WHO'S LAUGHING AT YOU KID

I recently finished the second of five levels in Improv training at Second City Toronto. It was a nerve racking and exhilarating experience. Each week I would walk away exhausted from thinking about how well I was 'playing' with others and whether certain character or scene choices I made could have been played better. Or when that person said that thing 'they were just acting right? There was no hidden meaning... right?'


We graduated last night (yep I finished very recently) and I realized that something amazing had taken place between this diverse bunch of people. Our ages spanned several generations, our backgrounds were as diverse as the food choices in Toronto yet Improv bound us all with it's whimsical call to 'come and play.' We each used our differences to play hard, to find the thrilling and beautiful moment that could take place when you simply let spontaneous creativity guide you and DON'T OVER THINK IT!


I love to laugh and I am willing to admit I completely and enthusiastically enjoy laughing at others. OH THE HORROR. I know our mother's always said you should be laughing with them not at them. But I'm afraid I love to see people in that desperate moment of what do I say next and all the funniness that happens when a group of people fail together with absolute comedic gold. In fact I'm renowned for my laugh. And though in a new city I could try and reinvent myself I have chosen not to tamper with my funny button. In fact it is now on my permanent record at Second City that I 'enjoy watching others, Kathryn is our most frequent laugher.' How's that for a report card! 


I am unashamed of the enjoyment I get from watching the incredible beauty, funniness and joy there is in humanity. To be quick to laugh is to be quick to see the beauty, joy, friendliness, kindness and fun in life. It is to enjoy each moment rather than endure each moment. It is to increase your immune system not tear it down with negativity, anxiety and doubt. To laugh is to lengthen your life.


So, to my Thursday night Level B friends I say salut! Cheers to you, my brilliant improv friends, and may each of you go confidently laughing in the direction of dreams.