#36 Oh my heart
Issue #36 Oh my heart
16th November 2022
Happy Wednesday!
Through the miracle of scheduled posts, this will reach you as I'm travelling to Improv Fest Ireland. I have a wonderful week ahead full of teaching, coaching superb groups like The Jess's's's and guesting in a couple of fascinating shows - Living. Dying. Dead. and Time Card.
And now, here are three things that have been keeping me busy this week.
Rule of three
[Test] Divergent association task
Think of 10 words that are semantically as far away from each other as possible. This is a 4-minute test that will undoubtedly make you smug if you are improv-trained (or creative in any field really).
[Book] A Pocketful of Happiness
I've always loved Richard E Grant's first memoir With Nails about the intense fame that descended on him after his visceral performance in Withnail and I but his new book A Pocketful of Happiness is even more affecting. It's an elegiac tribute to his late wife who challenged him to find beauty in each day. Oh my heart!
[Podcast] Three Bean Salad
Brilliant improv-adjacent podcast where three British comedians (who all sound the same) talk at length about a subject for which they have not prepared in any way. It's really funny and involving and I love how their prodigious improv skills are deployed gently without making a big deal of it. It reminds me a little of a podcast Laura and I did (fleetingly) during the pandemic called Instant Expert.
Incidentally, these last two recommendations were given to me by attendees of my twice-monthly Improv Office Hours zoom meeting (thanks Frank and Noel). You too can attend these illuminating improv chats by subscribing to Improv Fables premium. It's a pay-what-you-want kind of deal - read more about it here.
Spotlight
Unbelievably, there are only two places left on my Point & Click Adventures workshop at IMPRO Amsterdam in February. If you'd like to attend, it'll be a mix of improvised escape rooms, spontaneous puzzle solving and pretending to be a rabbit and a dog who fight crime.
Longform thoughts
"All killer, no filler."
This week I share FIVE exercises that are a dream to teach and have consistently delighted students.
Radio Days
Fast asleeps.