Duh!

Daniel Pavatich just returned to us after a month in Chicago, studying improv at the world-famous iO Theatre. Over the coming days we'll be posting some of Dan's reactions and revelations from his time overseas!

Something you'll read a lot in any Chicagoland Improv Book is this quote from Del Close, it goes: 

“If we treat each other as if we are geniuses, poets and artists, we have a better chance of becoming that on stage."

It sounded stupid once. Now it's obvious. Now it's too obvious. It's annoyingly obvious. I need to "yes, and" the reality of the scene, and stuff... but you know that. Of course you do. 

You know that you need to "yes, and" being on stage with your team and scene partner - which means taking joy in your time on-stage (which includes you guys and gals in the wings). 

You know you  need to "yes, and" your partner's intelligence - which includes honouring that initiation, or response, you wouldn't otherwise be inspired by and elevating it above its text.

And finally, you know you need to "yes, and" yourself - which means trusting that you have the voice of a poetic-artistic-genius. Because we want to see you on stage, we want to hear your voice on stage. We want to know what makes you tick. 

At a time I thought that quote from Del was too altruistic to be relevant. Eloquent, romantic even, but redundant... 

But what's the alternative? A scary thought, right? I know what I want to be! And I know why I've fallen in love with improv. I'm in love because every couple of weeks, I get to go up on stage with a bunch of geniuses, and along with whoever is in the audience that night, we make art. We make art that will never be seen again. But if we've done it right, those of us who were there will still be living it on the ride home; and maybe even laugh to ourselves the next day.