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Putting Improv to Work, a new book by Greg Hohn
Improv is an art form in which participants act and respond in the present, trusting that each thoughtful action will lead to a wonderful outcome—even if it isn’t the intended result. In this book, the principles and practices of unscripted theater are applied to...
The Man with the Burnt Face
Dad was watching Lon Chaney in The Phantom of the Opera, the black-and-white 1925 film, on our black-and-white 1965 TV. This was not a family evening, just Dad relaxing with a Salem menthol or two after supper and a hard day’s work. I watched a little bit of the movie...
With Heart: Life Lessons from Improv with Greg Hohn
After years of teaching and performing improvisational theater, Greg Hohn recognized his students were discovering innovative ways to apply improv lessons off stage. Greg has refined his improv instruction to focus on these skills with students in non-theatrical venues.
Respect Everyone. Fear No One.
“Respect everyone. Fear no one.” I love this saying, which I first heard in reference to bicycle racing. The rider shows up for a race or a ride and sees the other riders. That rider might take some riders too lightly based on appearances and be unpleasantly...
Being Better than Not-Bad
Whatever is worth doing at all is worth doing well. -Lord Chesterfield One of the assignments for students in my FIZ courses is making a one-minute spontaneous speech about something that is important to them as individuals. I refer to this as the “passionate...
The True Comfort Zone
If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end; if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin, and in the end, despair. -C.S. Lewis Unless you’re looking to become an onstage performer, one of...
Improv and the Art of Motorcycling
When in doubt, gas it. -Motorcycling axiom Two of my very favorite things in life are improv and motorcycling. The former has been my profession since 1989 and the latter a means of transportation and a hobby since 1986. Although I've been doing both things for a long...
Perfection Is Created, Not Achieved
People throw away what they could have by insisting on perfection, which they cannot have. -Edith Schaeffer For a theoretically good thing, perfection sure does cause a lot of trouble. Maybe perfection's theoretical nature is itself the problem. Perfection doesn't...
Avoiding Regret
Regret for the things we did can be tempered by time; it is regret for the things we did not do that is inconsolable. -Sydney Smith Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves--regret for the past and fear of the future. -Fulton Oursler The drive from Wilmington,...
Don’t Anticipate… REACT!
Expecting is the greatest impediment to living. In anticipation of tomorrow, it loses today. -Seneca Our society seems to regard anticipation as a very valuable and necessary skill. Everyone seems to want to anticipate what's going to happen or they're ready to...
