Improvisers inherently know that joy is in the now.
That’s where the laughs lie, and the audience reinforces that when we are on stage. It's something we train for and hope to achieve in every show, yet I still don't achieve it every time I improvise.
Staying in the moment can be hard, even for longtime improvisers like me. I cannot tell you how many times I been improvising and while I am doing scene and I am thinking about what I am going to have for dinner when the show is over.
As hard as it is to be in the moment on stage, it can be even harder in our lives. The best way to avoid the joy is to spend a lot of time thinking about the future or the past.
Our mind is muscle. It needs discipline, and you have a better chance of being able to be in the moment on stage if you practice it in your own life. It's the old cliche "art imitates life."
Students asks me all the time what they can do between classes to get better, and I think training yourself to be in the now is one of the best things you can focus on. Here are five things you can do in your own life to be more in the now.
- Practice Meditation
A mediation practice should be required for any improviser. For me, meditation is a form of listening to myself. We are trained in improv to listen to our partner, but I think it's just as important to listen to ourselves first. And the best way to do that is to quiet your mind first thing in the morning. I meditate for 20 minutes every morning, and whenever I do, it makes me better able to be present and listen to others throughout my day.
- Stop Multi-Tasking
Nothing ruins being in the moment more than trying to do two or even three things at the same time. You will not be more productive when you multitask. That’s an illusion. If you are like me, you think that multitasking helps you get ahead, but really the only thing you’re doing is fucking up the now. So follow the “keep it simple, stupid” rule: Only do one thing at time, and if you notice that you’re more peaceful or calm, you are heading in the right direction.
- Be On Time
If you want to be in the present, be on time. (This one is for me, so you can ignore if you are already doing it). Nothing takes me out of the moment more than showing up late to a class or show. When I show up late, I am usually feel a combination of discombobulated and shame, and I'll be honest, sometimes I never get over it throughout the entire class or show. And the crazy part is, I still do it. People don't talk about it much, but when you arrive somewhere on time, you’ll feel more relaxed, which is so important for creativity.
- Be Aware
Being more aware of your own actions in your life is one of the best ways to practice being in the moment, and it starts with wanting to do thing differently. If you are finding yourself going over a resentment about your mom in your head, tell someone about it. If you can't find someone to call, just be aware that you are in the past and try to put your attention back on the present. I have a friend who says he goes back to his breath, and whenever he realizes he is in the past or the future, he takes a deep breath. I am lucky because my wife, Lauren, knows when I am talking to myself, I am not in the present, and she will call me on it. As annoying as that can be, I am grateful.
- Get a Kid
Now that I am a father, I am forced to spend time with my kid, which I’ve found has been a great way of keeping me more in the moment. If you don't have a kid yourself, see if you if you hang out with friends that have kids and play with them. This is the state I believe we are trying to achieve as improvisers: living moment to moment with no judgement, no agenda and pure joy. Kids are about following the fun. Believe me, they will get bored and lose interest and you get to watch how they organically will discover something else to play with. This is what Viola Spolin might have called transformation — these kids instinctually know how to transform. If you want to see joy in the now, this is the best homework you can do for yourself.
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If you are looking for a little inspiration in your comedy career, I have found three things — a book, a movie and a documentary — that really spoke to me recently, and if you don't mine, I'd love to recommend them to you.
- Comedy, Comedy, Comedy, Drama
by Bob OdenkirkWho wouldn’t want to have Bob Odenkirk’s career? Most of us would be happy with 10% of it. In his new memoir, Bob Odenkirk looks back at his career in show business, and it’s not only inspiring, it is downright funny, too. At one point in the book, I actually laughed out loud, and I rarely laugh at anything, let alone something written. What I really like about this book is that it highlights both his successes and failures, making the subtle point that you have to have a lot more failures than successes to succeed in show business.
Odenkirk talks about creating the iconic SNL sketch with Chris Farley where Farley played the motivational speaker, the hard work that it took to get the cult classic sketch show Mr. Show on the TV, and how he originally turned down Better Call Saul.
