.059 Okay. That's me for today. Thank you for listening. 00:14:25.299 --> 00:14:27.379 See you next time here on the Socap Improv Comedy 00:14:27.379 --> 00:14:29.440 Podcast. I'm out. Bye.