Habitual Conflict

The past couple months I've noticed I've been relatively combative in almost all my scene work. I think argument can be enjoyable, characters in conflict are interesting, and that discord creates traction for scenes quickly. But I've been doing it a lot. So much so that I found myself setting myself in opposition to my scene partners almost instinctually.

Playing contentious characters isn't bad but anything done exclusively over an extended period of time is limiting. In the Schwa show tonight we started with a group scene at an airport, suggestion was "hangover", and I started it off as being a frustrated loud passenger. Made sense within the context of what was going on and it played well. A couple scenes later I was in a scene with Jeannie, she initiated by stirring a stew and saying excitedly something like "It's almost ready!" My initial impulse was to start a fight, to either be a son who hated the small town life in which he found himself or a disgruntled partner discontent with the monotony of the cooking.

I didn't do either. I caught myself and made the choice to be positive, to be on Jeannie's side. The idea that came to me was county fair cook off so I responded to her with something like "I promise we'll win this year!" The scene was fun, audience responded to it, and we even got a little darkness in there as we went on because we discovered we had lost year after year and planned to sabotage the other competitors.

The decision took place within a second or less. I point this out not to pat myself on the back, after awhile all improvisers learn to respond to things very quickly, but to say it only takes a second. A second can be the difference between breaking a habit you've gotten into or doing the same thing you've been doing. A second can be the difference between stagnation/complacency and an attempt at growth.

Improv coaches and notes certainly have their place especially in the first year or two of performing. But over time I think what becomes much more important is self-assessment, recognizing the ebbs and flows of your inner inspiration and making adjustments accordingly. Setting challenges for yourself outside your comfort zone and identifying when you fall into predictable patterns.