He is someone who seems to be objective about his life and his career. When talking about his years working at SNL, he is honest with us that he had a chip on his shoulder and a bad attitude. Through sharing his successes and many failures, he passes along lessons to us. Bob has always had the reputation of mentoring comedy groups and people in the business, and this book in a lot of ways is an extension of that work. For anyone who wants to have a career in comedy and show business, this is must read. I love saying must read, especially when it's true.
- Sing 2
Anyone who has ever put up a show or been a part of theater or improv group is going to love this movie. The plot is about a producer/director named Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) who, along with his rag tag group of community theater animals, gets in over their heads trying to pull off a Vegas-style show. I loved it because it brought me back to my days at The Annoyance Theater when we were the underdog in the theater community in Chicago. Plus, the soundtrack is really good. The music is a combinitation of rock classics like “Let's Go Crazy” by Prince and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John, as well as pop song like “Sky Full of Stars” by Coldplay and “Can’t Feel My Face” by the Weekend.For me, what made me cry at the end, and I haven't cried at animated movie since Up, is that it made me appreciate the good times I had putting up shows and that sense of family or community you get from your cast.
- Lucy and Desi (on Amazon Prime)
Amy Poehler directed this documentary about the partnership between Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in creating the hit sitcom I Love Lucy. What I found so inspiring is that they were both innovators and I loved how they both thrived creatively in their partnership. Lucy was the first female star of any sitcom and she influenced generations of female comedians and actors. Though her comedy seemed so effortless on I Love Lucy, in the documentary you learn that was only because she rehearsed her ass off. She not only had talent, but she also was willing to put in the work. Though Lucy was getting credit in front of the camera, Desi gets credit behind the scenes for inventing things that now have become standard in filming sitcoms. I think Amy Poehler's experience with UCB and SNL, which are both based on collaboration, really made her appreciate that in Lucy and Desi’s relations, and she helps bring that out in this documentary.
Want to get more inspired in your comedy career? Sign up now for Jimmy's Level 1 Art of Slow Comedy Class, happening online starting April 8. Sign up today!
I used to think that not only did my opinion matter, but that it defined me. And if you did not agree with me there must be something wrong with you, or worse, something wrong with me. Sharing my opinion about someone's show or a movie wasn't just a matter of an opinion. It was a matter of life and death. I took it personally. You were the enemy. I don’t know, maybe it was because I read so many of those self-help books like, “How To Win Friends and Influence People,” but somehow I had it in my head that when people were agreeing with you, that made you more likable, and I was all about being more likable.
Clearly, I had this all wrong. The way to be more likeable is actually to be able to see everyone’s point of view, not just you own. But sadly, this took me a long time to figure out.
I think the fact that people have different opinions about art is why it can be so hard to discuss, and also why it can be so hard for some of us to continue to put our art out there.
Having people talk about our art, even if what they say is not favorable or what they think about it is not what we intended to say with our art, is good thing, though I prefer when they like it.
Recently I realized that, thank God, I’ve finally changed and am now able to have a passionate conversation with someone else who has a different opinion about a show or a movie and not feel that because we don’t agree that I lost an argument, and more importantly, a friend.
Last week, I watched about an hour of Steven Spielberg’s new West Side Story. There were a lot of things that I liked about the movie, but overall I felt that it moved too slow, and I did not like it as much as the original, which I’m not even sure I have ever watched in its entirety. That did not prevent me from having an opinion about it and getting into two different conversations about it, which I did with two of my friends. Nobody raised their voice, nobody got heated, nobody had to convince the other person they were right.
I could feel the passion in their voices because both people know far more about musical theater then I ever will.
It was the first time I realized we could each have different opinions and I did not have to be right and they didn’t have to be wrong — that art is subjective. I think the best art doesn't offer solutions, it starts conversations. And the intention is not to divide us, but to bring us together by talking about our reactions to it.
And that does not mean we all have to like it or all have to hate it. If everyone likes something, that’s not art, that’s a cult.
The point of art is not that we all like something but that we have a shared experience in seeing it. This is how art connect us. It does not have to polarizing, like so many things are today. We can share a difference of opinion, and though it has taken me many years to realize this, art is safe place to do that.
