The "Rules" as Fey puts them can be seen in this video:
In which she expands upon how she discovered the rules, as well as he thoughts on them.
She uses her skills in comedy to show the audience and the weirdly serious interviewer (its okay he ends it with a good joke) how to apply the rules to improve their improv.
While, in the videos she does leave out the deeper real life implications of her rules. I believe it is important to see the used in action as she does here in order to really understand what she means specifically with the first two rules, that being "Agree" and the "Yes And" rules.
Now taking these same ideas and applying them into the real world which we can see when “The first rule of improvisation is agree. Always agree and say yes. When you are improvising… Now obviously in real life you're not always going to agree with everything everyone says. But the rule of agreement reminds you to respect what your partner has created and to at least start from an open-minded place. Start with yes and see where it takes you.”(84) While being a simplistic message for the comedy side of the conversation, the real life implications of the point have a much stronger massage. As i’m sure everyone has worked with someone they disagree with, whether that be through a job, school, or so on. What I find so interesting is that Fey proposes that we not disregard their ideas but embrace them into our own thinking as it will only allow for growth as it would be foolish to discard every idea a person disagrees with.
We should take the lessons Fey uses for improv and apply them to our daily lives as they can only stand to imporve our lives. Not only in our comedy but in our lives as a whole.
I hadn't seen that video. Thanks for linking to it.
ReplyDeleteApplying improv to our life, while it sounds like some kind of ointment, is definitely a great way to enhance yourself and your experiences! There is always the chance that something can slip by if you don't take the leap - much like improv, it's about trusting your gut and learning from your mistakes if things don't turn out as well as they could have.
ReplyDeleteBy saying "yes" with improv, you are opening yourself up to the roller coaster of whatever your partner has prepared and you are teaching yourself to think on your feet, literally and metaphorically. Either way, by being able to go-with-the-flow and improvise only makes a person more adaptable, flexible, and stronger because they are able to roll with the punches rather than fighting the current and causing a huge disrupting for themselves and others.
However, there is nothing wrong with saying NO when it is needed. It is some of the best knowledge and ability to be able to say yes and thrive but also say no when needed and still press on independently.
[This comment is from Cara. Cara is having problems posting her comments, so I am doing it for her. She emailed them to me.] The comparisons you made from Fey's "Rules of Imprpov" to real life situations were very relatable and enjoyable to me. I agree with Krista's comment that it also supports and encourages taking leaps in life and sometimes just going with the flow. I also enjoyed the video clip you included!
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