Playing away
I don’t get nervous before shows - I get excited. Nerves have long since disappeared for me, or at least the “oh god, can I do this?”feeling has long-ago gone. I love the anticipation of a show and get genuinely excited to play with the duo partners or teams I play with. However, there is a big exception to me experiencing ‘no nerves’ and that’s when I guest in a show I don’t usually play.
Whenever I guest, I do two things: I overthink, because I’m a chronic over-thinker, and then I get nervous.
Guesting in a show is a real privilege and I’ve been super lucky in this respect. I’ve definitely been fortunate to guest in shows that I was in no way good enough to perform in normally. I’d have never made their team, but somehow by luck of location, someone being unable to show up that day or otherwise, I’ve been allowed to guest in some really great shows. How did they go? Erm, mixed. Yeah, “mixed” is the best word to describe it.
I won’t reference specific shows because on each occasion, I’ve been fortunate enough to go on stage with people who have been supportive and talented. On some of those occasions, I’ve found my niche in the show and put in a solid performance - and had a blast. I take those moments as huge wins. Any good team has usually had a lot of show and rehearsal hours on the clock. They know each other well. To slot into a team where you’ve often only met some of them just before going on stage is a hard thing to crack.
Needless to say, I’ve not always ‘got the vibe’ of a team, and that has often left me over-thinking on the side/back line. Those shows give me such incredible nerves. Nerves I can feel just writing about them. Don’t get me wrong, as ever, the teams concerned have been kind, supportive and super talented. I, however, have been over-thinking and a virtual stranger, attempting to fit into what they do on stage.
I get nervous before I guest with a team because I have no idea which of those two scenarios is going to play out. With my “home teams”, we know each other’s play styles and how to get each other into and out of trouble. Not having those shortcuts is harder.
So, why do I ever guest in shows? Especially if they make me so nervous to play in!
The answer isn’t so hard to fathom. Those are the shows that push me as an improvisers. Those are the shows where I sometimes learn about a strength I didn’t have and I sometimes learn about a weakness or a crutch I have. They are sometimes the shows where my ego takes a knock. Whether they go well or whether they go badly, they are regularly the shows where I learn the most, and grow the most as an improviser.
Being a guest is an honour because someone is putting their trust in you. Being a guest is also a great way to find out more about how you improvise.
Whenever I have someone guesting with a show I play regularly, I like to check in with them beforehand to find out things they like to do on stage - and I try to make those happen for them. Anything I can do to ease someone else’s nerves will hopefully help them and the show.
There’s an art to being both a good show guest and also to hosting a guest within your own show. I’d love to know things you do that help you when you guest with others, and how you help accommodate guests in your shows too.
Forming A Team - Podcast Episode
The latest Improv Chronicle podcast follows on from last week’s newsletter and looks at things to consider if you are forming a team.
What else is happening?
Bringing 'yes, and' to the courtroom: Retired judge talks about her other life as an improv actor - I really enjoyed reading this one…
Second City have opened in New York - and I got part way through reading this article and then have moved to the podcast version of it (and am part way through). I usually only share things I’ve fully consumed but what I’ve heard so far made for interesting listening…
Workshops and Shows
Torch Songs
Come learn how to sing your heart out in New York with this one-off elective I’m teaching at The Magnet Theater on Saturday 16th March. This emotion-filled workshop looks at songs of unrequited love. A torch song in musical theatre (and beyond) is a song about a someone you can’t be with or something you can’t have. Picture yourself lying across a grand piano in an underground bar at 2am with a scotch in your hand and a picture of your unrequited love in the other! https://magnettheater.com/class/electives/11380/
Brand New Musical
I am back playing with Katy Schutte this Friday in our improvised Sondheim show, Brand New Musical in London, UK at the Omnibus Theatre.
Have a great week,
Lloydie