WEBVTT 00:00:00.300 --> 00:00:03.839 Hey everybody and welcome back to the SoCap Improv 00:00:03.839 --> 00:00:06.219 Comedy Podcast. My name is Ralph. I'm the owner 00:00:06.219 --> 00:00:08.759 and artistic director at the SoCap Improv Comedy 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:12.220 Theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. If you're 00:00:12.220 --> 00:00:13.820 in the area, please come and take a workshop. 00:00:14.140 --> 00:00:17.300 And if you're not or if you are and you don't 00:00:17.300 --> 00:00:20.280 want to do that, reach out. Tell me that you 00:00:20.280 --> 00:00:24.260 are enjoying this or that you are not. And if 00:00:24.260 --> 00:00:27.100 you have like an idea... That's like, Ralph, 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:29.980 what you just said about that thing, that's stupid. 00:00:30.300 --> 00:00:33.340 Oh, please let me know. Because maybe you're 00:00:33.340 --> 00:00:36.420 right. And I'd learn something. That'd be great. 00:00:36.500 --> 00:00:41.100 I love learning stuff. So, you know, I'm always 00:00:41.100 --> 00:00:43.320 willing to entertain that everything I say is 00:00:43.320 --> 00:00:46.600 completely nonsense. It's complete nonsense. 00:00:46.780 --> 00:00:50.679 Like that last sentence. Anyway, I do love to 00:00:50.679 --> 00:00:53.079 learn through disagreement. So if you have a 00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:56.689 disagreement, let me hear it. And then maybe 00:00:56.689 --> 00:00:58.549 I'll ask you what you mean by it. We can have 00:00:58.549 --> 00:01:02.649 a conversation, which would be lovely. There's, 00:01:02.649 --> 00:01:05.090 you know, many different definitions of improv. 00:01:06.750 --> 00:01:10.489 I do like the, I see on YouTube sometimes, the 00:01:10.489 --> 00:01:13.890 five levels of, you know, I'm going to explain 00:01:13.890 --> 00:01:19.290 like a astrophysicist defines gravity, five levels, 00:01:19.349 --> 00:01:23.659 like from kindergarten up to postdoc. And I think 00:01:23.659 --> 00:01:27.459 improv is the same. There's simple definitions 00:01:27.459 --> 00:01:31.099 and complex definitions. I think one of my favorite 00:01:31.099 --> 00:01:33.760 sort of operational definition, like what is 00:01:33.760 --> 00:01:38.500 it? What is improv? What is it at its base? I 00:01:38.500 --> 00:01:41.680 say improv is play. And when I say play, I don't 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:44.319 mean like board games or sports. Not that those 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:45.959 things aren't wonderful. They are. But they have 00:01:45.959 --> 00:01:49.400 stakes, right? When you play chess or badminton, 00:01:49.579 --> 00:01:52.930 you probably want to win. You know, unless you're 00:01:52.930 --> 00:01:55.709 playing with, you know, really good friends or 00:01:55.709 --> 00:01:58.230 children, your own children or something like 00:01:58.230 --> 00:01:59.670 that. And it's something that's about something 00:01:59.670 --> 00:02:02.090 else. But generally they have stakes. Whereas 00:02:02.090 --> 00:02:05.969 improv, there is no like there's no stake at 00:02:05.969 --> 00:02:09.969 the outcome. Right. The value of improv is in 00:02:09.969 --> 00:02:13.449 the doing. You know, the journey is the destination. 00:02:13.909 --> 00:02:18.330 If I can use that old hackneyed phrase. But it's 00:02:18.330 --> 00:02:22.050 true. Like the point of improv is. is to do it 00:02:22.050 --> 00:02:24.870 and to have that connection with other people, 00:02:24.969 --> 00:02:30.490 in my view. So, you know, as adults, and I'm 00:02:30.490 --> 00:02:34.870 talking about adults, you know, improv is playing 00:02:34.870 --> 00:02:38.789 together. And it's like the imaginative play 00:02:38.789 --> 00:02:41.789 we did as children, dress up and pretend. You 00:02:41.789 --> 00:02:44.729 know, it can be exaggerated, it's silly, and 00:02:44.729 --> 00:02:48.759 it's not real in the sense... That, you know, 00:02:48.759 --> 00:02:53.240 when we improvise that we're in a war room, it's 00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:55.199 not a real war room, right? Or if we're in a 00:02:55.199 --> 00:02:57.879 business and somebody's just had a bad meeting, 00:02:58.060 --> 00:03:00.960 there's no real meeting. That's not real. All 00:03:00.960 --> 00:03:03.599 that's real is the emotions that we create and 00:03:03.599 --> 00:03:07.539 the games we play. Anyway, and that exists on 00:03:07.539 --> 00:03:10.900 stage or in a classroom and also in real life. 00:03:10.960 --> 00:03:14.259 Like I have, you know, a lot of funny friends. 