Improv is spontaneous. Improvisors spend a long time training our brains to lower the barrier between thinking and saying, and we challenge ourselves not to self-censor, to make mistakes and think of them as gifts. Our audiences love us for this, and it's part of the reason they keep coming back, week after week, to see what we will do or say onstage.
When it comes to trigger and taboo topics, though, where do we draw the line? As artists, we have a responsibility to tell the truth about the world we live in. As improvisors, we're expected to find the humor in whatever suggestions our audiences give us. And as performers, we have a responsibility to our fellow players as well as to the audiences that come to see us.
When it comes to trigger topics, let's choose kindness. We don't know who is hurting and how -- amongst our fellow players and in our audiences. Let's take suggestions that inspire us, not ones that make us uncomfortable. Let's leave hot-button topics -- especially ones to which we have no personal and deep connection -- to other realms of comedy. And let's trust that, when we do make a mis-step and accidentally cause hurt, we'll find ready forgiveness from our community.
No comments:
Post a Comment