A couple weeks ago I was up at the New York Musical Improv Festival with the improvised-rap group Yo Gloria! And we had a pretty good set. After the show I got a compliment about a segment of the show. I was told that it was great when I kept yelling something over and over again (yeesh, that might be part of the style). As usual, after a show I completely forget what I just did. So I started to talk with this guy about what moment that was, and I rattled off some of the more (to me) clever things that I did during the show. Nope, nope and nope. We couldn't figure it out.
One the way back to Pittsburgh I think I realized what he was talking about. It was the end of a scene and I got into a huge call and response with the team (repeating the word hologram: HOLO! GRAM!).
It wasn't a character line, it wasn't a joke, it wasn't really anything except us all pouring everything we had into one tiny idea.
I fuzzily recall an applause break after that too. It was a great moment of enthusiasm and team commitment. It was a bold-faced expression of group mind. And now that I think back on it, that's exactly the kind of magic I see all the time in the shows I especially love (hi, The LuPones!)
And a little humbling to realize that one of the most memorable parts of the show for this guy wasn't us "being funny" or doing something really clever with the world, or acting the shit out of character, but us simply being big and supportive.
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