The Heart of Improv

Some of my favourite memories in my entire life are from the years when I coached an improv comedy troupe at Tantramar Regional High School.  The players were hilarious, skilled, dedicated and very brave.  They were shining lights in a difficult time, and working with them to get ready for the annual regional tournament was rewarding, exhausting, and a constant reminder that the future is not as dark as it seems.  I have every confidence that those kids are now making the world a better (and funnier) place.

I really missed them all when I went to see an AMAZING show caulled Austentatious a little while ago.  It was an entirely improvised Jane Austen novel.  The audience chose the title at the beginning ('Amazon Prime and Prejudice') and the actors went from there.  They managed to construct an actual plot with twists and turns, create real characters who matched Jane Austen archtypes, keep all the conventions and styles of the Jane Austen era,  and even establish running jokes that were laugh-out-loud funny.

It was fantastic, and I itched to be on that stage.  Until that moment, I didn't realize how much I missed my troupe.  And I could actually see them doing the same thing - although I knew the physical comedy skills of one of them would have been hard on his breeches and jacket.  Another one of them would become the king of puns, for he enjoyed groans as much as laughter from the audience.  And I could see one of the girls impatiently pinning back her corkscrew curls while another one used her bonnet to carry espresso cookies.  And all of them would be looking for the opportunity to include the word 'photcopy' - a typo I made that became a running joke, and one of the enduring rights of passage for new members.

Thanks for the memories, gang.  You're in my heart forever.