WEBVTT
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.770
Your natural brilliance is going to come through.
00:00:01.850 --> 00:00:06.709
Your natural hilariousness is going to come through, but you never ever have to try.
00:00:07.217 --> 00:00:08.717
Hello and welcome.
00:00:08.778 --> 00:00:11.507
You're listening to the multitudes podcast.
00:00:11.778 --> 00:00:13.907
And I'm your host, Nicole Carter.
00:00:14.298 --> 00:00:17.838
And that was a new tree, broad, who is my guest today.
00:00:18.178 --> 00:00:20.097
A new does so many things.
00:00:20.187 --> 00:00:25.347
She is an improv coach performance coach, intuitive reader and mentor.
00:00:25.768 --> 00:00:33.204
And in this conversation, we talk about what improvisation is, including the fundamental principles and techniques.
00:00:33.374 --> 00:00:50.639
And we ended up talking about what an improv class could look like and ran through some improv one-on-one exercises also what I love about this conversation is that we talk about why improvisation is more than just acting without a script.
00:00:51.029 --> 00:00:54.749
And how it can be seen through the lens of personal growth.
00:00:54.832 --> 00:00:59.003
And so this isn't just a conversation about improv.
00:00:59.423 --> 00:01:09.923
As we expanded to talking about social anxiety, intuition, finding purpose, and navigating life with simplicity, its spontaneity and playfulness.
00:01:10.492 --> 00:01:16.522
I hope you find some ideas or techniques that could be applicable to your life in this conversation.
00:01:16.942 --> 00:01:21.983
And as always, you can check out multitudes@multitudespodcast.com.
00:01:22.283 --> 00:01:33.248
and please be sure to follow multitudes on instagram at multitudes dot podcast to learn more I'm very excited to be here.
00:01:33.679 --> 00:01:35.278
Yes, me too.
00:01:35.299 --> 00:01:46.159
I am really looking forward to talking about a topic that I think we use every day in our lives, but I haven't really had a lot of exposure to.
00:01:46.448 --> 00:01:48.728
Improv and like improv classes.
00:01:48.739 --> 00:02:00.278
So I'm so excited to chat about improv with you and we'll get right into it because I would love to know if you could tell us what is improv all about.
00:02:00.653 --> 00:02:04.114
Yeah, I mean, it's kind of a multifaceted answer.
00:02:04.134 --> 00:02:09.913
So the basic answer is improvisation is acting without a script.
00:02:11.204 --> 00:02:19.813
It's using our imaginations, creating worlds with our imaginations and other players that we invite the audience into.
00:02:20.378 --> 00:02:29.618
And then it's also this incredible, what I found is it's this incredible practice improvisation is really much more like yoga.
00:02:30.498 --> 00:02:33.399
So it's a practice of.
00:02:33.949 --> 00:02:49.739
In the way I see it and the way I perform it and the way I teach it of being fully present in the moment and learning to get out of our own heads to be in the present moment and to connect with the people that we're playing with.
00:02:50.373 --> 00:03:23.175
So the more you practice improvisation, like you would yoga, you know, weekly classes or whatever, the more you start to embody the tenets of improvisation, the playfulness, the spontaneity, the full range of emotional self expression, getting confidence, finding your voice, So Yeah, the simple answer is it's acting without a script, but it's also all these other layered things as well.
00:03:23.604 --> 00:03:24.044
Hmm.
00:03:24.115 --> 00:03:33.474
I love that I would love to know if there's anything that you think improv is not, or any myths Yeah, I love that question.
00:03:33.485 --> 00:03:34.884
That's a really good question.
00:03:34.935 --> 00:03:38.375
So improv is not stand up comedy.
00:03:40.375 --> 00:03:44.122
That is definitely a myth around improv.
00:03:44.122 --> 00:03:47.292
It's like, Oh, you just, you get up there and you try to be funny, right?
00:03:47.762 --> 00:03:54.051
I should say there's lots of different schools of improv, so it depends on where you're training, who you're training with, etc, etc.
00:03:54.072 --> 00:04:06.551
But the type of improv that I do that I call wild mind improv is really about finding humor in organic, honest moments.
00:04:07.151 --> 00:04:23.841
Through creating characters that are hilarious because they're so relatable, you know, so it's not about just getting up there and panicking, you know, and being anxious on stage and trying to get, you know, say something outrageous so that the audience laughs and you can feel better.
00:04:24.591 --> 00:04:27.372
That would be more beginner style improv.
00:04:27.834 --> 00:04:30.324
I have never been to an improv class.
00:04:30.454 --> 00:04:35.235
So if I were to walk into an improv class, what can I expect?
00:04:35.425 --> 00:04:37.194
lemme get a little more grounded and practical.
00:04:37.194 --> 00:04:56.074
So if you were to come into an improv class first time, I usually in a beginner class, we usually start out with gentle, playful games that get us kind of out of our head and get us starting to be.
00:04:56.564 --> 00:05:02.355
connected with each other and a little bit freer and starting to laugh more and a little bit more relaxed.
00:05:02.795 --> 00:05:05.524
So it starts out with just playing some games.
00:05:05.535 --> 00:05:12.115
So we've got the structure that kind of helps with, you know, I'm not just out there saying, Hey guys, go play, have fun.
00:05:12.115 --> 00:05:21.125
it's like, no, there's structured games, activities, exercises that I'll take you through that will incrementally.
00:05:21.379 --> 00:05:25.939
Build your confidence and you'll start to without even noticing it.
00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:31.170
You'll be like, oh, oh, this is fun Like I had a student recently.
00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:39.990
she said I was I'm definitely expecting when I came in here that I would have to try to have fun.
00:05:40.610 --> 00:05:47.269
She said, but I'm actually just having so much fun and I'm not having to try at all.
00:05:47.290 --> 00:05:50.329
And I'm like, yes, that's what it's about.
00:05:50.350 --> 00:05:54.889
It's like people come in and they're just like, uh, you know, it's, it's.
00:05:54.970 --> 00:05:58.980
It's amazing the bravery because most people are like, well, what am I doing?
00:05:59.610 --> 00:06:04.860
And they're not, their expectations are probably like, Oh God, this is going to be weird.
00:06:04.870 --> 00:06:05.980
It's going to be scarier.
00:06:06.339 --> 00:06:13.399
And generally speaking, even after the first night of like a two hour class, people will walk away really lit up.
00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:19.939
So again, on the practical level, we just play a bunch of games that start getting you feeling comfortable.
00:06:19.939 --> 00:06:21.983
Like, I guess I can give, like, an example.
00:06:22.173 --> 00:06:25.843
So something we talk about in improv is, is the concept of yes and.
00:06:25.862 --> 00:06:28.773
That's kind of the building block of improvisation.
00:06:28.783 --> 00:06:35.853
So the idea is, if I'm in a scene with my scene partner, and my scene partner says, Welcome to Whole Foods.
00:06:36.043 --> 00:06:37.512
I want to say yes.
00:06:39.767 --> 00:06:46.158
Okay, so I don't want the opposite of that would be to denial what we're not in Whole Foods.
00:06:46.247 --> 00:06:50.367
Okay, if I said that in a show, that second person would probably get a laugh.
00:06:50.807 --> 00:06:54.788
And no one in their freaking minds would want to work with them for the rest of their lives.
00:06:54.937 --> 00:06:58.117
They'd be like, this person is not working with us.
00:06:58.298 --> 00:06:59.177
Working with me.
00:06:59.197 --> 00:07:00.327
They're not playing with me.
00:07:00.338 --> 00:07:00.648
Okay.
00:07:00.648 --> 00:07:03.867
So the opposite is you want to accept the offer.
00:07:03.867 --> 00:07:04.117
Okay.
00:07:04.117 --> 00:07:05.997
Now I know I'm in Whole Foods.
00:07:06.048 --> 00:07:06.567
Yes.
00:07:06.617 --> 00:07:10.108
And I need some avocados for a potluck tonight.
00:07:10.108 --> 00:07:11.218
So we're not trying to be funny.
00:07:11.218 --> 00:07:12.408
We're not trying to be interesting.
00:07:12.408 --> 00:07:13.848
We're not trying to be brilliant.
00:07:14.127 --> 00:07:15.468
We're not trying to be creative.
00:07:15.648 --> 00:07:18.798
This is what I tell my students the first night they come to work with me.
00:07:19.387 --> 00:07:20.567
Don't try to be any of that.
00:07:21.387 --> 00:07:22.418
I'm going to teach you things.
00:07:22.418 --> 00:07:23.517
We're going to do some things.
00:07:24.007 --> 00:07:27.697
And in the process, your natural creativity is going to come through.
00:07:28.077 --> 00:07:29.848
Your natural brilliance is going to come through.
00:07:29.927 --> 00:07:34.788
Your natural hilariousness is going to come through, but you never ever have to try.
00:07:34.838 --> 00:07:36.418
We want to really focus on simplicity.
00:07:36.447 --> 00:07:37.947
So anyway, and exercises.
00:07:37.958 --> 00:07:38.257
Yes.
00:07:38.267 --> 00:07:47.617
And so we'll work on, I'll have people usually on the first night break off into pairs, you know, at some point, not right away and just practice.
00:07:48.603 --> 00:07:51.942
Yes, and then each other for about five or six minutes.
00:07:52.242 --> 00:07:55.833
So you know, they might start out some, I just say, just start with a simple sentence.
00:07:55.833 --> 00:08:00.593
Like I'm seeing my cat here, I would say like, my cat is sleeping next to me.
00:08:00.603 --> 00:08:01.502
It could be something like that.
00:08:02.033 --> 00:08:04.283
And the person would be like, Oh, do you want to do it with me?
00:08:04.362 --> 00:08:05.463
We could do like a sample.
00:08:06.112 --> 00:08:07.543
Sure, yeah, let's do it.
00:08:07.862 --> 00:08:13.882
the focus here is learning to listen, because you have to listen when you're yes anding, and to build.
00:08:14.483 --> 00:08:17.442
And so we're just going to create something out of nothing with each other.
00:08:17.502 --> 00:08:19.423
And we, one of the rules is no questions.
00:08:19.432 --> 00:08:27.983
So instead of asking a question, which is the thing we do when we're timid, try to, if you do notice yourself asking a question, turn it into like giving information instead.
00:08:28.483 --> 00:08:28.862
Okay.
00:08:28.892 --> 00:08:29.512
I'll start.
00:08:29.642 --> 00:08:32.253
It's really hot here in North Carolina.
00:08:32.923 --> 00:08:33.462
Yes.
