{"id":39355,"date":"2022-09-02T01:53:07","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T08:53:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=39355"},"modified":"2022-09-01T16:24:44","modified_gmt":"2022-09-01T23:24:44","slug":"many-reasons-to-learn-improv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2022\/09\/02\/many-reasons-to-learn-improv\/","title":{"rendered":"Many reasons to learn improv"},"content":{"rendered":"

Students Adrianne Fitch and Brian Nguyen, with instructor Irwin Levin behind them. Levin and Cass Freeman teach a free workshop on Sept. 13. (photo by Adam Abrams)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I teach a series of eight classes, I see people who are quite scared and nervous and sometimes very shy, and watch them become daring and playful improvisers towards the last class, and that is quite satisfying,\u201d Cass Freeman told the Independent.<\/em><\/p>\n

Freeman and her husband, Irwin Levin, are teaching an improv workshop with a focus on teamwork at Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House Sept. 13. As well, Freeman is teaching a series at the Roundhouse Community Arts and Recreation Centre that runs eight Tuesday nights, starting Sept. 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really care about our students\u2019 experiences,\u201d said Freeman, who has taught improv comedy games on and off since the early 1990s. \u201cWe really want them to enjoy themselves and relax so they can be spontaneous. We rarely put people on the spot and, when we do, we coach them, so they don\u2019t have to struggle up there alone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeman was an injured dancer when she found Vancouver Theatresports, now called the Improv Centre. \u201cI saw them perform one night in the 1980s,\u201d she said, \u201cand I thought, \u2018I can do that!\u2019 So, I took a series of classes there and ended up performing in their first-ever Rookie Night. I was terrified, but I remember the audience endowing me as embarrassed, so I just hid behind the other players for a whole scene and did OK.<\/p>\n

\u201cImprov is such a positive form of theatre,\u201d she added. \u201cThe people are really great, very playful and intelligent. I was quite a negative person in some ways, during my 20s especially. Improv really turned around my life. I was much more accepting of other people\u2019s ideas. And I found the work to be really healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levin first heard about improv from Freeman. \u201cI was doing standup comedy when I met Cass and found out that she was doing improv,\u201d he said. \u201cI was attracted to both Cass and improv simultaneously! (We met in 1994 and were married in 2000.) Now I will be taking a standup course as well as assisting Cass in improv workshops, so I will be getting the best of both comedy worlds.\u201d<\/p>\n

The couple has recently started their own improv business.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d like to spread some playfulness, laughter and joy around our little corner of the world,\u201d said Freeman about the venture. \u201cWe\u2019d like to teach improv games for teamwork, stress reduction and creativity or just plain fun in as many different organizations as we can. People in the Jewish community have an amazing sense of humour, so we\u2019d love to teach anyone in the community who is interested.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Cass Freeman teaches an eight-class improv course at the Roundhouse this month, starting Sept. 20. (photo by Irwin Levin)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Freeman has worked as a freelance journalist in radio, television and print since 1987. Her first article in the Jewish Independent<\/em>, which was then called the Jewish Western Bulletin<\/em>, was in 1982 \u2013 about human rights activist Judy Feld Carr and her efforts over some 30 years to bring Jews out of Syria. Her most recent article was this past April, a profile of Vancouver Playback Theatre.<\/p>\n

Local readers may also know Freeman\u2019s name from The World According to Keith<\/em>, a 2004 documentary for Bravo TV that she co-produced, about Theatresports creator and instructor Keith Johnstone.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeith Johnstone created Theatresports, along with his university students in Calgary, during the late 1970s,\u201d explained Freeman. \u201cHe has also taught improv all over the world and there are now more than 150 theatre troupes who perform Theatresports and other formats he has created, like Maestro Impro and his favourite format, called the Life Game. You can see Maestro Impro at Tightrope Theatre in Vancouver.<\/p>\n

\u201cKeith trusted me to make a documentary about him because after I watched his righthand man, Dennis Cahill, do a weekend workshop in Calgary, he said to me, \u2018You were great, you were like a fly on the wall. We\u2019ve had other journalists here and they were quite obnoxious.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cKeith became like a second father to me,\u201d said Freeman. \u201cMy dad came from England and Keith has the same wicked British sense of humour. We still keep in touch and I have an autographed book from him that says, \u2018Be average, Cassandra,\u2019 since he noticed that when I was in his workshops that I tried too hard.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another memorable moment in her career came when she was teaching at the Vancouver School Board night school, which she did for about five years. \u201cOne night,\u201d said Freeman, \u201cthe administrator called me into his office and said, \u2018The instructor next door to you is complaining that his students can\u2019t concentrate because your students are laughing too much.\u2019 It was the best insult anyone has ever given me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Levin recalled a private workshop he and Freeman did this past July. \u201cOne of the students was so inspired,\u201d said Levin, \u201che has decided to pursue a career in acting.\u201d<\/p>\n

But aspirations to be an actor are not the main reason to learn improv.<\/p>\n

\u201cImprov can relieve stress, reduce stage fright and improve self-esteem,\u201d said Freeman. \u201cImprov games encourage creativity, quick thinking and communication skills, and are a great tool for breaking the ice, having fun and building team spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

She described improv as a team sport, with almost all the games being about supporting the other person or people onstage with you. This is why it\u2019s a great way to get over stage fright, she said, \u201cbecause the focus will rarely be on you alone, like it is in standup comedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Freeman and Levin welcome people of all ages, backgrounds and abilities to take their classes, as well as members of the LGBTQ+ community. And, as mentioned previously, fellow members of the Jewish community.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d love to hear someone say \u2018oy!\u2019 on our stage. Or any other Yiddish or Hebrew phrases,\u201d said Freeman. \u201cThere aren\u2019t many improvisers out there who are Jewish and we\u2019d like to change that.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are also not many improv instructors who are Jewish, she said. Nor instructors who have a disability.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m among the many people who have an invisible disability,\u201d she shared. \u201cI\u2019ve had it since I was 19. The way it affects me today, a few decades later, is that I can\u2019t stand in line on pavement and I can\u2019t walk at all unless I\u2019m wearing a very shock absorbing running shoe. So, when I teach, I have to wear runners. At our last workshop, nine out of the 14 people participating said they had something physically wrong with them. We are delighted to be able to teach people with varying physical abilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

The free team-focused workshop on Sept. 13, 6-7:30 p.m., is part of Mount Pleasant Neighbourhood House\u2019s Generations Moving Together (GMT) program, which \u201cencourage[s] community involvement, movement, learning and connection between younger and older generations.\u201d To register for the workshop, contact GMT coordinator Daniela Gunn-Doerge at dgunndoerge@mpnh.org<\/a> or call 604-879-8208, ext. 225. (Refreshments are provided.)<\/p>\n

The improv classes at the Roundhouse run on Tuesdays from Sept. 20 to Nov. 8, 6:30-8:30 p.m. It\u2019s $160, but half price for people who have a Leisure Access Card. To register, click here<\/a>\u00a0or call the Roundhouse on Sept. 17\u00a0<\/span>at 604-713-1800. Freeman and Levin can be reached at casan@shaw.ca<\/a> or 604-872-4638.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Students Adrianne Fitch and Brian Nguyen, with instructor Irwin Levin behind them. Levin and Cass Freeman teach a free workshop on Sept. 13. (photo by Adam Abrams) \u201cWhen I teach a series of eight classes, I see people who are quite scared and nervous and sometimes very shy, and watch them become daring and playful […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39357,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[785],"tags":[20057,3076,7323],"class_list":["post-39355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-performing-arts","tag-acting","tag-education","tag-improv"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39357"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}