Improv is one of those disciplines that for me, as an outsider who has really never participated, seems both fun and simultaneously terrifying. Improv is something that watching others do makes me want to join in, but I have never done so because it scares the ever-living piss out of me.

Performing for an audience certainly comes with a certain amount of trepidation, but in terms of improv that's not what would hold me back. It's the unknown that makes my heart sink. The idea of going on stage without being prepared, without having a script or a safety net, with nothing to save me from my own silence, thoroughly intimidates me.

I consider myself relatively quick on my feet and creative, so if I ever tried it I think I'd probably do fine, but I'm the kind of person who likes to be prepared. I hate awkward situations where I don't know what to do or say, and prefer to know what to expect before I do something. I don't even like making phone calls without first rehearsing what I'm going to say. An unscripted performance balks at all that, and would challenge me to be creative off the top of my head, under pressure, and with the hopes of generating a laugh.

I think I'd have to have a bottle of tums on hand if I'm ever asked to do such a thing.

Improv is like the comedic version of gambling at the high-stakes tables in Vegas. The risks are high, but so are the rewards. If you go out there and lose, you can lose in spectacular fashion. It's bad enough that people might not find you funny, but if you freeze up you have to endure excruciatingly awkward silence until someone bails you out--there's nothing scripted to fall back on. On the other hand, if you do it well, you can deliver a dynamite performance that no-one could expect. The comedic genius that comes from having to think of something clever on the spot can be extraordinary--it's as if the performer has plucked inspiration right out of the air, or channeled it from another plane.

I leave you with a random (to you) clip from the American version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? Enjoy the regular crew and special guest Steven Colbert as they rap about an avalanche.



The preceding was part of the first annual WITFITS Suggest A Topic Week, where the readers suggested a topic for me to write about. See here for details.