I’m learning improv comedy! (Hilarious, eh). And the way this group–The Improv Conspiracy Theatre – Melbourne—teaches this skill is very tactical.
One of the tactics we learned in my first lesson last Tuesday is ‘don’t try to be funny’.
Whaaaa? you may exclaim. Not funny!
But let me define the word ‘tactical’ first. A tactical strategy is ‘of or relating to small-scale actions serving a larger purpose.’*
The tactic of not being funny helps novices realise how much potential for comedy is in everyday conversations.
I see a lot of parallels between my program—Brain to Book in 90 Days—and learning to improvise comedy in 8 weeks.
The BIG parallel is this: both are ‘stupidly’ ambitious goals.
I teach tactics too, and I want to share one of my biggest ones:
Do NOT make your first draft BRILLIANT.
Make your first draft HAPPEN.
Brilliance is absolutely the goal for your book, but if you focus on brilliance in the first draft, it’s just too scary to get started.
Brilliance comes when we write. Writing comes when we start.
PS: I hope you will come and see me when I stand on stage in eight weeks and do my improv. EEK
*Merriam Webster