00:08:33.711 --> 00:08:36.991
And, so do I start with yes and, or do I?
00:08:36.991 --> 00:08:37.211
Yeah, yeah.
00:08:37.282 --> 00:08:37.851
Oh, sorry.
00:08:37.881 --> 00:08:38.701
I didn't make that clear.
00:08:38.751 --> 00:08:40.792
Why don't you start with a sentence, and I'll yes and you.
00:08:40.892 --> 00:08:41.361
Okay.
00:08:41.517 --> 00:08:44.787
It's really hot here in New York as well.
00:08:45.072 --> 00:08:52.893
Yes, and everybody is sweating so much it's creating pools for people to, um, swim in.
00:08:52.894 --> 00:08:53.173
Pools.
00:08:53.562 --> 00:08:53.991
Have you...
00:08:54.042 --> 00:08:55.871
So then you say, yes, and...
00:08:55.871 --> 00:08:55.961
Okay.
00:08:56.052 --> 00:08:57.672
Oh, then I say yes and, okay.
00:08:57.918 --> 00:08:58.388
Yes.
00:08:58.427 --> 00:09:05.177
And have you heard of the recent pool that opened up in California?
00:09:05.802 --> 00:09:06.562
Yes.
00:09:06.966 --> 00:09:13.697
And they have let wild dolphins swim in that pool.
00:09:14.018 --> 00:09:24.293
Yes, and those dolphins are creating a revolution to overtake the humans Yes.
00:09:24.913 --> 00:09:33.614
And they have come up with a detailed plan to get into the White House.
00:09:34.249 --> 00:09:39.798
Yes, and dolphins are learning how to read and write.
00:09:40.589 --> 00:09:40.849
Okay.
00:09:40.849 --> 00:09:41.298
Well, I'm there.
00:09:41.379 --> 00:09:41.578
Yay.
00:09:41.788 --> 00:09:42.278
Okay.
00:09:42.278 --> 00:09:42.619
Yay.
00:09:42.629 --> 00:09:42.879
Okay.
00:09:43.999 --> 00:09:45.399
Thank you for giving that sample with me, by the way.
00:09:45.828 --> 00:09:46.188
Yeah.
00:09:46.259 --> 00:09:53.938
I know I totally, I totally put you on the spot, but just to like, since you're kind of asking, like, what is it like, like, that's just kind of like a very...
00:09:54.244 --> 00:10:02.004
Practical thing you might do to start to learn how to listen and build with somebody.
00:10:02.244 --> 00:10:03.333
And you did great, by the way.
00:10:03.494 --> 00:10:04.033
That was awesome.
00:10:04.124 --> 00:10:08.693
at first it's like my mind went blank and that was very fun.
00:10:08.793 --> 00:10:09.583
Yeah.
00:10:09.754 --> 00:10:10.014
Okay.
00:10:10.474 --> 00:10:14.114
So can I speak to So first of all.
00:10:14.494 --> 00:10:16.114
I just want to, you know, be clear.
00:10:16.134 --> 00:10:20.994
That was me kind of throwing you in if you were in a class, there would be build up.
00:10:21.004 --> 00:10:22.813
There would be much more explanation.
00:10:22.813 --> 00:10:27.474
There would be warm ups games that we have played to kind of like, you know, get you ready.
00:10:27.524 --> 00:10:29.309
But what you said was very important.
00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:30.100
You said.
00:10:30.192 --> 00:10:32.513
My mind, you said something like my mind kind of blinked.
00:10:32.523 --> 00:10:33.623
I can't remember the exact words.
00:10:34.312 --> 00:10:34.692
Yeah.
00:10:34.962 --> 00:10:35.673
My mind went blank.
00:10:35.673 --> 00:10:35.913
Okay.
00:10:36.243 --> 00:10:37.322
My mind went blank.
00:10:37.812 --> 00:10:40.003
Who has that not happened to, right?
00:10:40.052 --> 00:10:46.783
so the difference between somebody who's learning and a, you know, professional improviser or somebody who's very experienced is.
00:10:47.158 --> 00:10:54.096
We, those of us who, you know, this is our work or whatever, we know how to work with the mind blank.
00:10:54.466 --> 00:10:59.937
So everything comes up for, let's say, the professional improviser, that would come up for anyone else.
00:10:59.937 --> 00:11:04.037
But we've learned how to use it to our benefit.
00:11:04.057 --> 00:11:10.256
So what happens when our mind is blanking, and to be honest, at this point, just because I've been doing it so long, I wouldn't say my mind.
00:11:11.187 --> 00:11:12.386
Blanks very much.
00:11:12.591 --> 00:11:19.260
Our mind oftentimes blanks when we're trying to make something happen.
00:11:19.270 --> 00:11:28.801
So when we're, when we're just keeping things super simple and giving ourselves permission to be completely simple and completely boring.
00:11:29.407 --> 00:11:31.386
Then we're less likely to have the mind blank.
00:11:31.397 --> 00:11:35.876
So what the improv classes are so beautiful because does the mind blank for a lot of people?
00:11:35.876 --> 00:11:36.596
Sure.
00:11:37.096 --> 00:11:38.547
Yeah, totally normal.
00:11:38.557 --> 00:11:44.366
But I love to validate that and normalize it and be like, it's no big deal.
00:11:44.726 --> 00:11:48.677
And what's the, what's a boring teeny tiny thing you could say next.
00:11:48.677 --> 00:11:48.956
Right.
00:11:48.996 --> 00:12:03.376
And that unstucks people a lot of the time when they have that full permission to just like, Not make it interesting, not make it brilliant, just say one little thing that's gonna give their scene partner something to respond to, and then their scene partner says one little thing.
00:12:03.687 --> 00:12:13.706
So, the thing is, improvisation is, is profoundly simple, but it takes, probably a good decade, or maybe more, to master it, right?
00:12:13.787 --> 00:12:15.537
It's because of...
00:12:15.986 --> 00:12:20.886
We've been trained to be adults who are deeply complex.
00:12:20.886 --> 00:12:24.297
We also have traumas, you know, that make us go into a freeze.
00:12:24.297 --> 00:12:27.557
You know, I certainly know about that personally, um, for myself.
00:12:27.557 --> 00:12:30.057
So mind blank is very common.
00:12:30.057 --> 00:12:36.797
And I just want, I would love to leave people with the idea that it's totally fine for your mind to blank.
00:12:37.677 --> 00:12:39.157
And how can we play with that?
00:12:39.167 --> 00:12:41.956
How can we use that as part of the play and part of the energy?
00:12:41.966 --> 00:12:45.317
You know, that's another question to ask when we get deeper into improv.
00:12:45.726 --> 00:12:46.356
Mhm.
00:12:46.386 --> 00:12:46.866
Yeah.
00:12:47.167 --> 00:12:47.866
I love that.
00:12:47.886 --> 00:12:56.756
Also, the idea of trying to make something happen, is relevant to life as well when you're forcing things to happen.
00:12:57.326 --> 00:13:01.777
And it's like the overwhelm of that can make you stuck.
00:13:01.909 --> 00:13:02.759
Yes.
00:13:03.289 --> 00:13:06.230
Improvisation is this beautiful metaphor for life.
00:13:06.269 --> 00:13:07.559
It really, really is.
00:13:07.610 --> 00:13:12.169
And that's why the tools, as I found out, like I was saying earlier, are a practice.
00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:16.679
They are a practice that, you know, it's not like, Oh, I get it.
00:13:16.690 --> 00:13:17.750
My life's so easy now.
00:13:17.750 --> 00:13:26.340
It's not that I don't want to give any false, you know, like, but my improvisational skills deeply help me in my daily life.
00:13:39.596 --> 00:13:43.336
everyone's going to be really anxious at the start and kind of panicky and trying to.
00:13:43.346 --> 00:13:43.366
Yeah.
00:13:43.777 --> 00:13:49.366
Maybe fun for the audience's approval, completely relatable and understandable.
00:13:49.376 --> 00:13:57.376
But with this other style of improv, it's more about creating real relationships with the people that you're playing with.
00:13:57.726 --> 00:14:01.986
When I say real relationships, they're imaginary because everything's pretend on stage.
00:14:02.386 --> 00:14:05.907
But the humor, and it is, it's hilarious.
00:14:05.917 --> 00:14:09.057
The humor comes because it's honest.
00:14:09.336 --> 00:14:14.366
And that honesty resonates to us as human beings.
00:14:14.667 --> 00:14:17.027
And we go, Oh my God, I know that guy.
00:14:17.076 --> 00:14:17.917
I work with that guy.
00:14:17.927 --> 00:14:19.876
Or, Oh my God, I know that person.
00:14:19.886 --> 00:14:20.496
It's me.
00:14:20.716 --> 00:14:22.076
And we can laugh at ourselves.
00:14:22.086 --> 00:14:25.006
it's like, that's the beautiful thing I think about art is.
00:14:25.407 --> 00:14:45.994
It helps us to see things in a new way and improvisation in particular helps us to lighten the F up, and to laugh at ourselves and to play with who we are, to play with other people, to remember and rekindle that childlike part of us that really just like.
00:14:46.394 --> 00:14:50.443
The child like part of me just seriously wants to play, like, all the time.
00:14:50.854 --> 00:14:52.903
And I'm sure I'm not the only one, right?
00:14:53.072 --> 00:14:55.221
It's making me think about, like, the word adulting.
00:14:55.231 --> 00:14:56.501
Like, who wants to adult?
00:14:56.745 --> 00:14:58.495
I know I was this way.
00:14:58.695 --> 00:15:12.235
I don't know how you feel, but like a lot of kids are afraid of growing up because they look around and they're like, dang, there's a lot of pissed off, cranky ass adults out there in the world.
00:15:14.164 --> 00:15:15.465
Yeah, totally lost.
00:15:16.235 --> 00:15:24.825
They're sparkle and their ability to like live in their full body and not just from the head up and I don't think it has to be that way.
00:15:24.995 --> 00:15:26.855
And that's kind of like one of my missions.
00:15:26.855 --> 00:15:30.965
It's like, let me just spread this as far and wide as possible.
00:15:30.965 --> 00:15:34.394
You know, it's just like, let's bring playback.
00:15:34.855 --> 00:15:40.465
let's bring it back onto the planet earth for like people that are over 10 years old.
00:15:40.825 --> 00:15:41.485
Mm hmm.
00:15:41.955 --> 00:15:49.174
Yeah, and being an adult feels very repetitive, like day in and day out, you have more or less the same schedule.
00:15:49.174 --> 00:15:56.225
And I think like play with an unpredictable nature is allowing for that sense of novelty.
