A few Laughs for Less!

The last thing I expected to be doing on a recent Saturday afternoon in New York City was reliving my high school and college theater days, but against my better judgment, my friends had talked me into attending a free improv class at the Sage Theater in midtown.

I love theater and have enjoyed my forays into acting, but improv has always been my least favorite acting exercise, I think because I've always felt this pressure to be witty, and not only to be witty, but to do so at the spur of the moment. I always much preferred acting out scenes because what you were supposed to say (witty or otherwise) was written right out in front of you. I was put at ease however, when Tim, the enthusiastic young man who was leading the class told us that the more boring, the more obvious we were, the more successful we would be. Whew!

I think any lingering nerves any of us may have felt about performing in front of strangers were dispelled after we played a rhyming game that ended with the phrase, "in my butt." Like most schoolday pursuits most of the improv exercises were done in a circle and involved us saying zany phrases like "Zip, Zap, Zop," and "Yah" and "Nien." At one point we moved from person-to-person around the circle and quickly answered whatever question was posed to us; one of mine was,"If you were a boy, what would your name be?" to which I quickly replied "Blake" without exactly knowing why.

Later we experimented with the physical aspects of improv after being assigned the role of being either high-or low-class. Low-class individuals were instructed to avoid eye contact and touch with others, while the high-class was to be friendly and interact with everyone. After spending time either shuffling around and looking at the floor or throwing out manic smiles, this was a great way to learn how we express ourselves using body language rather than words alone.

Other exercises I participated in with a partner and the group somehow involved me hiding behind cavemen at the Museum of Natural History and a hamburger eating a hot dog vendor in Central Park.

Cheap Chick Info: For the rest of January free classes are being given every Saturday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and every Monday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Just email improv@sagetheater.us to reserve a spot in the class.

Location Info: Sage Theater, 711 Seventh Avenue, 2nd floor, Between 47th & 48th St.
New York, NY 10036 (Near the Sbarro's, be sure to look for it, I had walked past a million times without realizing it was there!)

Subway Info: N/R/W to 49th St., 1/9 to 50th St., F/V or B/D to 47th-50th St.