By Ali Davis
This is the final segment of improv teacher Ali Davis’s talk with Dr. William Tseng, an internationally recognized expert in liposarcoma surgery, on how the principles of improvisation apply to his work.
React to what’s there, not to what you expected to be there.
Perhaps the most enjoyable part of my talk with Tseng was when I explained the concept of steamrolling. That’s when an improviser, usually a newer one, walks onstage with an idea (Good!) and then can’t or won’t let go of it (Way less good!) when other players move the scene in a new direction. Steamrolling produces an unsatisfying scene for the other players, who are having their ideas shoved aside, as well as for the audience, who are stuck watching a scene that keeps getting jerked away from its natural flow. Read More