Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

I guess you could say that at improv class this week, we sort of worked on the "what" of the "who, what, where" platform. In previous weeks, we worked on establishing where you were and who you were. Now we worked interacting with other characters, which relates to the "what" as in "what's happening?" Or you could also look at it as further development of the "who."

Dave talked first about status, explaining that characters have a low or high status in relation to each other.

He talked about different ways of establishing status. We did some movement exercises where we walked around the room and related to each other according to his instructions.

First, he divided the class so that some people were making sustained eye contact, some fleeting eye contact and some no contact at all. We were supposed to walk around and greet each other. Then we returned to the circle and compared notes. We determined that eye contact alone was inconclusive. Those who were making sustained eye contact could either seem like they were in control or could seem like they were trying too hard to get other people's attention. Conversely, those making no eye contact could either seem haughty or self-conscious.

In the next movement exercise, we walked around the room, talking to each other. Some people were only supposed to touch themselves — their hair, shoulders, chest, etc. The others would touch the people they were talking to, on their shoulder or patting their head, for example.

We found that the "self-touchers" seemed really closed off and unsure, giving them a lower status. People who were reaching out and touching the others seemed like higher status. We also noticed how this movement alone could influence how we interacted.

Then he took four volunteers to do an exercise in front of the class. I got up there, along with Marlene, Ciara and Carol. He had us each choose a card from four that he held out to us. We put the card in our back pocket after looking at it. We were supposed to behave the way that card indicated, in terms of status. So for example, a Jack is higher than an eight, and an ace beats everything.

I drew a 10, which was pretty high, but I expected there could be one higher. I set about getting things ready for the party, and the first guest arrived, Marlene. Now, we were supposed to either give them names or use their own names, so I called her Sylvia. When I greeted her, she immediately started kind of lording it over me, so I figured she must be higher than me. I went to fix her a drink, and she requested Scotch, so I went to get some that I said I'd bought just for her.

Meanwhile, Carol slunk in. I figured she must be pretty low status, so I made her get her own drink. Last to arrive was Ciara, who was also acting like she must be lower status. I looked at her and said, "Could you do something with your hair? I think we're going out later."

Dave had Marlene and I go off to the side so Ciara and Carol could interact and suss out where they stood. They got into a really funny conversation about Natty Ice. "Is that cheaper than milk?" Carol asked.

At the end, we lined up according to where we thought we were, and we were absolutely right. Marlene was the Ace, I was a 10, Ciara was a 5 and Carol was a 2.

Some people had more trouble with this exercise than others. Fran, for example, seemed uncomfortable taking a higher status position. She was too nice to everybody. Other people, however, took to it naturally, such as Ricardo. Colleen was the party host for this one and was acting all high and mighty until he arrived. "You're lucky I'm here," he said. "I'm really busy." This made it clear he was about the highest status you could have. Turned out she was a queen and he was an ace.

We went through the exercise several times so everyone could try it and then changed how we were doing it. Instead of choosing a card and keeping it private, he taped cards to everyone foreheads. This meant we could see everyone's card except our own, and we had to get our status from how other people treated us.

This was pretty funny. Ciara was the party host first and, from her first guest, got the idea that she was really high (she was a king). So when Lindsay arrived, who was a two, Ciara just glanced at her, said an abrupt, "Hi," and turned away.

When I tried this exercise, I suspected I must be low status because two people with high status were already on stage. When I arrived, they sort of ignored me. "Do you have any cheese?" I asked the host. She told me to go look.

I opened up the refrigerator and took out a can of Cheez Whiz and returned to the host. "Mind if I eat your Cheez Whiz?"

She said sure, so I started spraying it right down my throat. Then Dave wanted me and Colleen to interact, so I went over to her. I could see she was a five, so I asked her if she wanted any Cheez Whiz. I figured that if I was really low, she'd probably decline, but she let me spray some in her mouth. We sort of bonded over Cheez Whiz, as she asked me if I'd ever tried the nacho stuff and I said no, but I'd have to get some. We went back and forth eating Cheez Whiz.

Dave had us line up according to what we thought our status was, and I took the lowest position, next to Colleen. "Are you sure?" he asked. I said I was pretty sure.

"I'm glad that happened that way," he said, and had us all remove our cards. Colleen and I were both fives! He said he thought that we would battle it out, trying to be higher status than each other, but he liked that we'd buddied up instead. I can see why he thought we'd battle it out. Both Colleen and I can be sort of impish at times.

