From Cowboys Selling Perfume to Gored by Buffaloes

This week’s class started with way less chaos than last time, which was a relief. By week four, I can feel the rhythm settling in. I’ve even taken my instructor up on some invitations outside of class: I went to his 37th birthday party last weekend, and I learned he serves as the emcee for Cash Explosion, the Ohio lottery game show. Knowing him better has already made class easier. Trust is huge in improv, and it feels good to walk in and be greeted by name.

We kicked off with a warm-up called “5 Things.” You’re given a topic and have to rattle off five things as fast as possible, then hand a new topic to the next person. Everyone else got simple stuff like fruit and colors. Me? I got slot machines. You’d think I’d crush that, but nope. I blanked completely, said “Huff ’N’ Puff” (not even my favorite slot machine), and then said, pigs, and wolf, and it just wasn’t great… shake it off, move on.

We dove into two-person scenes, and I finally got paired with Melanie. Our prompt was to go big with characters. She jumped in as a grizzled cowboy trying to sell perfume. My only plan? Be in love with her character, no matter what. It was fun, but by the end, we got coaching: there was no real plot. We had characters, quirks, energy… but no progression. That’s what I need to work on next, moving the story forward instead of just staying in the moment.

Then came a game called Location, Occupation, Way to Die (LOD), which will be in our showcase. The setup: everyone but one player leaves the room while the audience picks the three categories. The first person has to act them out silently, then pass the scene along like a game of telephone until everyone has guessed. My group got “Haunted Forest,” “Dentist,” and “Gored by Buffaloes.” Wild, confusing, but hilarious. Definitely a crowd-pleaser.

With only nine people this week, I got two more shots at two-person scenes. The first was a chain-gang-in-prison bit where the only objective was to keep moving. The second was with the same guy from the infamous “Mime Plumber” scene a couple of weeks ago. He went in as “Mr. T,” and honestly, it was tough to work with because of how he played it. Still, I kept rolling, stayed present, and we landed a decent scene.

By the fourth week, I can feel the difference. The prompts don’t feel as intimidating, and working with classmates is easier and more natural. The lesson this week? Characters are fun, but stories need movement. My goal for next week: stop just creating characters and start learning how to progress the scene.

Two more classes until the showcase. I know we’ll run games on the 23rd to prep, and I’m pumped. No clue what’s coming this week, but I’m excited to dive in!

Also, after class, I went with my cute frog earrings and ate some IHOP. Strawberry and banana pancakes are my FAVORITE!