00:15:56.740 --> 00:15:57.470
I love that.
00:15:57.470 --> 00:16:03.029
Yeah, I think one of my favorite things about improvisation is the element of surprise.
00:16:03.210 --> 00:16:06.340
which is pretty much what you just said, the unpredictability of it.
00:16:06.649 --> 00:16:31.549
We were talking in class last night about those moments that happen sometimes when you're on stage where something comes out of your mouth and you're literally like, you're surprising yourself, you know, so not only are you, because it's a team sport, quote unquote, and you're playing with other minds that think in different ways than you do, you also so you're always surprised by what's going on out here.
00:16:31.559 --> 00:16:32.750
And that's delightful.
00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:35.559
It's the opposite of redundant and repetitive and boring.
00:16:35.820 --> 00:16:40.710
It's also sometimes so in it that something will fly out of your mouth.
00:16:41.070 --> 00:16:41.919
That's like, yeah.
00:16:42.274 --> 00:16:50.955
Incredibly surprising and how delightful to be surprised by the person we live with day in and day out that happens to be us, right?
00:16:51.455 --> 00:16:53.375
Yeah, that element of surprise.
00:16:53.735 --> 00:17:07.364
It's like it can come from yourself and I love that, People might.
00:17:07.615 --> 00:17:11.296
Like see me or hear me talking and go, Oh, well, that's easy for her.
00:17:11.296 --> 00:17:23.489
You know, she's probably always been this way or people sometimes think I'm like this confident person and I'm deeply riddled with, with a lot of deep problems and insecurities and fears and anxieties.
00:17:23.528 --> 00:17:36.163
And I was so profoundly shut down in my life, Like So I guess I want to mention that in case someone's listening and is thinking, well, that's great, but I'm just not that way.
00:17:36.173 --> 00:17:38.993
Like, I'm not, oh gosh, I hear this all the time.
00:17:39.374 --> 00:17:41.304
I'm not, I'm not quick enough.
00:17:41.364 --> 00:17:42.463
I'm not funny enough.
00:17:42.463 --> 00:17:48.743
Or someone might be thinking while we're talking right now, like, but I'm just not a playful person or I'm not whatever.
00:17:48.753 --> 00:17:50.104
Fill in the I'm nots.
00:17:50.114 --> 00:17:52.874
You know, we can spend a couple hours filling in the I'm nots.
00:17:52.884 --> 00:17:53.403
Right.
00:17:53.499 --> 00:17:56.088
But I had extreme social anxiety.
00:17:56.138 --> 00:17:56.868
I couldn't.
00:17:57.213 --> 00:18:04.163
Go to the post office and buy a book of stamps without my face turning bright red and going into a panic.
00:18:04.173 --> 00:18:08.324
I couldn't sit down and have a cup of coffee and have a conversation with someone.
00:18:08.538 --> 00:18:12.028
So I come from a background of being deeply.
00:18:12.395 --> 00:18:15.435
repressed and shut down.
00:18:15.875 --> 00:18:19.226
And I say that as like, you know, one of those things you hear all the time.
00:18:19.236 --> 00:18:23.476
If I can connect with that part of me, then I think we all have it.
00:18:23.796 --> 00:18:25.346
Every single person has it.
00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:39.220
You have gone through a transformation and people may be seeing like, wow, you must have been this and that, but actually like you're relatable and have gone through many of the difficulties that people go through.
00:18:39.220 --> 00:18:40.740
So thanks for sharing that.
00:18:40.904 --> 00:18:43.085
I would love to know how you.
00:18:43.167 --> 00:18:45.849
Got into improv, Yeah, absolutely.
00:18:45.849 --> 00:18:48.930
It's it is related to actually exactly what we're talking about.
00:18:48.940 --> 00:18:55.720
So when I was in college, I was living in Northern California, and that was the time period in my early 20s.
00:18:56.039 --> 00:19:03.910
Even like late teens and stuff when my social anxiety, we didn't even have the term social anxiety back then.
00:19:03.980 --> 00:19:06.160
and we didn't, people didn't talk about it.
00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:11.980
I remember the first time I heard the term social phobia maybe around then but like so much stigma and all that kind of stuff.
00:19:12.230 --> 00:19:18.420
So I was really at that time in my life living in this prison of.
00:19:18.694 --> 00:19:19.085
Fear.
00:19:19.444 --> 00:19:31.134
And I think that along with many other things that I probably won't go into right at the moment catapulted me on a kind of deep and profound spiritual journey.
00:19:31.404 --> 00:19:36.744
So at the time I started reading a lot of like self improvement books and I read a book by a woman.
00:19:36.845 --> 00:19:38.825
I don't know if you've heard of her at this point.
00:19:38.825 --> 00:19:39.480
It's very like.
00:19:39.609 --> 00:19:41.539
old school, named Shakti Gawain.
00:19:41.539 --> 00:19:43.799
She wrote a book called Creative Visualization.
00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:46.869
That's probably what she's most famous for, but she wrote a lot of other books.
00:19:46.869 --> 00:19:50.920
And I was reading one of her books and she really resonated for me.
00:19:50.930 --> 00:19:53.950
And she talked a lot about following your intuition.
00:19:54.470 --> 00:19:56.869
And I was like, it hits something deep inside.
00:19:57.950 --> 00:20:07.005
And I was like, okay, my intuition knows I don't know that I was thinking this clearly at this time, but I'm kind of like putting my thoughts now back then.
00:20:07.005 --> 00:20:11.634
Like my intuition knows the answers to the questions I have.
00:20:11.644 --> 00:20:16.855
My intuition knows how to help me solve the problems that like I'm going through.
00:20:16.855 --> 00:20:20.335
Like my intuition, I want to know what this intuition is.
00:20:20.734 --> 00:20:26.724
So I started making it a practice in my life to learn, to get to know this intuition.
00:20:26.724 --> 00:20:40.450
And so what that looked like for me was, if I was biking to school and something kind of felt like instead of going my normal route, something kind of felt like, turn right here, I'd be like, okay, I'm going to turn right here.
00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:44.730
Or if something told me go in a different direction, I'd go in a different direction.
00:20:44.730 --> 00:20:49.400
So really just listening to those little nudges and practicing that.
00:20:49.559 --> 00:21:01.273
And although I probably didn't realize it at the time, but I was learning at that time to speak with my spirit guides and my angels, which I now actually do as a side business too.
00:21:01.273 --> 00:21:04.784
I give readings and that's my other passion, but.
00:21:05.163 --> 00:21:14.670
What I was being told by what I would call at that time my intuition, which I would say is the same thing as our, our team of angels or guides or whatever, over and over again.
00:21:14.690 --> 00:21:22.359
And by the way, that's a way you can know your intuition is it will say the same damn thing over and over.
00:21:22.460 --> 00:21:23.230
It is patient.
00:21:23.299 --> 00:21:27.549
It's like, I'm just going to say the same sentence over and over.
00:21:27.930 --> 00:21:30.547
So what I kept hearing was take an acting class.
00:21:30.634 --> 00:21:31.223
I was like, I'm sorry.
00:21:31.223 --> 00:21:31.544
What?
00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:32.410
Like, what?
00:21:32.574 --> 00:21:32.993
No.
00:21:32.993 --> 00:22:03.153
can you imagine a person who's too scared to order a bagel at a bagel shop getting up in front of a class of people and having them look at me and yeah, it sounded like a nightmare, but I was also equally intrigued and equally Desolate and despairing and like I said living in this prison that I didn't honestly think because I can remember how I was thinking back then I didn't think I thought this was my life that I would just this was how I was wired.
00:22:03.163 --> 00:22:03.993
And this is who I was.
00:22:05.233 --> 00:22:09.703
So I signed up for a class in northern California.
00:22:09.753 --> 00:22:12.634
Um, the guy talked a lot and I was just kind of bored.
00:22:12.634 --> 00:22:13.503
So I dropped the class.
00:22:13.544 --> 00:22:14.453
Maybe I wasn't ready.
00:22:14.558 --> 00:22:16.409
Signed up for another class in the college.
00:22:16.409 --> 00:22:18.019
I was going to in Northern California.
00:22:18.078 --> 00:22:18.919
It was like an 8 a.
00:22:18.919 --> 00:22:20.239
m Class too early for me.
00:22:20.239 --> 00:22:20.888
I dropped the class.
00:22:21.144 --> 00:22:27.285
So it wasn't until a few years later Hey at this point, I kind of forget exactly how old I was.
00:22:27.335 --> 00:22:35.788
I think I was about 26 but I spontaneously moved from California to North Carolina on an intuition.
00:22:35.847 --> 00:22:42.557
And I was perusing, you know, I had a little money that I had gotten for my birthday, which is August 31st.
00:22:42.557 --> 00:22:45.298
It was like fall classes at the local art center.
00:22:45.298 --> 00:22:46.048
And I saw.
00:22:46.185 --> 00:22:52.465
My other opportunity to take an acting class, you know, still wanted to follow that voice and just signed up for it.
00:22:52.465 --> 00:22:54.895
It was called something called improv.
00:22:55.036 --> 00:22:58.286
And again, this is 1996, 1998.
00:22:59.496 --> 00:22:59.905
Yeah.
00:22:59.955 --> 00:23:01.895
And improv has.
00:23:02.155 --> 00:23:11.875
Verifiably exploded, you know, since then, but at that time, I didn't really know what it was, but I had an inkling it was something to do with acting.
00:23:11.950 --> 00:23:16.349
So I had gotten like my social anxiety was like lessening a little bit at that point.
00:23:16.349 --> 00:23:22.030
I'm still pretty big, but not extreme like it was Few years prior and I just kind of was like, okay, let's do it.
00:23:22.040 --> 00:23:39.895
And I walked into those doors and Never looked back like my, my life completely changed listening to that voice that was so patient with me and as patient with all of us that said, take an acting class, take an acting class.
00:23:40.395 --> 00:23:42.736
Hey, do you remember take an acting class?
00:23:43.340 --> 00:23:59.810
You know, it's just like, I'm just gonna keep, I'm just gonna keep whispering in that still small voice, as they say, and boy, wow, how loved was I, how known and understood was I by whosoever voice that was.
00:24:00.395 --> 00:24:06.885
Because it was really the last thing that made any logical sense for somebody like me.
00:24:06.885 --> 00:24:08.195
I was so shut down.
00:24:08.215 --> 00:24:09.645
I was so scared.
00:24:20.692 --> 00:24:27.762
I really appreciate you talking through like, I can't order a bagel without having social anxiety.
