It's spooky season, the time of the year when we face our biggest fears. For me, it's horror movies, and the streets of Rotterdam being flooded by student parties in halloween costumes ordered on Amazon.
In the spirit of Halloween, let's dive into this quote attributed to improv legend/comedy mobster Del Close . 'Follow Your Fear' invites you to do what scares you most and lean into the terrifying, uncomfortable, and unknown. It implies that fear is the Great Inhibitor.
At various stages of our improv lives, we've all experienced the 'liberation' of overcoming a fear. It could be signing up for a course, daring to play in front of others, being on stage for the first time, making a bold move or doing something we've never done before - using our body or voice in a new way, performing a new format, playing with the audience… There's indeed an immense reserve of growth and discovery to be found there.
However, fear is a signal. Fear arises with the threat of harm - be it physical danger or the threat of looking ridiculous. Fear is the mental and physical reaction that prepares you for fight-or-flight. And fear is here to keep us safe, too. Arguably, feeling frightened, frozen, threatened or eager to get the fuck out isn't really an improv-friendly state. Improvisation requires presence and trust, which involves safety. One cannot be creative, daring, and connected if threatened.
Ok, so — should we follow our fear?
The answer is, as you may imagine, it depends.
Following (and ignoring) the fear in an unsafe environment can turn counterproductive. It can leave lasting negative impacts, from deep-rooted cringe to the urge to give up on improv right away.
Therefore, encouraging improvisers to 'follow their fears' should also invite us to collectively work towards creating safer spaces. Classrooms that embrace failure and teachers that guide students into unknown lands; ensembles that celebrate bad shows; improvisers that check-in with each other; theatres that craft an artistic space where players feel like they can take risks and try new things.
Asking improvisers to 'follow the fear' is also an invitation to create learning and playing environments that help reduce the threats to leave space for the thrills.
Read more about emotional safety in improv : the Improv Illusionist
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