Improvised
Ok, so here’s the deal. Since the turn of the year here in Charleston I’ve been taking Improv Comedy Classes at local Theatre 99. They’re well known in town for hosting comedy events and festivals, and have regular weekly shows. They also run improv classes.
Improvisation can be defined as “The practice of acting, singing, talking and reacting, of making and creating, in the moment and in response to the stimulus of one’s immediate environment”. Which I have to confess I didn’t really know or understand when I turned up for the first class. I’m not even really sure what made me want to go the very first time - I saw it mentioned in an email, I went along - and was instantly hooked.
And last night (Tuesday) was our recital night, where we got to perform in front of a real audience. What does this mean? Video opportunity of course! So with many thanks to Dan for helping me out on this, interviewing me, and doing most of the shooting. And from it, we made this mini docu-drama of Geoff doing improv. It’s ten minutes long, you’ll need Flash Player installed and you might need to buffer the video if you’re on a slower connection - but I think it’s worth it.
After living in London for the first 33 years of my life and working for the 
So for ten weeks in June, July and August 2009, I drove 20,000 miles around the the lower 48 contiguous states of the USA visiting towns and places that shared the same name as places on The London
March 13th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Great stuff Geoff! I’m so glad you really enjoyed that. I’m amazed it’s taken you this long to do stuff on stage…!
March 13th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
[...] Big Blogroll. Over the past couple months he has been taking improv classes with Theatre 99. Tuesday night was the big recital and Dan was there to film [...]
March 13th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
So…big grin to you. Not allowing myself to watch the video at work because I don’t have sound!!! Ugh. But glad you posted something about your newfound joy. Shout it to the world, Geoff…like I said, you deserve good things.
March 13th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
that’s the biggest smile at the end that I’ve ever seen! nice to see you come out of your shell. what’s next?
March 13th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Excellent stuff, really excellent. That took a lot of bottle and you certainly looked to enjoy it.
March 13th, 2008 at 10:08 pm
Ow wow, my son is an actor! Good to see you looking so cheerful, and thanks for the message at the end.
March 14th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Next stop “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”
March 14th, 2008 at 2:26 pm
I loved it. I always wondered how one can be so quick on their feet with that!
March 14th, 2008 at 2:54 pm
Well there are three Levels of classes - and I’ve just completed Level 1. Next weeks starts Level 2, at the end of which is another recital. Then Level 3 … if you complete that course, then they consider putting you on stage for one of their paid-for shows! scary stuff, so we’ll see how it goes …
March 15th, 2008 at 1:16 am
You are finally going for the idea i bugged you about for ages. As i said you have lots of stories and funny scenarios for comedy.
Well done on taing the second step.
March 15th, 2008 at 9:31 am
Good job! Reminds me of a certain German dude we saw at the comedy club in Croydon once. Just kidding.
(Nothing could be that bad!) Good on you for getting the guts to go on stage.
March 17th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
That was fun to watch! I admire people who can do that and enjoy it
March 18th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
#11 Oh my god. nothing could be worse than that German bloke. Goodness me! If ever there was proof that Germans have no sense of humour….
(Hi Kris, how ya doin?)
March 30th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
[11] - ah, the ‘funny’ German in a Croydon comedy club. Halcyon days, for sure…