Yesterday I had the privilege of taking a workshop called “Truth and Beauty” with the fabulous Jill Bernard. Jill is the creator of Drum Machine, a solo improvised show in which she blends a historical event and an audience member’s life into a single heartwarming story (complete with hate, love, and drum machine beats!). She is also one-half the duo SCRAM with Joe Bill of the Annoyance, the author of the Small Cute Book of Improv, and a veteran member of ComedySportz Twin Cities.
Jill does her Drum Machine Thang.
What is Truth and Beauty? Uh, that’s kind of a massive question for me to tackle. So let’s instead ask “What is a Truth and Beauty improv workshop?”
If I had to choose a thesis statement for this workshop (and I do!) I’d say it was “Vulnerable improvisers are compelling improvisers.” We spent the day opening our emotions, connecting with our scene partners, and how to be wary of “that guy”- the one who always takes a heartfelt offer and makes it into a dick joke. We explored the infinite power of silence. We ended the day with an exercise meant to show that everyone is capable of both driving a scene and taking a backseat to their partner.
The important thing is that one should not confuse heartfelt, vulnerable work with serious or dramatic work. There is an overlap, but they are not the same thing. Jill touched on that during her introduction, referencing a recent trend in longform in which people were performing serious work as a sort of correction against the goofy improv they felt was predominant in the community.
I remember that trend; during its peak I saw one or two shows that were pretty good, but you know what? A lot of them were not good at all. It became clear to me that serious is not a short-cut to quality theater. I don’t think it makes the work any more legitimate to restrict yourself to playing straight or quote-end-quote “real” characters at all times. It is entirely possible to see a lazy-eyed cartoon bear, who is also farting nickels, do a heartfelt scene about loneliness. There is equal potential in seeing me play my hypothetical nickel-farting bear as there is to seeing me a twenty-something woman nervous about a date. As long as the emotions I’m exploring are real, the human audience will be engaged.
People confuse patient with slow, and they confuse serious with boring. DON’T LET IT HAPPEN TO YOU!!!!!!
Ps: Jill is on a mission to teach in all 50 states, so hopefully she’ll be coming to a town near you!
Tags: Jill Bernard, Workshops
I can’t speak highly enough about Jill! She is not only a consumate performer, but she is dedicated to her craft and her teachings and doings only reflect this.
Early on in my improv career (yes career) i was able to see drum machine and was blown away. In addition I have taken her character workshops which were eye opening to me. If you have the chance to learn from her, recommendations come highly from myself. You will love and adore her from the minute you meet her.
This post rules. Jill is the woman who inspired me to do the one man beatbox/bat.
She is awesome.
BOC