00:24:27.762 --> 00:24:29.403
And now I'm in an acting class.
00:24:29.442 --> 00:24:35.231
And also that you took an acting class after like the first and second time didn't work out.
00:24:35.261 --> 00:24:38.362
I'm curious about like what was going through your mind.
00:24:38.362 --> 00:24:42.801
Like, how did you decide to keep trying acting and then eventually improv?
00:24:43.942 --> 00:24:46.372
You know, that's, that's a really interesting question.
00:24:46.412 --> 00:24:49.201
Thank you for helping me kind of put the pieces of my life together.
00:24:49.201 --> 00:24:51.211
It's, it's really interesting to think it through.
00:24:51.421 --> 00:24:55.000
I don't think there was a lot of like conscious thought around it.
00:24:55.000 --> 00:25:00.320
I think it was just in the background that I knew that this was something that I was.
00:25:01.036 --> 00:25:03.576
Let's say at this point I would say supposed to do.
00:25:03.596 --> 00:25:24.519
I don't know that I would use those terms at that point So I don't there wasn't a lot of thought It was just probably that I knew that that was something I was supposed to do But I wasn't probably ready again in hindsight I can see that and it's funny that the one class I walked into when I finally was quote unquote ready now That doesn't mean I wasn't terrified it's not like it was this magic pill.
00:25:24.528 --> 00:25:31.605
Like I walked in the doors and suddenly everything changed, you know, it was like a total initiation.
00:25:31.665 --> 00:25:32.846
It was a total process.
00:25:32.846 --> 00:25:36.246
It was challenging, but the important thing, and I will get back to your question.
00:25:36.576 --> 00:25:40.506
The important thing was, I think the love of it was.
00:25:40.816 --> 00:25:51.316
so deep and so profound that no matter what challenges came to me when I did actually start my improv journey, I couldn't turn away from it.
00:25:51.375 --> 00:25:53.159
It was just, what I would imagine.
00:25:53.929 --> 00:26:03.929
I've never been married, but what I would imagine a lot of people would say about like when they meet the love of their life and they're like, it was so hard and we had all these difficulties, but I just, I couldn't look away.
00:26:04.229 --> 00:26:05.219
I couldn't turn away.
00:26:05.219 --> 00:26:05.838
It's like that.
00:26:06.328 --> 00:26:27.659
Deep sense of personal destiny, and I've never really put it in those terms before, but whether that's with a person that we're meant to be in relationship with or a life purpose or a pet, it's just, there's something that happens when destiny calls us and it's just very hard to turn away from that.
00:26:27.902 --> 00:26:33.892
If you could share a little bit about what that felt like and if you've like doubted that.
00:26:34.311 --> 00:26:35.541
throughout the year.
00:26:35.602 --> 00:26:40.261
So like how you've dealt with any sort of like lows and highs of that.
00:26:40.672 --> 00:26:41.281
Mm hmm.
00:26:41.791 --> 00:26:42.182
Okay.
00:26:42.192 --> 00:26:43.942
So let's start with what does that feel like?
00:26:43.942 --> 00:27:04.555
And I'm really glad you're asking that because again, this is me talking in hindsight where things are much You can see the, the kind of like little, it's like coming to me in my mind of like lightning bugs of light, you know, lighting up your path and you can see how things connect so much better in hindsight, right?
00:27:04.855 --> 00:27:10.734
So if you had asked me at age 25 or 26 or whatever, Oh, you know, you just took an improv class.
00:27:10.744 --> 00:27:12.704
Is this what your, is this your destiny?
00:27:12.704 --> 00:27:13.365
Is it calling to you?
00:27:13.555 --> 00:27:14.295
I'd be like, I'm sorry, what?
00:27:14.934 --> 00:27:19.970
Like, no, don't at all be discouraged if you haven't had that feeling.
00:27:20.704 --> 00:27:22.125
And you don't know what it feels like.
00:27:22.164 --> 00:27:28.515
I want to simplify this because this is actually part of what I do in my spiritual work and another one of my passions.
00:27:28.515 --> 00:27:51.590
And the way to find, in my opinion, your destiny and, you know, your various callings or the right things for you is to listen to What lights you up, listen to the things in your life that give you, maybe it's just a teeny tiny spike of energy or, you know, you might, I've struggled a lot with a lot of depression, despair.
00:27:51.891 --> 00:27:54.980
So there are times in my life where it's like, not a lot is lighting me up.
00:27:54.990 --> 00:27:59.141
But even in those times, there are things that light me up more than other things.
00:27:59.181 --> 00:28:17.465
So it's like a journey of getting to know ourselves, paying attention to who we are and what brings us either a feeling of expansion, a feeling of yes, a feeling of, um, spark or light or energy.
00:28:18.233 --> 00:28:21.213
Yeah, and I think we all experience it in different ways.
00:28:22.104 --> 00:28:26.193
I'm pretty kinesthetic, so I tend to feel it in my body.
00:28:26.270 --> 00:28:32.221
I don't know, do you have, do you have that in your life and how does it manifest for you?
00:28:32.693 --> 00:28:39.653
I feel like it comes in seasons and I feel like it has helped me.
00:28:39.691 --> 00:28:45.971
provide very clear direction of like, I know exactly what I want in the next step.
00:28:46.080 --> 00:28:55.087
It doesn't for me feel like it translates to like the entirety of my life It very much feels like I am in the season of.
00:28:55.087 --> 00:28:59.238
Doing this podcast or going to school for this thing.
00:28:59.545 --> 00:29:03.815
it makes me feel like, okay, right now, this is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing.
00:29:04.154 --> 00:29:09.828
And that's going to be different a year from now, two years from now, three years from now, 10 years from now.
00:29:09.848 --> 00:29:17.349
So I struggle with the idea of like how that is sustained throughout your whole life.
00:29:17.500 --> 00:29:21.680
At the same time, I'm kind of like, okay, the common denominator is me.
00:29:21.730 --> 00:29:28.839
So I'm like, maybe just like I'm the purpose of like, just doing what I'm doing in this moment right now.
00:29:28.902 --> 00:29:37.348
and thinking through the idea of like, Trying not to become so focused also on finding my purpose, Yeah.
00:29:37.348 --> 00:29:44.098
I mean, I, I hope I didn't give the impression that I think that there's one thing for each of us to do that.
00:29:44.148 --> 00:29:44.449
Yeah.
00:29:44.449 --> 00:29:45.199
That is our.
00:29:45.413 --> 00:29:46.304
Purpose.
00:29:46.304 --> 00:29:47.534
You know, with a big P.
00:29:47.574 --> 00:29:52.564
I think you're, you're right on at least the way I experienced it as well.
00:29:52.564 --> 00:29:58.463
And the way I would teach people about these sort of things when I do my more of my spiritual stuff.
00:29:58.534 --> 00:30:01.773
I want to write a book and I want the book to be called Think small.
00:30:02.193 --> 00:30:04.574
Um, because I think we really, isn't it great?
00:30:04.824 --> 00:30:15.094
I think we really, there's probably a book like that out there already, but anyway, but I think we really do ourselves a disservice and get really muddled up in our head and improvisation is all about getting ourselves out of our head.
00:30:15.548 --> 00:30:16.848
by thinking big.
00:30:16.989 --> 00:30:18.679
I mean, sure, we want to think big.
00:30:18.679 --> 00:30:19.598
We want to be expansive.
00:30:19.598 --> 00:30:21.138
We want to live our best life, all that stuff.
00:30:21.148 --> 00:30:27.939
But it's just like, always when I'm teaching people about intuition and so much of intuition dovetails with improvisation.
00:30:27.949 --> 00:30:34.538
These are my two passions and they're, they're very connected, but it's always about what's the next moment.
00:30:35.128 --> 00:30:36.558
Like exactly what you said.
00:30:37.773 --> 00:30:59.903
We're not supposed to know as human beings, in my opinion, like, that we're not supposed to have the whole picture, you know, that would be kind of boring, we want, we're in the movie of our lives and it has to unfold if we knew everything, it, I don't know, it just, That's not, yeah, I feel like I'm stumbling over my words, but I think you get my point.
00:31:00.473 --> 00:31:01.503
Yeah, absolutely.
00:31:01.523 --> 00:31:02.084
I love that.
00:31:02.094 --> 00:31:17.013
In the movie of our lives, I also even wonder, yeah, if we were given a blueprint of everything we were ever supposed to do, like that would lead us to also a different kind of despair of, okay, this is it.
00:31:17.634 --> 00:31:20.884
There's so much hope and optimism and the uncertainty.
00:31:20.923 --> 00:31:23.403
So, yes, yes.
00:31:23.423 --> 00:31:23.903
I love that.
00:31:23.973 --> 00:31:24.804
I love that.
00:31:25.854 --> 00:31:31.463
Thank you so much for listening to part one of my conversation with a Nutri broad.
00:31:31.943 --> 00:31:39.683
And that last thought we left off on reminds me of this quote by choreographer director and dancer, Agnes de Mille.
00:31:39.683 --> 00:31:42.054
Living is a form of not being sure.
00:31:42.294 --> 00:31:48.809
Not knowing what next or how the moment, you know, how you begin to die a little.
00:31:48.809 --> 00:31:51.390
The artist never entirely knows.
00:31:51.390 --> 00:31:52.559
We may be wrong.
00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:55.200
But we take leap after leap in the dark.
00:31:56.278 --> 00:32:03.028
As this was part one, be sure to stay subscribed, to multitudes, to hear part two of our conversation.
00:32:03.479 --> 00:32:12.868
And in part two, we talk about creating safe spaces, improv and relationships, listening, and presence and spiritual authenticity.
00:32:13.378 --> 00:32:16.739
And also be sure to check out a news work on her website.
00:32:16.959 --> 00:32:22.479
And a new is also on Instagram, Tik, TOK, and Facebook at wild mind improv.
00:32:22.778 --> 00:32:25.598
And we will have all of those links in the show notes.
00:32:26.259 --> 00:32:30.098
And if something resonated with you today, I'd love to know.
00:32:30.368 --> 00:32:32.709
You can let me know by leaving a review.
00:32:33.098 --> 00:32:37.179
You can go to multitudes podcast.com and click rate show.
00:32:37.449 --> 00:32:39.578
It's super easy to do from your phone.
00:32:39.878 --> 00:32:44.828
And I read all of your reviews and all of your comments are truly inspiring.
00:32:45.368 --> 00:32:49.239
And as always, thank you so much for listening and I'll see you next time.
00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.770
Your natural brilliance is going to come through.
00:00:01.850 --> 00:00:06.709
Your natural hilariousness is going to come through, but you never ever have to try.