00:03:15.159 --> 00:03:18.460 improv friends, and we're very playful all the 00:03:18.460 --> 00:03:20.900 time. Even my 12 -year -old daughter, you know, 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:25.340 when she does something that slightly annoys 00:03:25.340 --> 00:03:28.680 me, like not bringing her dishes to the sink 00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:30.539 at the end of dinner, I say, well, you know, 00:03:30.659 --> 00:03:33.139 this means one thing. I'm going to sell you for 00:03:33.139 --> 00:03:36.199 medical experiments, which she laughs at, and 00:03:36.199 --> 00:03:39.659 then she threatens to call children's aid on 00:03:39.659 --> 00:03:45.520 me and have me taken away in chains. That, you 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:49.259 know, like my examples about improv on stage, 00:03:49.500 --> 00:03:51.900 those aren't real. I don't really intend to sell 00:03:51.900 --> 00:03:54.340 her for medical experiments. And she knows that. 00:03:54.479 --> 00:03:56.900 And she's not really going to call children's 00:03:56.900 --> 00:04:00.199 aid and have me taken away in chains. These are 00:04:00.199 --> 00:04:04.659 exaggerations. They're playful. They're not real. 00:04:05.659 --> 00:04:07.539 You know, and it's like when you're with friends 00:04:07.539 --> 00:04:10.620 and you call each other the worst names. And 00:04:10.620 --> 00:04:15.310 it's like, that's... It's a badge of honor. Like 00:04:15.310 --> 00:04:17.750 that's like it's saying the subtext is we're 00:04:17.750 --> 00:04:22.009 so close. I can threaten to murder you. And it's 00:04:22.009 --> 00:04:26.529 hilarious and it's fine. And that's play. Flirting 00:04:26.529 --> 00:04:29.050 is play. Hanging with your best friends. That's 00:04:29.050 --> 00:04:31.889 play. Generally, you know, not always. But, you 00:04:31.889 --> 00:04:34.829 know, that kind of like hanging around, banter, 00:04:34.829 --> 00:04:37.730 laughing. That's play. And that's what to me 00:04:37.730 --> 00:04:40.230 improv is. It's just, I guess, more structured 00:04:40.230 --> 00:04:45.149 or it's. It's more, I guess, more structured, 00:04:45.209 --> 00:04:47.449 more presentational, might be the better word 00:04:47.449 --> 00:04:52.310 anyway. So when we play, you know, and for me, 00:04:52.310 --> 00:04:59.050 in my line of teaching, we typically do like 00:04:59.050 --> 00:05:03.709 scenic stuff, kind of like I think a sitcom, 00:05:03.750 --> 00:05:08.110 situation comedy might be sort of the best sort 00:05:08.110 --> 00:05:10.670 of example of what improv, my improv looks like. 00:05:11.310 --> 00:05:13.310 And scenes have that kind of loose three act 00:05:13.310 --> 00:05:16.889 structure. And within that, you know, there are 00:05:16.889 --> 00:05:19.550 characters and characters in scenes or heroes 00:05:19.550 --> 00:05:22.589 or villains. There are mentors. There are like 00:05:22.589 --> 00:05:28.449 other kinds of characters, you know, the wacky 00:05:28.449 --> 00:05:33.810 neighbor, whatever. And those and so there's 00:05:33.810 --> 00:05:37.410 many different roles that one can and may need 00:05:37.410 --> 00:05:40.810 to adopt, depending on what the scene is. Right? 00:05:40.850 --> 00:05:42.970 The scene tells us. We inform what the scene 00:05:42.970 --> 00:05:46.410 is, then the scene tells us back, oh, this is 00:05:46.410 --> 00:05:49.110 what's going on, this is where you need to slot 00:05:49.110 --> 00:05:52.550 yourself in, in order to be of service to the 00:05:52.550 --> 00:05:55.730 scene, to the moment, right? So that means that 00:05:55.730 --> 00:05:57.970 for us, as an improviser, we have to be very 00:05:57.970 --> 00:06:00.889 flexible to take on many different kinds of roles. 