Transcriber: Mel Simmons Reviewer: Peter van de Ven
Hello, hi, wow.
Very attractive audience.
(Laughter)
So, if you can't tell by the way I'm dressed, I am an improviser,
and improvisation is what I do --
let me go back here, there we are --
and improvisation is what I do and what I teach.
I'm sure we all know what improvisation is, right?
I'm assuming. Give me some nods here.
I like this interaction, yeah, give me some nods.
So, improvisation: we're making things with what is at hand.
We're creating something out of nothing,
we're making it up.
But still, when we hear the word improvisation,
we all think of something.
Who here thinks of improv comedy, when they hear improvisation?
Who here thinks of jazz music?
Anybody? Yeah, there you are, sexy.
Who here thinks of freestyle rapping or hip-hop?
Anyone? There we go, we got some hands.
Who thinks of McGyver?
(Laughter)
There it is, right?
Mac.
Dude would improvise the most amazing things.
And all of you, are right.
Improvisation is all of those things,
but what I love about it
is that it's not just one of those things.
Improvisation isn't actually even a thing,
when you think about it.
Improvisation is a process;
it's a way of making a thing.
It's not a product that I can give you or show you,
what I do is I improvise theater,
or hip-hop, or explosive devices.
(Laughter)
What I'm going to talk about today,
I'm going to talk to you about what I call
"The way of improvisation."
The way...
When I teach improv, the majority of students I have,
whether they're students or adults,
none of them actually want to be professional improvisers.
None of them.
They just want to improve their lives.
And, what I've found is that the skills that I use and teach in improvisation
are the skills I use when I live my life.
Because life, believe it or not,
is improvised.
(Laughter)
I'm going to take you through seven skills and seven steps of improvising
that I teach to people,
and we're going to translate those into our real lives.
You with me?
Give me some nods, I like the nods.
Yeah, good, awesome.
The first of these skills,
the first thing I have to teach, especially with adults,
is "Play."
Very simple, we all knew how to do this when we were children,
but as we grow up, we slowly start losing our sense of play, right?
And what play is,
is that idea of engaging in something just because you like it.
Like, "Oh, this is fun."
And we lose that as we get older.
And play happens here,
in this moment, in my body.
What play becomes as we get older,
as we take it more seriously it becomes the opposite of play,
which is work, which everybody hates.
(Laughter)
Because work is serious, and we start thinking about it,
and we get worried about it, and we're stuck in our heads,
and we aren't just playing and being present in the moment.
And this, right here, is where life happens.
Where everything happens, in the moment,
so let's get there, instead of here.
The second step:
"Let yourself fail."
We already heard a very handsome doctor talk a lot about failure,
so I'll try not to spend too much time on it here.
(Laughter)
-- such a handsome doctor --
(Laughter)
But notice that it says "Let yourself fail."
It's not just "Fail".
Because failing is easy,
we can all do it.
The hard part is to be okay with that and to "Let yourself fail,"
and accept that failure is a natural way of things --
the doctor said it so much more intelligently
but I'm an improviser, we're pretty much the same --
(Laughter)
And it's this fear,
the fear of failure is what does it, right?
Because when you start fearing failure, you start getting worried about it,
it gets you right back up here in your head again
and you worry and you think about all the failing you're going to do,
and then you probably will fail.
Improvisers understand that if you fail --
Failing does not make you a failure.
That's a big difference there.
That you failed doesn't mean you're a failure, it means,
"Oh, I failed, I screwed up, well I'm an improviser so...
...I'll just start again."
And that's it, that's the worst thing that happens.
The next step is "Listening."
You've all probably heard that phrase
about how we have two ears, and two eyes, and one mouth,
so we should listen and watch twice as much as we speak.
Right? You know that?
Not true.
Most people listen just enough
to be able to respond.
But we don't listen with every part of our being to what they're saying.
A very wise man once told me, that listening ...
(Laughter)
that "Listening is the willingness to change."
If I'm not willing to change based on what you're telling me,
I'm not really listening, I've already made up my mind,
decided how I feel and what I think,
and I will just let you talk at me, and then I will respond.
But improvisers listen with every part of their being
because we're present in that moment.
I'm there with you as you're speaking to me.
I'm willing, I don't have to change, but I'm willing to change.
Improv is a collaborative art form,
and collaboration means taking yourself out of the equation.
Getting that ego,
about what you believe and what you think, out of the way,
so that instead of it being your idea and my idea,
it becomes the first idea,
and the second idea,
and the third idea.
We're just going to listen and react and change.
The next step
is probably the most agreed upon rule of all of improvisation,
across all schools of thought,
is to "Say yes."