We spent most of the class focused on status, but since we had some people present who'd been absent for a few weeks — George and Ciara — we reviewed some earlier stuff, as well. One of them was the Expert Panel, like we did last week. Three people get up and are given characters. They're then asked questions by the host and the audience, which they answer in character.

They made me a trucker, so I introduced myself: "I'm Marge. I drive for Fleet Trucking." I spoke with a harsh redneck accent. The other people on-stage were Lori, who was a supermodel, and Colleen, who was a circus clown.

I swear to God, I had nothing to do with the answers that came out of my mouth from then on: it was all Marge.

The first question was from Ricardo, who'd been cold all evening in the colder than usual basement. He asked us what we do to stay warm. Colleen had a good answer for that. She said clowns stay pretty warm because there's 20 of them packed into a car.

I said, "I put my flannel shirt on, I got my ears on, and I talk dirty to everybody. It gets hot!" That got a lot of laughs.

The next question was obviously aimed at the supermodel: "What do you think of the Brazil wax?" She had a great response, which was that she liked to be sedated when she gets one so she doesn't feel anything.

When it was my turn, I said, "I drove to Brazil once, and I waxed a rabbit on the way down there." I slammed my foot down like I was hitting the accelerator hard. That also got a good response.

The next question was also clearly a supermodel question: "Do you have a special diet to maintain your figure." Lori asked, "Does anybody have a mint?"

Colleen said, "There's always plenty of banana cream pie. Want one?" She held up an imaginary banana cream pie. Dave declined.

I said, "Are you being smart?" He said no. "Well, you go to Bob's Truck Stop, and they've got an all-day breakfast buffet. You just load that plate up. Keeps you slim and sexy."

Dave expressed disbelief that this diet would keep you slim.

"Well, you don't eat the bread! That stuff will kill you. You just load up on the bacon."

I think my best response, though, was to the last question. Somebody asked where was a good place to go for vacation. I was the last person, and I was thinking about what to say, although trying not to overthink it. I had no idea what I was going to say until it got to me and Dave repeated the question: "You've been all over. You must know some nice places to visit. Where do you liked to go for vacation?"

"Home," I said, wistfully. Everybody cracked up. I knew right then I didn't have to say anything more. Dave even quoted me when he complimented us on how well we all did. "Home," he said with the thick redneck accent.

Gerry got a chance to try the game for the first time, and he had a lot of fun acting as a thug. When asked what type of music he liked, he said he preferred music that drowned out the sound of screams.

The last thing we did was another few rounds of Arms Expert for those who hadn't tried it. I sat this one out, because there were a number of people who either hadn't done it or hadn't done it very much. Colleen did a great job as an expert in computer viruses that turn your computers in AI's. She adopted a really sniveling voice for this that worked well.

The best, though, was Ciara, who was a street sign designer with Dave doing her arms. He kept them really active, which gave her a lot to work with. She had a lot of fun with it.

Even though I wasn't on-stage, I was having fun with suggestions. Dave wanted really unusual occupations, because I guess that helped people be more creative. So I suggested that Gerry be a seal cowboy, a cowboy who rounds up seals. He had a lot of fun with that, really getting in character. Carol, who was doing his arms, though, didn't give him as much wacky stuff to react to as she might have.

For Ricardo, who still seemed cold, when the suggestion was "nuclear physicist," they were looking for another suggestion. "An expert in nuclear what?" Dave said.

"Nuclear sweaters," I suggested. They ran with it. Fran, who was doing the arms, did a great job, having him shiver a lot and mime buttoning up a sweater and other such things. Or, when he was asked who might be a good customer for his sweaters, she did a salute, and he said, "The military."

After class, I walked outside, talking to Colleen about the audition she had coming up. She'd had two last weekend and was offered one, but declined it when she found out it wasn't what she'd expected. So she told me about the one she has coming up, which I think is stage work.

We were talking about the class, and I said, "I just have fun with it."

"You're a natural," she said. I told her she was, too, and I really meant it. She's one of the funniest people in the class, very comfortable on-stage and always willing to commit to whatever she's doing. To have her compliment me meant a lot.

Afterwards, I met up with The Gryphon and we had sushi at Genji before heading home. Much as I tried to stay awake for the closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics, I fell asleep on the couch. The long weekend finally had caught up with me. The trucker inside me was happy to be home.

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Copyright 2005 by Alyce Wilson

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