00:00:07.217 --> 00:00:08.717
Hello and welcome.
00:00:08.778 --> 00:00:11.507
You're listening to the multitudes podcast.
00:00:11.778 --> 00:00:13.907
And I'm your host, Nicole Carter.
00:00:14.298 --> 00:00:17.838
And that was a new tree, broad, who is my guest today.
00:00:18.178 --> 00:00:20.097
A new does so many things.
00:00:20.187 --> 00:00:25.347
She is an improv coach performance coach, intuitive reader and mentor.
00:00:25.768 --> 00:00:33.204
And in this conversation, we talk about what improvisation is, including the fundamental principles and techniques.
00:00:33.374 --> 00:00:50.639
And we ended up talking about what an improv class could look like and ran through some improv one-on-one exercises also what I love about this conversation is that we talk about why improvisation is more than just acting without a script.
00:00:51.029 --> 00:00:54.749
And how it can be seen through the lens of personal growth.
00:00:54.832 --> 00:00:59.003
And so this isn't just a conversation about improv.
00:00:59.423 --> 00:01:09.923
As we expanded to talking about social anxiety, intuition, finding purpose, and navigating life with simplicity, its spontaneity and playfulness.
00:01:10.492 --> 00:01:16.522
I hope you find some ideas or techniques that could be applicable to your life in this conversation.
00:01:16.942 --> 00:01:21.983
And as always, you can check out multitudes@multitudespodcast.com.
00:01:22.283 --> 00:01:33.248
and please be sure to follow multitudes on instagram at multitudes dot podcast to learn more I'm very excited to be here.
00:01:33.679 --> 00:01:35.278
Yes, me too.
00:01:35.299 --> 00:01:46.159
I am really looking forward to talking about a topic that I think we use every day in our lives, but I haven't really had a lot of exposure to.
00:01:46.448 --> 00:01:48.728
Improv and like improv classes.
00:01:48.739 --> 00:02:00.278
So I'm so excited to chat about improv with you and we'll get right into it because I would love to know if you could tell us what is improv all about.
00:02:00.653 --> 00:02:04.114
Yeah, I mean, it's kind of a multifaceted answer.
00:02:04.134 --> 00:02:09.913
So the basic answer is improvisation is acting without a script.
00:02:11.204 --> 00:02:19.813
It's using our imaginations, creating worlds with our imaginations and other players that we invite the audience into.
00:02:20.378 --> 00:02:29.618
And then it's also this incredible, what I found is it's this incredible practice improvisation is really much more like yoga.
00:02:30.498 --> 00:02:33.399
So it's a practice of.
00:02:33.949 --> 00:02:49.739
In the way I see it and the way I perform it and the way I teach it of being fully present in the moment and learning to get out of our own heads to be in the present moment and to connect with the people that we're playing with.
00:02:50.373 --> 00:03:23.175
So the more you practice improvisation, like you would yoga, you know, weekly classes or whatever, the more you start to embody the tenets of improvisation, the playfulness, the spontaneity, the full range of emotional self expression, getting confidence, finding your voice, So Yeah, the simple answer is it's acting without a script, but it's also all these other layered things as well.
00:03:23.604 --> 00:03:24.044
Hmm.
00:03:24.115 --> 00:03:33.474
I love that I would love to know if there's anything that you think improv is not, or any myths Yeah, I love that question.
00:03:33.485 --> 00:03:34.884
That's a really good question.
00:03:34.935 --> 00:03:38.375
So improv is not stand up comedy.
00:03:40.375 --> 00:03:44.122
That is definitely a myth around improv.
00:03:44.122 --> 00:03:47.292
It's like, Oh, you just, you get up there and you try to be funny, right?
00:03:47.762 --> 00:03:54.051
I should say there's lots of different schools of improv, so it depends on where you're training, who you're training with, etc, etc.
00:03:54.072 --> 00:04:06.551
But the type of improv that I do that I call wild mind improv is really about finding humor in organic, honest moments.
00:04:07.151 --> 00:04:23.841
Through creating characters that are hilarious because they're so relatable, you know, so it's not about just getting up there and panicking, you know, and being anxious on stage and trying to get, you know, say something outrageous so that the audience laughs and you can feel better.
00:04:24.591 --> 00:04:27.372
That would be more beginner style improv.
00:04:27.834 --> 00:04:30.324
I have never been to an improv class.
00:04:30.454 --> 00:04:35.235
So if I were to walk into an improv class, what can I expect?
00:04:35.425 --> 00:04:37.194
lemme get a little more grounded and practical.
00:04:37.194 --> 00:04:56.074
So if you were to come into an improv class first time, I usually in a beginner class, we usually start out with gentle, playful games that get us kind of out of our head and get us starting to be.
00:04:56.564 --> 00:05:02.355
connected with each other and a little bit freer and starting to laugh more and a little bit more relaxed.
00:05:02.795 --> 00:05:05.524
So it starts out with just playing some games.
00:05:05.535 --> 00:05:12.115
So we've got the structure that kind of helps with, you know, I'm not just out there saying, Hey guys, go play, have fun.
00:05:12.115 --> 00:05:21.125
it's like, no, there's structured games, activities, exercises that I'll take you through that will incrementally.
00:05:21.379 --> 00:05:25.939
Build your confidence and you'll start to without even noticing it.
00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:31.170
You'll be like, oh, oh, this is fun Like I had a student recently.
00:05:31.180 --> 00:05:39.990
she said I was I'm definitely expecting when I came in here that I would have to try to have fun.
00:05:40.610 --> 00:05:47.269
She said, but I'm actually just having so much fun and I'm not having to try at all.
00:05:47.290 --> 00:05:50.329
And I'm like, yes, that's what it's about.
00:05:50.350 --> 00:05:54.889
It's like people come in and they're just like, uh, you know, it's, it's.
00:05:54.970 --> 00:05:58.980
It's amazing the bravery because most people are like, well, what am I doing?
00:05:59.610 --> 00:06:04.860
And they're not, their expectations are probably like, Oh God, this is going to be weird.
00:06:04.870 --> 00:06:05.980
It's going to be scarier.
00:06:06.339 --> 00:06:13.399
And generally speaking, even after the first night of like a two hour class, people will walk away really lit up.
00:06:13.399 --> 00:06:19.939
So again, on the practical level, we just play a bunch of games that start getting you feeling comfortable.
00:06:19.939 --> 00:06:21.983
Like, I guess I can give, like, an example.
00:06:22.173 --> 00:06:25.843
So something we talk about in improv is, is the concept of yes and.
00:06:25.862 --> 00:06:28.773
That's kind of the building block of improvisation.
00:06:28.783 --> 00:06:35.853
So the idea is, if I'm in a scene with my scene partner, and my scene partner says, Welcome to Whole Foods.
00:06:36.043 --> 00:06:37.512
I want to say yes.
00:06:39.767 --> 00:06:46.158
Okay, so I don't want the opposite of that would be to denial what we're not in Whole Foods.
00:06:46.247 --> 00:06:50.367
Okay, if I said that in a show, that second person would probably get a laugh.
00:06:50.807 --> 00:06:54.788
And no one in their freaking minds would want to work with them for the rest of their lives.
00:06:54.937 --> 00:06:58.117
They'd be like, this person is not working with us.
00:06:58.298 --> 00:06:59.177
Working with me.
00:06:59.197 --> 00:07:00.327
They're not playing with me.
00:07:00.338 --> 00:07:00.648
Okay.
00:07:00.648 --> 00:07:03.867
So the opposite is you want to accept the offer.
00:07:03.867 --> 00:07:04.117
Okay.
00:07:04.117 --> 00:07:05.997
Now I know I'm in Whole Foods.
00:07:06.048 --> 00:07:06.567
Yes.
00:07:06.617 --> 00:07:10.108
And I need some avocados for a potluck tonight.
00:07:10.108 --> 00:07:11.218
So we're not trying to be funny.
00:07:11.218 --> 00:07:12.408
We're not trying to be interesting.
00:07:12.408 --> 00:07:13.848
We're not trying to be brilliant.
00:07:14.127 --> 00:07:15.468
We're not trying to be creative.
00:07:15.648 --> 00:07:18.798
This is what I tell my students the first night they come to work with me.
00:07:19.387 --> 00:07:20.567
Don't try to be any of that.
00:07:21.387 --> 00:07:22.418
I'm going to teach you things.
00:07:22.418 --> 00:07:23.517
We're going to do some things.
00:07:24.007 --> 00:07:27.697
And in the process, your natural creativity is going to come through.
00:07:28.077 --> 00:07:29.848
Your natural brilliance is going to come through.
00:07:29.927 --> 00:07:34.788
Your natural hilariousness is going to come through, but you never ever have to try.
00:07:34.838 --> 00:07:36.418
We want to really focus on simplicity.
00:07:36.447 --> 00:07:37.947
So anyway, and exercises.
00:07:37.958 --> 00:07:38.257
Yes.
00:07:38.267 --> 00:07:47.617
And so we'll work on, I'll have people usually on the first night break off into pairs, you know, at some point, not right away and just practice.
00:07:48.603 --> 00:07:51.942
Yes, and then each other for about five or six minutes.
00:07:52.242 --> 00:07:55.833
So you know, they might start out some, I just say, just start with a simple sentence.
00:07:55.833 --> 00:08:00.593
Like I'm seeing my cat here, I would say like, my cat is sleeping next to me.
00:08:00.603 --> 00:08:01.502
It could be something like that.
00:08:02.033 --> 00:08:04.283
And the person would be like, Oh, do you want to do it with me?
00:08:04.362 --> 00:08:05.463
We could do like a sample.
00:08:06.112 --> 00:08:07.543
Sure, yeah, let's do it.
00:08:07.862 --> 00:08:13.882
the focus here is learning to listen, because you have to listen when you're yes anding, and to build.
00:08:14.483 --> 00:08:17.442
And so we're just going to create something out of nothing with each other.
00:08:17.502 --> 00:08:19.423
And we, one of the rules is no questions.
00:08:19.432 --> 00:08:27.983
So instead of asking a question, which is the thing we do when we're timid, try to, if you do notice yourself asking a question, turn it into like giving information instead.
00:08:28.483 --> 00:08:28.862
Okay.
00:08:28.892 --> 00:08:29.512
I'll start.
00:08:29.642 --> 00:08:32.253
It's really hot here in North Carolina.
00:08:32.923 --> 00:08:33.462
Yes.
00:08:33.711 --> 00:08:36.991
And, so do I start with yes and, or do I?