00:06:01.069 --> 00:06:03.610 Oh, I can't just always be the hero. I mean, 00:06:03.629 --> 00:06:06.379 you can be. You can do whatever you want, but 00:06:06.379 --> 00:06:09.100 that's going to really limit you and limit the 00:06:09.100 --> 00:06:12.779 people you're playing with. And, you know, it's 00:06:12.779 --> 00:06:15.319 going to really impact on the kinds of scenes 00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:18.100 you can do and all kinds of things. However, 00:06:18.240 --> 00:06:19.800 at the end of the day, you can do exactly what 00:06:19.800 --> 00:06:23.720 you want. So, but if we're going to be flexible, 00:06:23.959 --> 00:06:26.079 sometimes, you know, you have to be mean, you 00:06:26.079 --> 00:06:27.939 have to be sympathetic, you have to be vulnerable, 00:06:28.180 --> 00:06:30.920 maybe even pathetic. all these different things 00:06:30.920 --> 00:06:33.259 or a hero like all these different things and 00:06:33.259 --> 00:06:35.379 the topic I want to talk about today is vulnerability 00:06:35.379 --> 00:06:40.899 and often it's very it's essential I think for 00:06:40.899 --> 00:06:43.819 playful improv like you it's good to be able 00:06:43.819 --> 00:06:47.259 to develop your your sense of vulnerability what's 00:06:47.259 --> 00:06:49.500 vulnerable for you and I bring this up because 00:06:49.500 --> 00:06:53.259 I had two recent examples in classes both similar 00:06:53.259 --> 00:06:55.639 in which it was a male and female character and 00:06:55.639 --> 00:06:57.319 the female character they were having an argument 00:06:57.319 --> 00:07:01.449 and the female character uh made a comment about 00:07:01.449 --> 00:07:05.990 the lack of the male characters let's say uh 00:07:05.990 --> 00:07:11.250 size uh and sexual prowess so in one case uh 00:07:11.250 --> 00:07:13.689 you know the male character said something about 00:07:13.689 --> 00:07:16.370 like i have a small attention span and the female 00:07:16.370 --> 00:07:18.149 character said oh yeah and what else is small 00:07:18.149 --> 00:07:20.810 and he went like everything especially down there 00:07:20.810 --> 00:07:23.329 to which everybody laughed at and in the other 00:07:23.329 --> 00:07:28.370 case it was um a female saying to the male character 00:07:28.370 --> 00:07:30.889 about his level of incompetence and what else 00:07:30.889 --> 00:07:33.730 was he incompetent and she said she expected 00:07:33.730 --> 00:07:36.089 suspected he was very incompetent in the bedroom 00:07:36.089 --> 00:07:38.209 and he said oh you have no idea I have no idea 00:07:38.209 --> 00:07:40.370 what's going on in there I have no idea about 00:07:40.370 --> 00:07:43.189 any of that stuff or even why people want to 00:07:43.189 --> 00:07:45.470 do it and again it brought a lot of laughter 00:07:45.470 --> 00:07:49.009 right and you know they're they're bold they're 00:07:49.009 --> 00:07:52.209 honest they're also surprising but they're also 00:07:52.209 --> 00:07:55.220 relatable right they're relatable in that You 00:07:55.220 --> 00:07:57.720 know, those are things that, without context, 00:07:57.920 --> 00:08:00.600 if someone said that, you'd be like, oh my gosh, 00:08:00.720 --> 00:08:03.399 that's like, I'm sorry. Or, you know, we certainly 00:08:03.399 --> 00:08:05.800 wouldn't laugh at it. I mean, we might want to 00:08:05.800 --> 00:08:07.560 laugh at it, but we wouldn't laugh out loud. 00:08:08.120 --> 00:08:10.680 But because we knew both these male characters 00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:14.899 were very, very, let's say, meek, vulnerable, 00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:21.100 weak, it made sense. So we laughed at... Oh, 00:08:21.180 --> 00:08:22.860 of course they would be. Haha, that makes sense, 00:08:22.980 --> 00:08:25.339 right? So we laugh because we get it. We're playing 00:08:25.339 --> 00:08:32.080 along. So, you