Sunday, January 13, 2013

Trying Something New – A Comedy Improv Workshop!




While I rarely check my personal email during the business day, for some reason Friday about noon I checked my in-box and found an email from Dharma Studio, my resource for all things yoga, and noticed a reminder about an improv comedy workshop scheduled for the next day. While ordinarily the notice would not have caught my eye, the fact that it would be hosted by Dharma and the group offering the curriculum was called Last Ham Standing, I was hooked.

Since childhood I’ve loved pigs. No doubt – the fact I was born in the Chinese Year of the Boar, a fact I did not appreciate until my late 20’s, influenced my affection for the pig. Plus – I love pork – ham, BBQ ribs, pork shoulder, pork chops, pork loin and…..BACON! I was intrigued. I loved the name of the group. And…after living 7 years living outside Winchester spending a significant amount of time commuting,  or working from home and venturing the 20 minute drive into town from the sanctuary we call home, I thought at least I would meet some new people.

Despite a reputation for being relatively extraverted, I tend to be content wrapped in my own little world of gardening, books, yoga, wine &  enjoying the purrs of our cats. But, it was a new year and I decided to risk going outside my comfort zone to meet new people and try something new.

I had a great time! I risked looking silly in front of others. I learned the only rule of improve is—“yes, and…”.  We played freeze, new choice, advice panel and dumbbell races.  I met some interesting people. It was quite an eclectic group. I found out about a group called “Meet Up” that may help me find more interesting people that have moved to this area. I joined the group for a beer at Piccadilly’s, a local watering hole; and learned about the eclectic backgrounds of the people who participated that day – two young women who went skydiving in Hawaii, someone who thought she was coming to see an improv show, met a world freestyle Frisbee champion, somebody who moved from Long Island to rural Virginia for a job, people suffering from culture shock from relocating from an urban environment to a quieter place at the edge of the Shenandoah Valley, a filmmaker who fled the urban life for a peaceful retreat in the country only to find it a bit too peaceful.

This was a gold mine of a new experience. The older I grow the more sure I am that life is an amazing opportunity to relish every day. Trying something new and different keeps us interesting and interested. Go for the gusto….as the beer commercial used to say. 

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