My first improv class

The group seemed nice, and really warmed up as the evening progressed. I got triggered in a way I haven’t in a long time, as I think one of the group was really only able to make jokes that were offensive, possibly because it was the easiest way to get a laugh and she was nervous.

Thinking about it, one of the things that was interesting yesterday was getting a sense of others’ perspectives. We did a couple of exercises that the group leader asked us about later, to find out which bits we found easiest or hardest, and it was interesting to see how the group differed.

There were the inevitable physical activities that I was an embarrassment at, but I managed not to want to crawl up into a ball or run away. As things progressed, we got to do some actual improv - working on yes-anding our partner, then talking as a two-headed beast, alternating words, and then pairing up with another two-headed beast to have a conversation between the four of us - and finally we got to go on stage.

My partner and I were the first to do our bit, having to do a bit of standup as a two-headed person. It was really, really fun, and not as tortuous as I’d thought it might be. It was very short-form but an exercise like that showed me that it’s not all about what you can come up with, but how you work with your partner to serve the scene.

We pretty much all got beers afterwards, and I got chatting to a few, including a mid-western American comedy-magician who was ace, and we chatted Brian Regan, Brian Brushwood and other shared fandoms.

I headed home as the group started to disperse and was so exhausted I ended up buying a bad-decision pizza (a few slices of which are still in the freezer).