Intro

About half a year ago, I heard about improv classes through a friend of mine, Tom Allen, who had advertised on his Facebook page about a free class through his instructor John Swist of QuickThinking improv.  Having been into improving my public speaking and communication skills the past few years, I thought that this might an interesting activity to try as well.  So I started showing up to Tom's improv class on Tuesdays and needless to say, I was not smooth at all during these classes.  I was probably one of the most awkward, nervous, verbally-challenged students in the room.  There were some discouraging moments..and there were times were I felt horrible.  But gradually I got better and after a short while, I moved on to taking a level 1 class at the People's Improv Theater (PIT), which required a class performance in front of a live audience after 8 weeks of classes.  Eventually through extra rehearsals and practicing in front of audiences with my fellow classmates, we eventually did the class performance in front of a packed house and it wasn't half bad!

After this PIT level 1 experience, I started to get hooked on improv.  I signed up for multiple classes simultaneously through different improv theaters (a PIT level 2 class and Magnet and Gotham City level 1 classes) and currently find myself doing something improv related almost everyday.  Now, a full six months later from when I first began, for the most part, I'm not nervous getting up in front of classmates during class.  On the stage, I also feel more comfortable, but I still have a lonnngg way to go.  I'm quite happy with my progress so far since I've barely done any sort of acting in my life prior to these improv classes (aside from a few very minor roles in a couple of church plays during elementary school).  But, like many things in life, the more you learn about something, the more you realize how much there is to learn...

My goal is to get through the 5 levels with these different theaters and also with UCB, arguably the most well known theater...and perhaps, I daresay, perform regularly on a team one of these days (perhaps many many years from now....) here in NYC.  Unfortunately, I still have my work-related exams to get through...but those won't stop me from taking classes when I can.

In starting this blog and writing about improv, I'm hoping that some of the lessons that I've learned along the way will really sink in.  And I'm also hoping that any readers out there will get interested in pursuing improv, an activity that really has brought me so much joy in life lately.