So, we'll do a fun little demonstration
because that's way more fun than me talking about it.
I need you to say: "Yes" for me,
on the count of three: one, two, three...
(Audience) Yes.
Good, with feeling: one, two, three...
(Audience) Yes!
So now, I'm going to ask you some questions,
and I want you to just say "yes" to those questions,
and we'll see what happens, okay?
Let's just go with me here, trust me, trust me.
(Laughter)
Do you want to tell a story with me?
(Audience) Yes.
Is this story about a knight?
(Audience) Yes.
Is this knight wearing shining armor?
(Audience) Yes.
Is he going to save a damsel?
(Audience) Yes.
Is she being held by a dragon?
(Audience) Yes.
Is it breathing fire?
(Audience) Yes.
Does he save her with courage?
(Audience) Yes.
Do they live happily ever after?
(Audience) Yes.
Isn't that great? Nice work, that was really good.
(Applause) We did that!
We just did that!
Alright, let's do it again, and this time I want you to say "No."
Everybody just say, "No" to what I'm about to say.
You ready?
(Audience) No.
Yeah, good. Thank you.
(Laughter)
Do you want to tell a story with me?
(Audience) No.
(Laughter)
I'll just go, alright.
(Laughter)
Now, that incredibly elaborate demonstration we just did
proves one simple point about improvisation;
is that a series of yeses will take us somewhere.
A series of noes doesn't even get started,
doesn't go anywhere.
We all just sit there going "no, no, no."
And the saddest part is that you can have ten thousand yeses in a row,
and it just takes one no
to stop it all
and ruin it.
So "Say yes."
The next step is sort of in conjunction with this one,
and that is to "Say and."
Yes-men are great, we've probably all met them,
and they make you feel good about what you're doing.
All of you let me tell a story by saying "Yes."
Thank you for that.
But And-men are the people we really want to work with.
The people that say "Yes" to our idea,
"and" give us something else.
And then what happens is you bring a brick,
and I bring a brick,
then someone else brings a brick,
and we pile them on top of each other
until we've built something that none of us could've built on our own.
And that's what saying "And" is all about.
"Yes, and", not "Yes, but".
Because "but" is a contradiction,
whereas "and" is some sort of connection.
So say "Yes, and", and you're on your way
to working with people and creating something.
This step's a little weird.
Just read that for a second, think about it:
"Play the Game."
You're like, "Yeah Dave, maybe in improv but not in life, okay? Get over it."
(Laughter)
Let me define what I mean by "Game" here.
What I mean by "Game" is anything that has rules to it,
I consider a game.
So Monopoly? That's a game.
Filling out a job application?
To me? That's a game.
There are rules that I am following,
and what rules do
is they free us up to improvise.
By giving ourselves these constrictions,
restr...con...cons... you know what I'm saying
(Laughter)
that guide our impulses,
it funnels our creative process into some kind of product.
The process of improvisation and those rules
help us create something.
Like for instance, this presentation I'm doing right now.
I've got these slides that I have to use,
so that's one rule;
I've got these slides in order.
I have to do something called "The Way of Improvisation",
because that's what I told you I would do.
You've read my description, so I have to follow those rules,
and I have to speak to you.
Those are the rules I'm following,
and within that, I'm free to improvise.
And it's great, I tell you, man.
It feels good up here. You guys look so good.
(Laughter)
Just made that up.
(Laughter)
So, "Play the Game."
That's what lets us improvise.
And the last rule --
sounds kind of ridiculous that I actually have to make this a rule,
but I do, because otherwise people don't do it --
and that is to "Relax and have fun."
You'd be surprised how many times I tell someone
"Just get up there and play and fail...
...and dude just screw it up,"
and they go...(Inhales)... and they tense up,
and "I have to do this right."
"I have to fail right. Dave's watching me."
(Laughter)
And I'm like, okay, just relax man, it's cool.
But relaxing and having fun, if we're doing that,
if we wake up every morning, and we just take a deep breath (Inhales)
and say, "Life, there's these rules in life that I'm going to follow.
I have to work, I have to tell my girlfriend that I love her.
I'm going to follow these rules, but I'm going to be relaxed about it."
It's a rule, trust me.
(Laughter)
"I'm going to relax, and I'm going to follow these rules,
and I'm going to end up..."
If you're doing that, you're going to end up playing.
And you're going to end up letting yourself fail,
and you'll end up listening to people better
because you're relaxed.
You will end up saying "yes,"
you will end up saying "and" to things,
and you're going to end up playing these fun games
and having a much more enjoyable life.
Just by relaxing into it,
and just playing,
and having fun.
So, thank you very much everyone.
I'm Dave Morris, and that is "The Way of Improvisation."
(Applause)