Hi. My name's Lucy and I'm an amateur comedienne.
I've been unofficially playing and performing improv since the summer before I began as a freshman at PCHS. Friends would come over for pizza every Sunday and we'd play games, perform scenes... just for kicks.
Fast-forward to the fall of 2010: I took an improv elective at OCHSA and was introduced to the terms "longform" and "The Harold." I fell in love.
Fast-forward to the fall of 2012: I continued to host an improv fundraiser once or twice every semester with a team that I taught and trained at PCHS. I showed up every Thursday before or after their drama class to talk to them about listening, focus, the rule of "Yes, and..." etc. The basics for the foundation of understanding improv (which I was still going through on my own).
Last summer, I endured an hour train ride and a 15-minute subway journey every Saturday morning for 7-weeks. It was my first real grown-up introduction course to longform improv. At none other than iOWest.
ImprovOlympic originated in Chicago and has been one of the most influential proponents of teaching and performing improvisational comedy as its own separate artform.
Now I'm currently enrolled in their month-long summer intensive.
I love the frightening freedom of performing a story without a script. The thrill of making it up as you go, inventing new characters and discovering insightful themes throughout the scene is terrifying and exhilirating. In just the first two days, my skills have already been challenged and tested over a dozen times.
I've been thrown into a wonderful group of encouraging and supportive performers who are each there for their own personal reasons. But everyday we are all trying to gain a better understanding of the form and the confidence that we have become stronger improvisers.
I walk through the front doors of the theatre every morning with a bottle of water, a little notebook, and my camera tucked inside my bag. I leave with an empty bottle, a flurry of notes, and my mind buzzing from the onslaught of energy and creativity I've just experienced.
Focusing and listening and responding onstage for hours and hours every day is exhausting...
But I cannot wait to see where the next few weeks will take me.
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