00:08:36.991 --> 00:08:37.211
Yeah, yeah.
00:08:37.282 --> 00:08:37.851
Oh, sorry.
00:08:37.881 --> 00:08:38.701
I didn't make that clear.
00:08:38.751 --> 00:08:40.792
Why don't you start with a sentence, and I'll yes and you.
00:08:40.892 --> 00:08:41.361
Okay.
00:08:41.517 --> 00:08:44.787
It's really hot here in New York as well.
00:08:45.072 --> 00:08:52.893
Yes, and everybody is sweating so much it's creating pools for people to, um, swim in.
00:08:52.894 --> 00:08:53.173
Pools.
00:08:53.562 --> 00:08:53.991
Have you...
00:08:54.042 --> 00:08:55.871
So then you say, yes, and...
00:08:55.871 --> 00:08:55.961
Okay.
00:08:56.052 --> 00:08:57.672
Oh, then I say yes and, okay.
00:08:57.918 --> 00:08:58.388
Yes.
00:08:58.427 --> 00:09:05.177
And have you heard of the recent pool that opened up in California?
00:09:05.802 --> 00:09:06.562
Yes.
00:09:06.966 --> 00:09:13.697
And they have let wild dolphins swim in that pool.
00:09:14.018 --> 00:09:24.293
Yes, and those dolphins are creating a revolution to overtake the humans Yes.
00:09:24.913 --> 00:09:33.614
And they have come up with a detailed plan to get into the White House.
00:09:34.249 --> 00:09:39.798
Yes, and dolphins are learning how to read and write.
00:09:40.589 --> 00:09:40.849
Okay.
00:09:40.849 --> 00:09:41.298
Well, I'm there.
00:09:41.379 --> 00:09:41.578
Yay.
00:09:41.788 --> 00:09:42.278
Okay.
00:09:42.278 --> 00:09:42.619
Yay.
00:09:42.629 --> 00:09:42.879
Okay.
00:09:43.999 --> 00:09:45.399
Thank you for giving that sample with me, by the way.
00:09:45.828 --> 00:09:46.188
Yeah.
00:09:46.259 --> 00:09:53.938
I know I totally, I totally put you on the spot, but just to like, since you're kind of asking, like, what is it like, like, that's just kind of like a very...
00:09:54.244 --> 00:10:02.004
Practical thing you might do to start to learn how to listen and build with somebody.
00:10:02.244 --> 00:10:03.333
And you did great, by the way.
00:10:03.494 --> 00:10:04.033
That was awesome.
00:10:04.124 --> 00:10:08.693
at first it's like my mind went blank and that was very fun.
00:10:08.793 --> 00:10:09.583
Yeah.
00:10:09.754 --> 00:10:10.014
Okay.
00:10:10.474 --> 00:10:14.114
So can I speak to So first of all.
00:10:14.494 --> 00:10:16.114
I just want to, you know, be clear.
00:10:16.134 --> 00:10:20.994
That was me kind of throwing you in if you were in a class, there would be build up.
00:10:21.004 --> 00:10:22.813
There would be much more explanation.
00:10:22.813 --> 00:10:27.474
There would be warm ups games that we have played to kind of like, you know, get you ready.
00:10:27.524 --> 00:10:29.309
But what you said was very important.
00:10:29.440 --> 00:10:30.100
You said.
00:10:30.192 --> 00:10:32.513
My mind, you said something like my mind kind of blinked.
00:10:32.523 --> 00:10:33.623
I can't remember the exact words.
00:10:34.312 --> 00:10:34.692
Yeah.
00:10:34.962 --> 00:10:35.673
My mind went blank.
00:10:35.673 --> 00:10:35.913
Okay.
00:10:36.243 --> 00:10:37.322
My mind went blank.
00:10:37.812 --> 00:10:40.003
Who has that not happened to, right?
00:10:40.052 --> 00:10:46.783
so the difference between somebody who's learning and a, you know, professional improviser or somebody who's very experienced is.
00:10:47.158 --> 00:10:54.096
We, those of us who, you know, this is our work or whatever, we know how to work with the mind blank.
00:10:54.466 --> 00:10:59.937
So everything comes up for, let's say, the professional improviser, that would come up for anyone else.
00:10:59.937 --> 00:11:04.037
But we've learned how to use it to our benefit.
00:11:04.057 --> 00:11:10.256
So what happens when our mind is blanking, and to be honest, at this point, just because I've been doing it so long, I wouldn't say my mind.
00:11:11.187 --> 00:11:12.386
Blanks very much.
00:11:12.591 --> 00:11:19.260
Our mind oftentimes blanks when we're trying to make something happen.
00:11:19.270 --> 00:11:28.801
So when we're, when we're just keeping things super simple and giving ourselves permission to be completely simple and completely boring.
00:11:29.407 --> 00:11:31.386
Then we're less likely to have the mind blank.
00:11:31.397 --> 00:11:35.876
So what the improv classes are so beautiful because does the mind blank for a lot of people?
00:11:35.876 --> 00:11:36.596
Sure.
00:11:37.096 --> 00:11:38.547
Yeah, totally normal.
00:11:38.557 --> 00:11:44.366
But I love to validate that and normalize it and be like, it's no big deal.
00:11:44.726 --> 00:11:48.677
And what's the, what's a boring teeny tiny thing you could say next.
00:11:48.677 --> 00:11:48.956
Right.
00:11:48.996 --> 00:12:03.376
And that unstucks people a lot of the time when they have that full permission to just like, Not make it interesting, not make it brilliant, just say one little thing that's gonna give their scene partner something to respond to, and then their scene partner says one little thing.
00:12:03.687 --> 00:12:13.706
So, the thing is, improvisation is, is profoundly simple, but it takes, probably a good decade, or maybe more, to master it, right?
00:12:13.787 --> 00:12:15.537
It's because of...
00:12:15.986 --> 00:12:20.886
We've been trained to be adults who are deeply complex.
00:12:20.886 --> 00:12:24.297
We also have traumas, you know, that make us go into a freeze.
00:12:24.297 --> 00:12:27.557
You know, I certainly know about that personally, um, for myself.
00:12:27.557 --> 00:12:30.057
So mind blank is very common.
00:12:30.057 --> 00:12:36.797
And I just want, I would love to leave people with the idea that it's totally fine for your mind to blank.
00:12:37.677 --> 00:12:39.157
And how can we play with that?
00:12:39.167 --> 00:12:41.956
How can we use that as part of the play and part of the energy?
00:12:41.966 --> 00:12:45.317
You know, that's another question to ask when we get deeper into improv.
00:12:45.726 --> 00:12:46.356
Mhm.
00:12:46.386 --> 00:12:46.866
Yeah.
00:12:47.167 --> 00:12:47.866
I love that.
00:12:47.886 --> 00:12:56.756
Also, the idea of trying to make something happen, is relevant to life as well when you're forcing things to happen.
00:12:57.326 --> 00:13:01.777
And it's like the overwhelm of that can make you stuck.
00:13:01.909 --> 00:13:02.759
Yes.
00:13:03.289 --> 00:13:06.230
Improvisation is this beautiful metaphor for life.
00:13:06.269 --> 00:13:07.559
It really, really is.
00:13:07.610 --> 00:13:12.169
And that's why the tools, as I found out, like I was saying earlier, are a practice.
00:13:12.639 --> 00:13:16.679
They are a practice that, you know, it's not like, Oh, I get it.
00:13:16.690 --> 00:13:17.750
My life's so easy now.
00:13:17.750 --> 00:13:26.340
It's not that I don't want to give any false, you know, like, but my improvisational skills deeply help me in my daily life.
00:13:39.596 --> 00:13:43.336
everyone's going to be really anxious at the start and kind of panicky and trying to.
00:13:43.346 --> 00:13:43.366
Yeah.
00:13:43.777 --> 00:13:49.366
Maybe fun for the audience's approval, completely relatable and understandable.
00:13:49.376 --> 00:13:57.376
But with this other style of improv, it's more about creating real relationships with the people that you're playing with.
00:13:57.726 --> 00:14:01.986
When I say real relationships, they're imaginary because everything's pretend on stage.
00:14:02.386 --> 00:14:05.907
But the humor, and it is, it's hilarious.
00:14:05.917 --> 00:14:09.057
The humor comes because it's honest.
00:14:09.336 --> 00:14:14.366
And that honesty resonates to us as human beings.
00:14:14.667 --> 00:14:17.027
And we go, Oh my God, I know that guy.
00:14:17.076 --> 00:14:17.917
I work with that guy.
00:14:17.927 --> 00:14:19.876
Or, Oh my God, I know that person.
00:14:19.886 --> 00:14:20.496
It's me.
00:14:20.716 --> 00:14:22.076
And we can laugh at ourselves.
00:14:22.086 --> 00:14:25.006
it's like, that's the beautiful thing I think about art is.
00:14:25.407 --> 00:14:45.994
It helps us to see things in a new way and improvisation in particular helps us to lighten the F up, and to laugh at ourselves and to play with who we are, to play with other people, to remember and rekindle that childlike part of us that really just like.
00:14:46.394 --> 00:14:50.443
The child like part of me just seriously wants to play, like, all the time.
00:14:50.854 --> 00:14:52.903
And I'm sure I'm not the only one, right?
00:14:53.072 --> 00:14:55.221
It's making me think about, like, the word adulting.
00:14:55.231 --> 00:14:56.501
Like, who wants to adult?
00:14:56.745 --> 00:14:58.495
I know I was this way.
00:14:58.695 --> 00:15:12.235
I don't know how you feel, but like a lot of kids are afraid of growing up because they look around and they're like, dang, there's a lot of pissed off, cranky ass adults out there in the world.
00:15:14.164 --> 00:15:15.465
Yeah, totally lost.
00:15:16.235 --> 00:15:24.825
They're sparkle and their ability to like live in their full body and not just from the head up and I don't think it has to be that way.
00:15:24.995 --> 00:15:26.855
And that's kind of like one of my missions.
00:15:26.855 --> 00:15:30.965
It's like, let me just spread this as far and wide as possible.
00:15:30.965 --> 00:15:34.394
You know, it's just like, let's bring playback.
00:15:34.855 --> 00:15:40.465
let's bring it back onto the planet earth for like people that are over 10 years old.
00:15:40.825 --> 00:15:41.485
Mm hmm.
00:15:41.955 --> 00:15:49.174
Yeah, and being an adult feels very repetitive, like day in and day out, you have more or less the same schedule.
00:15:49.174 --> 00:15:56.225
And I think like play with an unpredictable nature is allowing for that sense of novelty.
