“Life is a celebration of itself… The meaning of life is just to be alive. It is so plain and obvious and simple. And yet everyone rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.”
Alan Watts
Fun brings us to life. Catherine Price in this talk Why Having Fun Is the Secret to a Healthier Life describes it as the combination of playfulness, connection and flow. Like this!
Many cultures carry a message that play (aka engaged creative exploration) should stop when we are teenagers and we should settle down to sensible, narrow step-by-step routines. Nooooo!!
Especially with the rise of automation and AI, our creativity and willingness to explore new ideas is right at the heart of being human.
“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”
George Bernard Shaw
In these classes we’ll be taking the fun bus to both the ridiculous and the sublime.
There will be improv tools:
- Tiny moments as rocket fuel to planet fun
- Characters from the outside in – discovering new ways of being through movement and the environment
- Fun with friction – have characters disagree without getting stuck
- New ways to take and use suggestions
- New short form games and long form formats
Finding new fun by playing with archetypes, myths and gods.
- Playing with archetypes from Greek gods, Commedia dell’Arte and Tarot
- Story shapes, the Hero’s Journey and dreams
And lots of silliness, movement and fun!
I love this clip from Joseph Campbell on the interplay of Apollo and Dionysus – the Greek gods of order and chaos. The Gods of improv!
