SCABs

Yes, and…

Tom Manning

 

 

 

 

 

By @_TManning

 

[So, let’s set the scene, it’s SCA day two and you’re being given a workshop on improv by Niall Ashdown. You pictured it would be jazz hands and learning to cry on on cue but it turns there’s a lot more to it than that. Annnnd GO!]

Yes and worked in pairs, which was pretty handy to prepare us for the things to come

Yes and we tried out a lot of different exercises
Yes and this was one of them
Yes and the first rule we were told is to always, ‘agree and add’

Yes and to try not to shut down your partner with a ‘yes but’
Yes and if you do ever need to say ‘yes but’ stop being a pussy and just say ‘NO’
Yes and sometimes these conversations drift off into some pretty unexpected locations
Yes and…OH DUDE LOOK BEHIND YOU IT’S A FLYING PIG
Yes and it’s flown away, everything back to normal, we’re fine
Yes and you’ve just committed a cardinal sin, wimping out on my flying pig.
Yes and that first idea might seem like a pile of crap *ahem* but the joy of improv is it just keeps going
Yes and you might just stumble across a spark of brilliance *ahem*
Yes and it that spark may ONLY appear after you gone through your first thirty lines
Yes and you might even find that the your best idea comes from combining your first thirty ideas
Yes and above all just find out by doing
Yes and don’t worry too much about being funny or interesting, (thank god) just be supportive
Yes and embrace the fact that improv forces you to share
Yes and it’s this kind of collaboration that guarantees you will come up with ideas you couldn’t on your own
Yes and always try to suspend judgement
Yes and if you 
*come on…come on…*
Yes and if you ever get stuck with improv, look around for help, don’t clam up

Yes and if you really run out of material go out with a bang 
Yes and THE PIG’S BACK! THE PIG’S BACK
Yes and OH FUCK! IT’S COMING DOWN!

[Carnage ensues, strong smell of bacon, scene fades to black]

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