00:15:56.740 --> 00:15:57.470
I love that.
00:15:57.470 --> 00:16:03.029
Yeah, I think one of my favorite things about improvisation is the element of surprise.
00:16:03.210 --> 00:16:06.340
which is pretty much what you just said, the unpredictability of it.
00:16:06.649 --> 00:16:31.549
We were talking in class last night about those moments that happen sometimes when you're on stage where something comes out of your mouth and you're literally like, you're surprising yourself, you know, so not only are you, because it's a team sport, quote unquote, and you're playing with other minds that think in different ways than you do, you also so you're always surprised by what's going on out here.
00:16:31.559 --> 00:16:32.750
And that's delightful.
00:16:32.799 --> 00:16:35.559
It's the opposite of redundant and repetitive and boring.
00:16:35.820 --> 00:16:40.710
It's also sometimes so in it that something will fly out of your mouth.
00:16:41.070 --> 00:16:41.919
That's like, yeah.
00:16:42.274 --> 00:16:50.955
Incredibly surprising and how delightful to be surprised by the person we live with day in and day out that happens to be us, right?
00:16:51.455 --> 00:16:53.375
Yeah, that element of surprise.
00:16:53.735 --> 00:17:07.364
It's like it can come from yourself and I love that, People might.
00:17:07.615 --> 00:17:11.296
Like see me or hear me talking and go, Oh, well, that's easy for her.
00:17:11.296 --> 00:17:23.489
You know, she's probably always been this way or people sometimes think I'm like this confident person and I'm deeply riddled with, with a lot of deep problems and insecurities and fears and anxieties.
00:17:23.528 --> 00:17:36.163
And I was so profoundly shut down in my life, Like So I guess I want to mention that in case someone's listening and is thinking, well, that's great, but I'm just not that way.
00:17:36.173 --> 00:17:38.993
Like, I'm not, oh gosh, I hear this all the time.
00:17:39.374 --> 00:17:41.304
I'm not, I'm not quick enough.
00:17:41.364 --> 00:17:42.463
I'm not funny enough.
00:17:42.463 --> 00:17:48.743
Or someone might be thinking while we're talking right now, like, but I'm just not a playful person or I'm not whatever.
00:17:48.753 --> 00:17:50.104
Fill in the I'm nots.
00:17:50.114 --> 00:17:52.874
You know, we can spend a couple hours filling in the I'm nots.
00:17:52.884 --> 00:17:53.403
Right.
00:17:53.499 --> 00:17:56.088
But I had extreme social anxiety.
00:17:56.138 --> 00:17:56.868
I couldn't.
00:17:57.213 --> 00:18:04.163
Go to the post office and buy a book of stamps without my face turning bright red and going into a panic.
00:18:04.173 --> 00:18:08.324
I couldn't sit down and have a cup of coffee and have a conversation with someone.
00:18:08.538 --> 00:18:12.028
So I come from a background of being deeply.
00:18:12.395 --> 00:18:15.435
repressed and shut down.
00:18:15.875 --> 00:18:19.226
And I say that as like, you know, one of those things you hear all the time.
00:18:19.236 --> 00:18:23.476
If I can connect with that part of me, then I think we all have it.
00:18:23.796 --> 00:18:25.346
Every single person has it.
00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:39.220
You have gone through a transformation and people may be seeing like, wow, you must have been this and that, but actually like you're relatable and have gone through many of the difficulties that people go through.
00:18:39.220 --> 00:18:40.740
So thanks for sharing that.
00:18:40.904 --> 00:18:43.085
I would love to know how you.
00:18:43.167 --> 00:18:45.849
Got into improv, Yeah, absolutely.
00:18:45.849 --> 00:18:48.930
It's it is related to actually exactly what we're talking about.
00:18:48.940 --> 00:18:55.720
So when I was in college, I was living in Northern California, and that was the time period in my early 20s.
00:18:56.039 --> 00:19:03.910
Even like late teens and stuff when my social anxiety, we didn't even have the term social anxiety back then.
00:19:03.980 --> 00:19:06.160
and we didn't, people didn't talk about it.
00:19:06.359 --> 00:19:11.980
I remember the first time I heard the term social phobia maybe around then but like so much stigma and all that kind of stuff.
00:19:12.230 --> 00:19:18.420
So I was really at that time in my life living in this prison of.
00:19:18.694 --> 00:19:19.085
Fear.
00:19:19.444 --> 00:19:31.134
And I think that along with many other things that I probably won't go into right at the moment catapulted me on a kind of deep and profound spiritual journey.
00:19:31.404 --> 00:19:36.744
So at the time I started reading a lot of like self improvement books and I read a book by a woman.
00:19:36.845 --> 00:19:38.825
I don't know if you've heard of her at this point.
00:19:38.825 --> 00:19:39.480
It's very like.
00:19:39.609 --> 00:19:41.539
old school, named Shakti Gawain.
00:19:41.539 --> 00:19:43.799
She wrote a book called Creative Visualization.
00:19:43.799 --> 00:19:46.869
That's probably what she's most famous for, but she wrote a lot of other books.
00:19:46.869 --> 00:19:50.920
And I was reading one of her books and she really resonated for me.
00:19:50.930 --> 00:19:53.950
And she talked a lot about following your intuition.
00:19:54.470 --> 00:19:56.869
And I was like, it hits something deep inside.
00:19:57.950 --> 00:20:07.005
And I was like, okay, my intuition knows I don't know that I was thinking this clearly at this time, but I'm kind of like putting my thoughts now back then.
00:20:07.005 --> 00:20:11.634
Like my intuition knows the answers to the questions I have.
00:20:11.644 --> 00:20:16.855
My intuition knows how to help me solve the problems that like I'm going through.
00:20:16.855 --> 00:20:20.335
Like my intuition, I want to know what this intuition is.
00:20:20.734 --> 00:20:26.724
So I started making it a practice in my life to learn, to get to know this intuition.
00:20:26.724 --> 00:20:40.450
And so what that looked like for me was, if I was biking to school and something kind of felt like instead of going my normal route, something kind of felt like, turn right here, I'd be like, okay, I'm going to turn right here.
00:20:40.480 --> 00:20:44.730
Or if something told me go in a different direction, I'd go in a different direction.
00:20:44.730 --> 00:20:49.400
So really just listening to those little nudges and practicing that.
00:20:49.559 --> 00:21:01.273
And although I probably didn't realize it at the time, but I was learning at that time to speak with my spirit guides and my angels, which I now actually do as a side business too.
00:21:01.273 --> 00:21:04.784
I give readings and that's my other passion, but.
00:21:05.163 --> 00:21:14.670
What I was being told by what I would call at that time my intuition, which I would say is the same thing as our, our team of angels or guides or whatever, over and over again.
00:21:14.690 --> 00:21:22.359
And by the way, that's a way you can know your intuition is it will say the same damn thing over and over.
00:21:22.460 --> 00:21:23.230
It is patient.
00:21:23.299 --> 00:21:27.549
It's like, I'm just going to say the same sentence over and over.
00:21:27.930 --> 00:21:30.547
So what I kept hearing was take an acting class.
00:21:30.634 --> 00:21:31.223
I was like, I'm sorry.
00:21:31.223 --> 00:21:31.544
What?
00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:32.410
Like, what?
00:21:32.574 --> 00:21:32.993
No.
00:21:32.993 --> 00:22:03.153
can you imagine a person who's too scared to order a bagel at a bagel shop getting up in front of a class of people and having them look at me and yeah, it sounded like a nightmare, but I was also equally intrigued and equally Desolate and despairing and like I said living in this prison that I didn't honestly think because I can remember how I was thinking back then I didn't think I thought this was my life that I would just this was how I was wired.
00:22:03.163 --> 00:22:03.993
And this is who I was.
00:22:05.233 --> 00:22:09.703
So I signed up for a class in northern California.
00:22:09.753 --> 00:22:12.634
Um, the guy talked a lot and I was just kind of bored.
00:22:12.634 --> 00:22:13.503
So I dropped the class.
00:22:13.544 --> 00:22:14.453
Maybe I wasn't ready.
00:22:14.558 --> 00:22:16.409
Signed up for another class in the college.
00:22:16.409 --> 00:22:18.019
I was going to in Northern California.
00:22:18.078 --> 00:22:18.919
It was like an 8 a.
00:22:18.919 --> 00:22:20.239
m Class too early for me.
00:22:20.239 --> 00:22:20.888
I dropped the class.
00:22:21.144 --> 00:22:27.285
So it wasn't until a few years later Hey at this point, I kind of forget exactly how old I was.
00:22:27.335 --> 00:22:35.788
I think I was about 26 but I spontaneously moved from California to North Carolina on an intuition.
00:22:35.847 --> 00:22:42.557
And I was perusing, you know, I had a little money that I had gotten for my birthday, which is August 31st.
00:22:42.557 --> 00:22:45.298
It was like fall classes at the local art center.
00:22:45.298 --> 00:22:46.048
And I saw.
00:22:46.185 --> 00:22:52.465
My other opportunity to take an acting class, you know, still wanted to follow that voice and just signed up for it.
00:22:52.465 --> 00:22:54.895
It was called something called improv.
00:22:55.036 --> 00:22:58.286
And again, this is 1996, 1998.
00:22:59.496 --> 00:22:59.905
Yeah.
00:22:59.955 --> 00:23:01.895
And improv has.
00:23:02.155 --> 00:23:11.875
Verifiably exploded, you know, since then, but at that time, I didn't really know what it was, but I had an inkling it was something to do with acting.
00:23:11.950 --> 00:23:16.349
So I had gotten like my social anxiety was like lessening a little bit at that point.
00:23:16.349 --> 00:23:22.030
I'm still pretty big, but not extreme like it was Few years prior and I just kind of was like, okay, let's do it.
00:23:22.040 --> 00:23:39.895
And I walked into those doors and Never looked back like my, my life completely changed listening to that voice that was so patient with me and as patient with all of us that said, take an acting class, take an acting class.
00:23:40.395 --> 00:23:42.736
Hey, do you remember take an acting class?
00:23:43.340 --> 00:23:59.810
You know, it's just like, I'm just gonna keep, I'm just gonna keep whispering in that still small voice, as they say, and boy, wow, how loved was I, how known and understood was I by whosoever voice that was.
00:24:00.395 --> 00:24:06.885
Because it was really the last thing that made any logical sense for somebody like me.
00:24:06.885 --> 00:24:08.195
I was so shut down.
00:24:08.215 --> 00:24:09.645
I was so scared.
00:24:20.692 --> 00:24:27.762
I really appreciate you talking through like, I can't order a bagel without having social anxiety.
