Listen better, respond more quickly
How improv helps you studyteach
Door Joana Abreu Morais
By Joana Abreu Morais
Joana Abreu Morais
At 8.15 p.m. on a Monday, there are barely any spots left to sit at Brouwerij Martinus. People are chatting, drinks in hand, the anticipation palpable. Then, four people step onto the little stage. ‘We are looking for a suggestion of something weird you’ve heard in the past week’, Ole Gmelin tells the crowd.
‘I wasn’t sure whether I should’ve asked!’ someone shouts from the audience. Tim Leegte doesn’t miss a beat. ‘Yes, she’s single’, he replies. ‘She broke up with me, but that doesn’t mean you can date her!’ And just like that, the random suggestions are turned into a comic scene of love and jealousy.
This is improv comedy group Stranger Things Have Happened, which has been running the international improv scene in Groningen for over fifteen years now. Every Monday four actors lead the weekly improv jam, alternating some of the participants every other week. Today they are Jenifer Yáñez Villahermosa and Tim Kreutz, in addition to Gmelin and Leegte.
Throughout the evening, the group plays a series of improv games built entirely on audience suggestions – objects, relationships, locations, emotions – which are then used as the starting point for a scene. One moment they’re trying to issue a passport for their pet whale, and the next, living inside Mary Poppins’ bag.
Valuable skills
It may just seem like a bit of fun, for the audience and actors alike. But improv has given Gmelin valuable skills for his work as an assistant professor of psychology at the UG. ‘I’ve realised that I can’t always control the outcome of situations, and now I feel less pressure to take charge.’
You learn to be comfortable with silences
Being in front of an audience is quite similar to being in a classroom full of students, he explains. ‘You learn to be comfortable with silences. And in teaching, making eye contact and waiting until something happens allows students to be involved.’
Gmelin still remembers the first time he saw the group performing, fourteen years ago during KEI Week. He had just moved to Groningen from Germany to start his studies. ‘It looked like magic happening in front of me. People were making up a world so effortlessly’, he says. ‘That’s when I knew: one day I’ll be up there on the stage.’
Perfectionism
UG students and staff members have always been at the heart of Stranger Things, which was founded in 2009 by then-UG English lecturer Cees Krottje, student Tom Wilcox and PhD student Kees de Vries. And they have discovered that having to think on their feet, adapt to the unexpected and work as a team – all in English – has helped them communicate and relax in challenging situations.
For Yáñez Villahermosa, improv helped her let go of the perfectionism that nearly caused her to quit her studies. She was studying to be a classical musician in her home country Spain, but felt there was something missing: ‘I was so focused on playing the piano perfectly, and I felt trapped in a space where I had little room for creativity.’
To get her mind off the piano and step out of her comfort zone, she signed up for an intensive improv class. It was life-changing. ‘I had a habit of negative self-talking. Improv helped me change that. It helped me accept and deal with unexpected outcomes in a positive way, and to talk kindly to myself when things didn’t go as planned.’
Improv games
Since then, she says, ‘everything I’ve done in my career has been shaped by my experiences and learnings through improv.’ She came to the Netherlands in 2013 to finish her degree and joined Stranger Things in 2015 as a pianist and performer. Now, she’s working on a PhD that focuses on how improvisational techniques can be integrated into higher education, improving communication skills, creativity, and expressiveness.
‘Through improv games, students as well as lecturers can become aware of how they communicate, listen and take on other people’s ideas’, she explains. That is useful for group projects, for example.
Improv helped me to talk kindly to myself when things didn’t go as planned
‘Association ball’, a game where you say a word, then throw a ball at another person who quickly has to say another word that comes to mind, says something about who you are. While some may think quickly, others might overthink, hesitate or even go blank. ‘Are you able to express your ideas, or are you just trying to make sense to others?’ The exercise teaches you to let go of mental blocks, and embrace spontaneity.
Other exercises are about active listening. ‘Listening doesn’t mean sitting there blankly and then staring at the other person until it’s your time to speak’, says Gmelin. ‘Listening means that once you’re done, I try to actively connect to what you said.’
Improv also helps you to be more expressive and have more stage presence. ‘As musicians, we work a lot on playing the right notes and making things sound as beautiful as possible. But we forget that there’s a body attached to the hands that are playing the instrument’, says Yáñez Villahermosa.
Workshops
To help others benefit from improvisational techniques, Stranger Things offers workshops and courses. PhD student Gábor Érsek has found improv has made him a more effective listener in the day to day. ‘I learned to react to situations, and for that I need to pay attention to what is said. So it helped me to listen to people more deeply’, he says.
To react to situations, I need to pay attention to what is said
But the most important thing people overcome on stage is the fear of falling short. ‘Nothing really bad happens if you don’t do well’, says bachelor student of philosophy and education Judy, who’s currently doing the advanced course.
‘In the beginning I always feel nervous, but once you start playing it’s just so much fun’, says microbiology PhD student Rabia Sensevdi. She took the improv for beginners course last September. ‘I learned it’s okay to fail, and to rely on others to help you.’
Improv offers a safe space for people to figure out who they are and to experiment with different ways of behaving, of communicating with each other, and of moving around, explains Yáñez Villahermosa. ‘If you’re constantly thinking what you’re doing is wrong, then you’re never going to actually dare take a step forward.’
For more information on the improv workshops and courses and Stranger Things’ upcoming shows, check out their website. There’s also an USVA beginner’s course run by group members.