Mind Reading

There are many things I like about improv. The immediacy and freedom of it, the real time collaboration with other humans, the potential for risk, failure, and success. But one of the things I love, one of the most satisfying things about it only happens once in a while. It happened with both shows I had last night.

Sometimes you stumble across this low level of telepathy in improv. Someone can say something and the other person knows exactly where they're going, what their intent is, or what the scene looks like. Both people can see the scene laid out in front of them with only one line. You can get into the groove of finishing each others sentences and thoughts. A whole group of people know where the scene or the piece is going. We can all see 5 steps ahead so everything in the present is easy. There is no effort because we're all in the moment together. If it was a basketball team, it'd be passing without looking simply knowing where the other people are at any given time. If it was a jazz ensemble it'd be changing from the chorus to a verse to the bridge without ever indicating when the change would happen, simply a group of people discovering it at the same time with no effort at all.

In Buddhism they have concepts like thinking without thinking, being still to take action, and stuff like that. And written out, logically that doesn't make a lot of sense. But when you're in a place where your mind is only on that place, where you are connected to your surroundings, to yourself, and to the people around you, you have an amazing capacity for freedom in the moment. In this finite place and time all the possibilities are laid out and time slows and you can pick and choose what strings to pull.

Then of course time speeds up again. Things go back to normal. Life intrudes. But the moment is out there if you want to look for it.