know, vulnerability is a great 00:08:32.080 --> 00:08:36.360 tool to have in your belt. That self -deprecation, 00:08:36.360 --> 00:08:41.019 you know, is very playful. It lets your other 00:08:41.019 --> 00:08:43.139 scene partners and the audience, whether that 00:08:43.139 --> 00:08:45.279 audience is a stage audience or, you know, at 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:48.519 a dinner party. And I'm going to get back to 00:08:48.519 --> 00:08:50.879 that in a minute. but it lets them know they 00:08:50.879 --> 00:08:53.279 can let their guard down, right? Oh, okay, you're 00:08:53.279 --> 00:08:56.039 fine. You're very fine. And you know, you're 00:08:56.039 --> 00:08:59.779 not a threat to my ego. I can relax, right? Audiences 00:08:59.779 --> 00:09:03.539 witnessing it love vulnerability. They love that 00:09:03.539 --> 00:09:05.639 low status. It makes them feel better about themselves, 00:09:05.980 --> 00:09:08.559 makes them feel superior. So they laugh and they 00:09:08.559 --> 00:09:12.340 like you. You know, and it opens the door to 00:09:12.340 --> 00:09:15.399 bigger things to come. You know, like if that's 00:09:15.399 --> 00:09:17.580 true, well, what else is true? What else is going 00:09:17.580 --> 00:09:21.340 on? What else is wrong with this person? And 00:09:21.340 --> 00:09:25.460 now two caveats. Number one, especially in public, 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:30.159 you don't want to be so vulnerable as to be pathetic. 00:09:30.899 --> 00:09:34.940 One time I was a student of mine and they were 00:09:34.940 --> 00:09:37.960 doing like a like a dating scene, like a Tinder 00:09:37.960 --> 00:09:40.460 date. And he was like, well, I'm not employed. 00:09:40.519 --> 00:09:42.480 I live with my parents. I don't have the best 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:44.039 hygiene. I was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, what's 00:09:44.039 --> 00:09:45.539 going on? And he was saying, well, I'm being 00:09:45.539 --> 00:09:47.700 vulnerable. I'm like, oh, you're being pathetic. 00:09:48.539 --> 00:09:52.019 Your vulnerability, it's so much that you're 00:09:52.019 --> 00:09:53.779 pathetic and nobody would want to be with you. 00:09:54.480 --> 00:09:57.700 So you can't go too far, right? There's a limit 00:09:57.700 --> 00:09:59.779 there. And what that limit is, is up to you to 00:09:59.779 --> 00:10:05.500 find it. And the second thing is comfortability. 00:10:05.679 --> 00:10:10.139 Your comfortability. with how vulnerable you 00:10:10.139 --> 00:10:12.139 can be. And if you have a hard time saying, oh, 00:10:12.179 --> 00:10:14.960 yeah, you know, saying how small you are down 00:10:14.960 --> 00:10:17.980 there, you know, I think the first thing that 00:10:17.980 --> 00:10:22.019 I would suggest is to notice when you find resistance. 00:10:22.259 --> 00:10:27.940 Where does your resistance, what's too much for 00:10:27.940 --> 00:10:31.519 you? Where is that level? And find your version 00:10:31.519 --> 00:10:33.820 of vulnerability. You know, you don't have to 00:10:33.820 --> 00:10:36.659 go straight to, you know, sexual self -deprecation 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:40.990 or being pathetic you don't have to do that uh 00:10:40.990 --> 00:10:44.190 it's i think it's better if you can and better 00:10:44.190 --> 00:10:46.710 in the sense of like more playful you have more 00:10:46.710 --> 00:10:49.590 opportunities to go places more things that you 00:10:49.590 --> 00:10:54.710 can do but um you don't have to be that far and 00:10:54.710 --> 00:10:57.350 uh you know you can deflect it so you know in 00:10:57.350 --> 00:10:59.090 this previous example like what else is small 00:10:59.090 --> 00:11:01.029 you can say hey i know what you're thinking but 00:11:01.029 --> 00:11:03.490 you'd be wrong about that you know you can still 00:11:03.490 --> 00:11:06.470 be playful and be you know and have a bit of 00:11:06.470 --> 00:11:11.340 a Maintain your ego. So I'm not here to say you 00:11:11.340 --> 00:11:14.159 must do these things. In fact, I have, I said, 