The Improv Theory

We can calculate, plan, and follow through.  Will the sum be what we expect?  In many proven cases, of course.  Though, just as there is an understood certainty for success in a well-thought-out plan, I think there is also an abundance of alternatives that can achieve the same result.  One, is improv.  I think there is still some planning that occurs in this process, but in the field of writing, songwriting, music production, and/or screenwriting, I believe there to be a more fluid attempt to fleshing out a story.  Reminder: The following is just a theory.

Everyone knows what improvisation is.  I’m not reinventing the wheel.  Though, I have come of across what I believe to be a conversation with the objective.  Have you ever noticed how an idea builds a bridge to something new?  For example, you’re buying a new car, and you want it to be red.  This is your idea.  You order your car, it arrives red, and you love it.  Now, if you’re contempt, the ball stops rolling.  If you get inside the car and realize you want to change the interior to match the paint, you have now entered a new chapter in your new car story.  Improv is achieving your new chapter in an impromptu manner.  My theory is based around the results of an improvisational process.

The only thing consistent about improvising is the finished product.  It’s never the same.  The interesting part about what I finish with, is how closely it relates to the larger perspective of who I am as a person.  It’s like taking a drive with no set destination, but you happen to stop somewhere, and you find something uniquely special there.  One could even say you were meant to find it, because of how closely it resonates with you.  My theory is, that through the process of improv, you not only freestyle a piece of art into its next chapter, but you also dialogue with a version of yourself you don’t commonly have access to.

Think of yourself as a maze.  A big maze.  You have found areas in that maze where you build pieces of yourself at.  The portion where you do your work.  The portion where you enjoy food.  The portion where you enjoy relationships.  Now just imagine what’s outside that maze!  How do you get there?

Try improvising.

Love,

Raph