IMPROV! WOW! YES!

I'm back and obviously feeling the bern

HELLO EVERYONE! It's been a really REALLY long time! If you're new here, I'm Marlee. If you're old here, I'm still Marlee but this time I'M BACK! I haven't been on here in what feels like two years. Oh wait, it has been two years hasn't it? Anyway, I'm sorry I lost my way with this blog and that I fell really behind. I'm going to try and keep up this time so sorry in advance if I don't.

My life is very different than it was two years ago. I still have the same old office job and the same old cats, but now I'm ENGAGED and back in the improv game. I've been doing improv for almost 4 years now and I figured it would be an appropriate topic to come back to. I took a long break away because I felt a little burnt out. I saw a lot of people moving forward and me just staying still and it bothered me. I needed to fix this. 

My first step in fixing my improv problem (or lack of improv problem) was volunteering at UCB's Del Close Marathon last year. I had always wanted to do it and just never had the initiative. Last year was different. My boyfriend and I signed up together before I realized we might be given a shift we couldn't cover. Oddly enough we both got picked for the exact same shift, except mine changed the day of. He was working at a bigger theater and I got taken away to help stage manage a much much smaller space. It was very fun but exhausting. It made me realize what I had been missing by sitting out. I saw several people who were super excited just to be performing for a 15 minute set because it was for the marathon. I knew I had to make a change.

It had been a while since I had taken a class. Almost the amount of time I'd be stuck having to repeat a course just to move forward. I decided on a whim to apply for the advanced study program. I was TERRIFIED. I didn't think I'd ever get picked for that program since I had heard stories of people getting rejected. Advanced study at UCB is usually referred to as their "grad school". If I wasn't good enough to get into a 4 year college how could I possibly be good enough for grad school? Well, I decided to try anyway since I had tons of doubts.

A couple days after the marathon I applied. A week later I got an email from a past teacher who I really liked. He liked me too, apparently, and approved me. My warning was that since I had falled behind I'd need to figure out a way to catch up. I applied for classes all the time and kept not getting picked for them. It sucked. I thought it was me being rejected but their system isn't like that. It just feels like that. I finally got picked for a class. It was a newer course and I was excited and terrified. 

My teacher was really great and the improvisers were amazing. It was both awesome and scary to be with people with such talent. I tried to keep up and I think I did. My teacher was super supportive and really helped all of us get through the course and get a better understanding of what we were trying. We did 3 shows and they were all fun. My boyfriend proposed to me after my first show when he showed up and surprised me since he said he wasn't coming. My first show was probably the best one for that reason alone. UCB is special to me and he knew that and it was kind of magical being proposed to on a street corner.

Once our class was over, one of my classmates sent out an email to all of us about a program called Instant Teams. You sign up and tell them your experience and what you want to work on and hopefully they pick you and put you on a team. It's an 8 week program with strangers at a brand new theater called Reckless Theatre. I decided to sign up because the price was good and I wanted to try something else since getting into advanced study classes was tough.

I ended up getting chosen for an organic edit harold but it turned into an organic edit montage. I met people who were so talented. The people on my team were so fun to work with and so supportive. I have never worked with people who gave you so much support week after week. It was actually amazing. Every week we learned more and more from our awesome coach and had such fun doing it. We did 7 shows together and it was probably the best time I've ever had doing improv. There were 5 teams in total who did very different shows and every week I was impressed by every single one of them and the work they all put in. It was incredible to finally feel apart of something.

I have decided to take a class at Reckless and see what opportunities are there whether they be meeting new friends, learning more, performing more, or what. I'm just looking forward to a bright future with them. I will always love UCB and always want to be there as well so hopefully I can swing that. This year I have submitted a couple bit shows to the marathon and have been cast in a couple so it would be pretty cool to have a performer wristband.

This post was actually supposed to be a look back on my 4 years of improv and it turned into a look at what you guys missed. Oops. Well to sum it up I had terrible stage fright ever since elementary school. I wanted to do comedy (thanks to my mom and the Kids in the Hall) but was terrified to. I took a sketch class first and liked it a lot but wanted more. I took improv 101 on April 17th of 2012. I was very nervous but once I got into it I wasn't afraid anymore. I wanted to be seen and I wanted to be heard. It took me a long time to finally jump up and try to be the center of a scene but now that I've done it I love it and need to keep it up. I'm incredibly proud of myself and I can't believe I've come as far as I have, even though it doesn't really seem like it. To me it's further in the right direction. This April 17th my instant teams team Principal Vernon has a show. I found this very fitting and I'm excited to celebrate my improv-iversary with my lovable team of misfits.

So that's my improv post. I think I'll be back because doing this reminded me of how much I like blogging and talking to you (whoever you may be). Until next time check out our profile on Improv Teams for upcoming shows and whatnot and check out my Twitter because I'm on there a lot nowadays. See ya later!