Stand-Up, Improv

by Will

Did stand-up. Felt rusty, but it was a friendly crowd and a good line-up so it wasn’t a bad place to jump back in the pool. Then did an improv show at the homestead at 11pm. At stand-up shows, I feel an intense pressure to be as natural as possible — chatty and honest — and to avoid being uncool. At improv shows I feel a pressure to instantly HAVE ENERGY (not that you can always tell this from my performance) and to deliberately be uncool and silly — intelligence, naturalism and honesty comes second, and only because I’ve learned that it’s essential. It’s jarring to jump from one world to the next.

I’m not articulating it well. Any thoughts, those who have traveled in both worlds?