Trying to remember when we started studying Tennessee Williams, I looked back at my email trails. The traffic started in January. That means we studied Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III for nearly half the year. Reading so much Williams, I felt like I was in grad school again. (To me, that's a good thing.) Some classics so great to be reminded of, some lesser known plays from the ignorable to the surprisingly different. (My favorite surprise was Kingdom of Earth (think Sam Shepard meets Tennessee.))
You see, I'm more comfortable in my head. I've loved immersing myself in the studying. Unfortunately, being in your head in improv is not a plus. All these years I honed planning and thinking and controlling only thwart my improv. Planning and thinking and controlling works for me at work, saved me with my family, but hinders me when I'm improvising. Here's my dilemma: I love long-form improv, (never thought I'd say that!), but I need to learn to study the required literature without going to my happy place — my head. Intellectually, long-form seems like the perfect place for me, but I worry that it feeds in to my weakest improv link. (Great. I'm worrying about thinking. This is not a good sign.)
I will continue to try to learn long-form, to spin the plates of spontaneity, story-telling, and scholarship. They will wobble. They will crash. And, really, what's the big deal if it all crashes?
Wiseacre, I enjoy your blog very much. Even when it's painful stuff. And I very much admire your tenacity.
Thanks 'Cita (which I believe is preceded by mama…)