Detroit Day #3 Part 2

Day #3!

More Pittsburghers are trickling in, and on the recommendation of Alexei Plotnicov, we all grabbed lunch at a killer Thai place called Pi's Thai

Def. an album cover

Which was amazing. They did not fool around with spiciness, which was fine by me and Niesh

That afternoon I got to take Dr Cack's Improv Cleansing, taught by the Craig Cackowski. It was a packed class and I wish we had more than the 2 and half hours we got, it was really a useful class.

An interesting aspect of the clinic was an exercise using the phrase "I know" in the place of the typical "Yes and". Atopic touched on before by Brian, it's instructive to notice the subtle differences that this change in wording makes.  Craig made a lot of good points about the utility of an improvisor "knowing everything" in a scene. This doesn't mean that you can't be surprised, or affected: you don't need to be a know-it-all, but the mindset of already knowing the information does allow for the scene stay more in the moment. With "I know", you don't waste cycles going back and explaining things, or having to invent context. You've already agreed that its the truth. Additionally, it allows for exploring one thing, whereas I see strict "Yes And" often heightening into new ideas.... inventions basically. "I know" pushes towards being confident in the moment, rather than on tilt. At least for me that's how it felt.

I still haven't fully digested this, but it's fun to think about.

That night I got to finally see TJ and Dave live at Go! Comedy. And boy it was something else. It was as engrossing and engaging a show as I've ever seen in any medium. One thing that stood out and that I really hope to someday achieve was their sense of patience and command. Nothing felt rushed, ever. Nothing felt wasted, ever. It... felt scripted. And that's a hard feeling to recapture after you've seen a bunch of improv and recognize moves. Everything was comfortable and real, even when it was silly.

If you haven't seen their film, go, do it now. Watching them is as good as taking a class.

Tomorrow, soul food,  a workshop with Dave Razowsky and closing out the festival with Hotel Nowhere.