by Will
A peek into The Second City – Level C
12:08 am in The Second City, improv by Will
For those of you who are wondering what improv classes are like, I decided to post some videos of my first performance in front of a live audience. Nerve wracking? Nah, the problem among budding improvisers is performance anxiety and getting out our heads to get to the point where we’re just “being” and feeling the “is-ness” of a scene. While it sounds a bit esoteric, as a beginner improviser each of our sketches abide by these three pillars of improv in order to drive a scene forward:
1. Giving/Accepting Offers in order to heighten and explore a scene
2. Status – the status of one person in relation to the other improvisers
3. Strong choices – choosing something to work with from an offer and committing to it fully in order to make it as real as possible by coupling with an emotion.
Here are some videos of my first performance ever from my Level C class less semester. The games that we’re playing on stage are “Dr. Know-It-All” and “Hitchhiker”
Let me know what you guys think… remember.. this is my first performance so take it easy on me… 
Good stuff Will. It brings me back to high school drama class.
Though it seems like taking these courses and all is a really big investment of your time. I’m curious to know what exactly you hoped to get out of it when you first started?
Haha, I like the second video…. Of course Will is the one who decides to be gangster.
Hey Malcolm,
At first I was taking these classes primarily because of my love for improv and figure I’d take them to further explore it.
I didn’t really have a plan as to what I hoped to get out of it at first, but now I find that it helps me with my public speaking skillset by quelling the anxieties of “performing”, it increases the effectiveness in social interactions through adopting an improviser’s mindset, as well as helping with my creativity and spontaneity overall.
In essence, I gained a lot of transferable skills from taking improv classes