00:24:27.762 --> 00:24:29.403
And now I'm in an acting class.
00:24:29.442 --> 00:24:35.231
And also that you took an acting class after like the first and second time didn't work out.
00:24:35.261 --> 00:24:38.362
I'm curious about like what was going through your mind.
00:24:38.362 --> 00:24:42.801
Like, how did you decide to keep trying acting and then eventually improv?
00:24:43.942 --> 00:24:46.372
You know, that's, that's a really interesting question.
00:24:46.412 --> 00:24:49.201
Thank you for helping me kind of put the pieces of my life together.
00:24:49.201 --> 00:24:51.211
It's, it's really interesting to think it through.
00:24:51.421 --> 00:24:55.000
I don't think there was a lot of like conscious thought around it.
00:24:55.000 --> 00:25:00.320
I think it was just in the background that I knew that this was something that I was.
00:25:01.036 --> 00:25:03.576
Let's say at this point I would say supposed to do.
00:25:03.596 --> 00:25:24.519
I don't know that I would use those terms at that point So I don't there wasn't a lot of thought It was just probably that I knew that that was something I was supposed to do But I wasn't probably ready again in hindsight I can see that and it's funny that the one class I walked into when I finally was quote unquote ready now That doesn't mean I wasn't terrified it's not like it was this magic pill.
00:25:24.528 --> 00:25:31.605
Like I walked in the doors and suddenly everything changed, you know, it was like a total initiation.
00:25:31.665 --> 00:25:32.846
It was a total process.
00:25:32.846 --> 00:25:36.246
It was challenging, but the important thing, and I will get back to your question.
00:25:36.576 --> 00:25:40.506
The important thing was, I think the love of it was.
00:25:40.816 --> 00:25:51.316
so deep and so profound that no matter what challenges came to me when I did actually start my improv journey, I couldn't turn away from it.
00:25:51.375 --> 00:25:53.159
It was just, what I would imagine.
00:25:53.929 --> 00:26:03.929
I've never been married, but what I would imagine a lot of people would say about like when they meet the love of their life and they're like, it was so hard and we had all these difficulties, but I just, I couldn't look away.
00:26:04.229 --> 00:26:05.219
I couldn't turn away.
00:26:05.219 --> 00:26:05.838
It's like that.
00:26:06.328 --> 00:26:27.659
Deep sense of personal destiny, and I've never really put it in those terms before, but whether that's with a person that we're meant to be in relationship with or a life purpose or a pet, it's just, there's something that happens when destiny calls us and it's just very hard to turn away from that.
00:26:27.902 --> 00:26:33.892
If you could share a little bit about what that felt like and if you've like doubted that.
00:26:34.311 --> 00:26:35.541
throughout the year.
00:26:35.602 --> 00:26:40.261
So like how you've dealt with any sort of like lows and highs of that.
00:26:40.672 --> 00:26:41.281
Mm hmm.
00:26:41.791 --> 00:26:42.182
Okay.
00:26:42.192 --> 00:26:43.942
So let's start with what does that feel like?
00:26:43.942 --> 00:27:04.555
And I'm really glad you're asking that because again, this is me talking in hindsight where things are much You can see the, the kind of like little, it's like coming to me in my mind of like lightning bugs of light, you know, lighting up your path and you can see how things connect so much better in hindsight, right?
00:27:04.855 --> 00:27:10.734
So if you had asked me at age 25 or 26 or whatever, Oh, you know, you just took an improv class.
00:27:10.744 --> 00:27:12.704
Is this what your, is this your destiny?
00:27:12.704 --> 00:27:13.365
Is it calling to you?
00:27:13.555 --> 00:27:14.295
I'd be like, I'm sorry, what?
00:27:14.934 --> 00:27:19.970
Like, no, don't at all be discouraged if you haven't had that feeling.
00:27:20.704 --> 00:27:22.125
And you don't know what it feels like.
00:27:22.164 --> 00:27:28.515
I want to simplify this because this is actually part of what I do in my spiritual work and another one of my passions.
00:27:28.515 --> 00:27:51.590
And the way to find, in my opinion, your destiny and, you know, your various callings or the right things for you is to listen to What lights you up, listen to the things in your life that give you, maybe it's just a teeny tiny spike of energy or, you know, you might, I've struggled a lot with a lot of depression, despair.
00:27:51.891 --> 00:27:54.980
So there are times in my life where it's like, not a lot is lighting me up.
00:27:54.990 --> 00:27:59.141
But even in those times, there are things that light me up more than other things.
00:27:59.181 --> 00:28:17.465
So it's like a journey of getting to know ourselves, paying attention to who we are and what brings us either a feeling of expansion, a feeling of yes, a feeling of, um, spark or light or energy.
00:28:18.233 --> 00:28:21.213
Yeah, and I think we all experience it in different ways.
00:28:22.104 --> 00:28:26.193
I'm pretty kinesthetic, so I tend to feel it in my body.
00:28:26.270 --> 00:28:32.221
I don't know, do you have, do you have that in your life and how does it manifest for you?
00:28:32.693 --> 00:28:39.653
I feel like it comes in seasons and I feel like it has helped me.
00:28:39.691 --> 00:28:45.971
provide very clear direction of like, I know exactly what I want in the next step.
00:28:46.080 --> 00:28:55.087
It doesn't for me feel like it translates to like the entirety of my life It very much feels like I am in the season of.
00:28:55.087 --> 00:28:59.238
Doing this podcast or going to school for this thing.
00:28:59.545 --> 00:29:03.815
it makes me feel like, okay, right now, this is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing.
00:29:04.154 --> 00:29:09.828
And that's going to be different a year from now, two years from now, three years from now, 10 years from now.
00:29:09.848 --> 00:29:17.349
So I struggle with the idea of like how that is sustained throughout your whole life.
00:29:17.500 --> 00:29:21.680
At the same time, I'm kind of like, okay, the common denominator is me.
00:29:21.730 --> 00:29:28.839
So I'm like, maybe just like I'm the purpose of like, just doing what I'm doing in this moment right now.
00:29:28.902 --> 00:29:37.348
and thinking through the idea of like, Trying not to become so focused also on finding my purpose, Yeah.
00:29:37.348 --> 00:29:44.098
I mean, I, I hope I didn't give the impression that I think that there's one thing for each of us to do that.
00:29:44.148 --> 00:29:44.449
Yeah.
00:29:44.449 --> 00:29:45.199
That is our.
00:29:45.413 --> 00:29:46.304
Purpose.
00:29:46.304 --> 00:29:47.534
You know, with a big P.
00:29:47.574 --> 00:29:52.564
I think you're, you're right on at least the way I experienced it as well.
00:29:52.564 --> 00:29:58.463
And the way I would teach people about these sort of things when I do my more of my spiritual stuff.
00:29:58.534 --> 00:30:01.773
I want to write a book and I want the book to be called Think small.
00:30:02.193 --> 00:30:04.574
Um, because I think we really, isn't it great?
00:30:04.824 --> 00:30:15.094
I think we really, there's probably a book like that out there already, but anyway, but I think we really do ourselves a disservice and get really muddled up in our head and improvisation is all about getting ourselves out of our head.
00:30:15.548 --> 00:30:16.848
by thinking big.
00:30:16.989 --> 00:30:18.679
I mean, sure, we want to think big.
00:30:18.679 --> 00:30:19.598
We want to be expansive.
00:30:19.598 --> 00:30:21.138
We want to live our best life, all that stuff.
00:30:21.148 --> 00:30:27.939
But it's just like, always when I'm teaching people about intuition and so much of intuition dovetails with improvisation.
00:30:27.949 --> 00:30:34.538
These are my two passions and they're, they're very connected, but it's always about what's the next moment.
00:30:35.128 --> 00:30:36.558
Like exactly what you said.
00:30:37.773 --> 00:30:59.903
We're not supposed to know as human beings, in my opinion, like, that we're not supposed to have the whole picture, you know, that would be kind of boring, we want, we're in the movie of our lives and it has to unfold if we knew everything, it, I don't know, it just, That's not, yeah, I feel like I'm stumbling over my words, but I think you get my point.
00:31:00.473 --> 00:31:01.503
Yeah, absolutely.
00:31:01.523 --> 00:31:02.084
I love that.
00:31:02.094 --> 00:31:17.013
In the movie of our lives, I also even wonder, yeah, if we were given a blueprint of everything we were ever supposed to do, like that would lead us to also a different kind of despair of, okay, this is it.
00:31:17.634 --> 00:31:20.884
There's so much hope and optimism and the uncertainty.
00:31:20.923 --> 00:31:23.403
So, yes, yes.
00:31:23.423 --> 00:31:23.903
I love that.
00:31:23.973 --> 00:31:24.804
I love that.
00:31:25.854 --> 00:31:31.463
Thank you so much for listening to part one of my conversation with a Nutri broad.
00:31:31.943 --> 00:31:39.683
And that last thought we left off on reminds me of this quote by choreographer director and dancer, Agnes de Mille.
00:31:39.683 --> 00:31:42.054
Living is a form of not being sure.
00:31:42.294 --> 00:31:48.809
Not knowing what next or how the moment, you know, how you begin to die a little.
00:31:48.809 --> 00:31:51.390
The artist never entirely knows.
00:31:51.390 --> 00:31:52.559
We may be wrong.
00:31:52.559 --> 00:31:55.200
But we take leap after leap in the dark.
00:31:56.278 --> 00:32:03.028
As this was part one, be sure to stay subscribed, to multitudes, to hear part two of our conversation.
00:32:03.479 --> 00:32:12.868
And in part two, we talk about creating safe spaces, improv and relationships, listening, and presence and spiritual authenticity.
00:32:13.378 --> 00:32:16.739
And also be sure to check out a news work on her website.
00:32:16.959 --> 00:32:22.479
And a new is also on Instagram, Tik, TOK, and Facebook at wild mind improv.
00:32:22.778 --> 00:32:25.598
And we will have all of those links in the show notes.
00:32:26.259 --> 00:32:30.098
And if something resonated with you today, I'd love to know.
00:32:30.368 --> 00:32:32.709
You can let me know by leaving a review.
00:32:33.098 --> 00:32:37.179
You can go to multitudes podcast.com and click rate show.
00:32:37.449 --> 00:32:39.578
It's super easy to do from your phone.
00:32:39.878 --> 00:32:44.828
And I read all of your reviews and all of your comments are truly inspiring.
00:32:45.368 --> 00:32:49.239
And as always, thank you so much for listening and I'll see you next time.
