3 minute read
Alyanna Arches
Gerrick Go
WRITTEN BY EALA JULIENNE P. NOLASCO
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TAKING ON the stage doesn’t always mean making scripts and masks. Often dubbed as a comedic art form, improv attests to being more.
By relying on the performer’s expertise in blending the personal with the audience’s direction, improv truly breaks the fourth wall. Short for improvisation, improv is an art form that is characterized by its spontaneous theatrical performance. This novel approach to the performing arts is what makes improv stand out, and is the foundation of the formation of the relatively new student organization Blue Bird Improv.
Improv performer Gerick Go (4 BS CS) explains that improv is not rehearsed compared to other performances. Rather, what performers rehearse are the mechanics of the game that they would co-create with and perform for the audience.
IDEAS AND TRUTHS IN ACTION
Gerick says that it was not a problem that he was not a theatrical actor before joining Blue Bird Improv. First entering the organization with nothing but himself, he leaves it with new skills and as a more genuine and confident person, and an even better communicator.
He says this is due to how improv requires one to be open to novel situations and scenes. Conversely, Gerick highlights the importance of having one’s own experiences to anchor live performances. “As we go further in the process of learning improv, we get to learn more about speaking our truths; being vulnerable to experience [and] to each other,” he adds.
Aside from opening up, he notes that the different scenes in improv are also opportunities to understand other lives. “You get to slip in the skins of others,” Gerick mentions, citing a specific time when he improvised the role of a pregnant woman— followed by a serial killer.
“YES, AND”
The success of every improv show largely relies on the collaborative effort of the improv performers, the Coaching and Performance Organizer (CAPO), and the audience’s participation. It also draws its unique spontaneity from its primary principle of “Yes, and.”
Go explains, “It means when something is presented to you—such as a suggestion from the audience, a line your scene partner said, or even the actions you see your partner is doing—accept it and add on to it.”
Yet the actual success of the show cannot come to life without the openness of every performer to discovering who they truly are and being authentic on stage.
To prepare for these shows, improv performers have weekly improv sessions where they rehearse the mechanics of the games for two hours. During these sessions, the CAPO would teach the performers and “Eggies” (newbies) the tenets of improv, warm-up exercises, and their rules.
Bound by the principles of co-creation and authenticity, the performers make sure the show goes on and makes sense despite any difficulties, such as response delays due to internet connectivity interruptions. With that, Gerick notes that in the true spirit of improv, they make do when someone suddenly freezes during games.
He recalls a specific scene, saying: “If someone stops speaking, [...] we manage to ‘yes and’ that [and] use that to our advantage. We’re like, ‘Oh, are you speechless? Why so silent?’ We do those things, we just incorporate to the scene [to make] things more spicy, more fun.” and co-creation with the audience, and its capacity to channel one towards authenticity. Given such malleability of every show, perfection warrants no seat in Blue Bird Improv shows. Rather, at the heart of every show is the binding principle of “Yes, and,” as well as everyone’s commitment to making the best of the moment. “The best scene you’re in is the one you’re in right now,” Gerick says.
On-stage, when taking on different characters in scenes, performers can tap into the experiences that allow them to discover new parts of themselves. Off-stage, performers leave with more confidence to communicate and make puzzle pieces fit in place.
Looking back on his own journey in improv, Gerick says that what makes Blue Bird Improv unique is the open community borne from vulnerability.
“If you would join Blue Bird improv, you would find yourself in a community [that] would accept you, not for your special skills, but [for] who you are, and you just grow to be more real and vulnerable as a person,” he says.