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:16.559 I hope many times, I don't really have any rules, 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:20.299 maybe one about agreement, but I certainly, and 00:11:20.299 --> 00:11:22.700 maybe a second rule would be don't do anything 00:11:22.700 --> 00:11:24.480 that makes you uncomfortable, which if it makes 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:28.539 you uncomfortable, don't do it. But all that 00:11:28.539 --> 00:11:31.019 said, I would encourage you not to be like a 00:11:31.019 --> 00:11:34.220 Donald Trump. Where you're unable to even entertain 00:11:34.220 --> 00:11:37.759 the idea that you're not the absolute best at 00:11:37.759 --> 00:11:40.000 everything. In fact, I'm just laughing because 00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:44.519 he recently said in reference to the World Cup. 00:11:44.820 --> 00:11:48.220 He's like, nobody knows more about sports than 00:11:48.220 --> 00:11:50.580 I do. But even I didn't know you would get disqualified 00:11:50.580 --> 00:11:52.320 for the next game if you got a red card. It's 00:11:52.320 --> 00:11:58.220 like, okay, fair enough. You know, our goal when 00:11:58.220 --> 00:12:00.659 we're improvising is as much as possible to stay 00:12:00.659 --> 00:12:04.690 open. Stay playful, to be connected, and be part 00:12:04.690 --> 00:12:07.409 of something bigger than us. And we should attempt 00:12:07.409 --> 00:12:11.830 to do that as much as possible because for a 00:12:11.830 --> 00:12:16.309 myriad of reasons of which ourselves is a chief 00:12:16.309 --> 00:12:21.269 reason. That's when people report doing a scene 00:12:21.269 --> 00:12:23.850 and being like, wow, that was effortless. It 00:12:23.850 --> 00:12:26.730 felt great. I wasn't panicking. I didn't think 00:12:26.730 --> 00:12:28.610 about where I was going. I didn't want the floor 00:12:28.610 --> 00:12:30.779 to open up. I was just... Having a good time. 00:12:30.860 --> 00:12:32.340 You are in the moment because you are connected. 00:12:33.480 --> 00:12:37.399 But do not do what makes you uncomfortable. Something 00:12:37.399 --> 00:12:40.440 is uncomfortable, something is awkward, weird, 00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:43.700 stop, time out, you know. And if you're in front 00:12:43.700 --> 00:12:47.220 of an audience, just leave the scene. You know, 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:49.840 oh, hey, oh, look at the time. I got to go. You 00:12:49.840 --> 00:12:54.860 leave. And if you got, if that's, well, I'm not 00:12:54.860 --> 00:12:56.799 going to go into that now, but get out of there. 00:12:56.899 --> 00:12:59.149 You know, if you're uncomfortable. Everybody 00:12:59.149 --> 00:13:00.590 will know you're uncomfortable and they'll want 00:13:00.590 --> 00:13:04.629 you to leave too. Okay, so the takeaways. Saying 00:13:04.629 --> 00:13:07.570 yes in scenes and playing the role the scene 00:13:07.570 --> 00:13:09.789 has decided that it wants you to play requires 00:13:09.789 --> 00:13:13.409 you to have some vulnerability often. That vulnerability 00:13:13.409 --> 00:13:16.889 unlocks playfulness. That playfulness unlocks 00:13:16.889 --> 00:13:19.970 even more playfulness, right? It's the rising 00:13:19.970 --> 00:13:22.450 tide raises all boats metaphor, but in this case, 00:13:22.450 --> 00:13:25.750 it's true. So I'm encouraging you to think about 00:13:25.750 --> 00:13:27.809 vulnerability. How can you be more vulnerable 00:13:27.809 --> 00:13:30.929 in scenes and open up the possibilities for you? 00:13:31.009 --> 00:13:33.450 Okay, that's the time I have today. Thank you 00:13:33.450 --> 00:13:35.750 very much for tuning in. My name is Ralph, so 00:13:35.750 --> 00:13:39.230 cap .ca. Give me a shout. Maybe you think this 00:13:39.230 --> 00:13:43.669 was all nonsense and horse hooey. Let me know 00:13:43.669 --> 00:13:46.690 and then tell me why and I'll learn something. 00:13:46.889 --> 00:13:48.809 All right, thank you all. Have a great day and 00:13:48.809 --> 00:13:49.970 we'll see you next time. Ciao.