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The 47th Street Theatre, 1988, New York City. I’ve just joined the improvisational theatre group called The Groundlings. It’s
opening night and MY first night in the troupe. It’s improv, you know… brick wall, no
script, no choreography… just a paying mostly drunk public daring you to make them laugh.
I am racked with fear and I’m having Jewish hair issues no amount of gel will tame.
Curtain up. The audience is invited to play a game called, “This Group Of Professionals.”
Someone yells out a vocation, and we, the actors, have to BS our way through a scene
pretending to be those professionals. Someone in the audience shouts, “You are docents
in Salzburg, Austria, being trained to lead THE SOUND OF MUSIC guided tour.” – Really?
That JUST occurred to you?
Our director - Gordon, takes up the challenge – he welcomes the “docents” then conspiratorially
turns to me and says:
“Please, Fraulein Sharon, when von door closes, does another von open?”
There’s laughter, but I’m frozen. …How the heck do I answer that? It’s a rhetorical
question! Did he just throw me, the rookie, under the bus?! Then I remember the first
rule of improv- never answer a question with the word “No.” It stops the momentum and
kills the scene. The answer should be “Yes...and…”.
So I give it a try: “Yes, ...and, please mind your step as you follow me through this
door into the courtyard where Maria and Captain Von Trapp had their first dance”. It gets
a laugh.
The “yes…and” works. I survive my hazing. I’m actually having fun. My hair stops expanding.
So I add, “Herr Gordon, I’m sure it would delight our guests if you sang a few bars
of Edelweiss - He shoots daggers at me...Gordon is tone deaf!
But the audience joins right in…And scene over.
That night - the company invited me to become a permanent member, but could I commit to
this profession of "yes and"...?
More importantly - was I going to make my fortune, and find a nice Jewish Straight Man
in the theatre?
Yes...and...um. NO, not really. So I decided to move on.
But I didn’t leave empty handed. The Groundlings taught me that life doesn't always follow
a script, a manual…or even a map. There have been more than a few left turns I didn’t
see coming - both in my personal and my professional life. Improve taught me that if you do spin
out – it is important to stay present…because every life experience along the way can be
a resource, a ladder, a tool -- a secret password – A password that will open the next door.
Sometimes the magic words are “Yes…and”
As for Gordon…He taught me something that I use to this day - that a few bars of “Edelweiss”
is the perfect way to leave the stage. Anyone?