Incidental Learning with Patti Stiles

Incidental Learning refers to learning that occurs without the intention to learn, often as a byproduct of engaging in other activities.

Recently, two groups of intrepid improvisers were fortunate to attend intensive workshops run by improviser extraordinaire Patti Stiles. Patti’s workshops were aimed at helping the attendees not be constrained by the ‘so-called’ rules of improvisation and developing the improvisation skills of the participants on an individual basis. Thanks to Patti’s immeasurable teaching experience and her kind but no nonsense feedback, the lucky attendees enhanced their storytelling skills and gained new and valuable insight into their strengths and weaknesses as performers.

Due to the exercises devised by Patti and the commitment and zeal shown by the workshop attendees, there were also incidental lessons learned in addition to the central tenets of Improv wisdom she imparted. Presented below are what the attendees learned incidentally about improv, life, themselves and each other.

Approach life with a smile, or at least a cheeky grin

An unexpected direction given by Patti to a performer was that they should smile or grin when preparing to enter a scene. The idea of the smile or grin was to distract the performer from their anxiousness about entering the scene and give them a feeling of freedom and confidence.

It goes without saying that if a simple smile can make you a better improviser, then it can probably work wonders in other areas of your life as well. Feeling a bit down? Smile. Not looking forward to a difficult day at work? Smile. Gotta do a presentation and hate public speaking? Smile.

Given the rising rates of anxiety in the world today, it’s great to receive a reminder of the power of a smile.

Sick of regular dating? Be as blunt as possible

One of Patti’s goals during her intensive workshops was to identify which performers were “Drivers” and which were “Passengers”. In an Improv context, Drivers are those you are more comfortable taking the lead and controlling the direction of a scene, while Passengers are those who prefer to go along with the flow and provide support to the Driver and their ideas.

In order to snap a particular performer out of their tendency to be a Passenger, a scenario was set up where this performer would essentially be speed dating and asking their fellow performers (who were the potential suitors) blunt and difficult to answer questions. Great fun was had by all, as the main performer delighted in bluntly interrogating their admirers while the other performers became increasingly awkward and flummoxed in their attempt to make a connection.

The incidental lesson learned from this is that, clearly, when dating in real life you should be as blunt as possible. Don’t beat around the bush. Demand to know how your paramours plan to get along with your many siblings or whether they are engaged in the trading of carbon credits (they should be!). And if they don’t give a satisfactory answer, just brush them off with a dismissive wave and think no more about them. You’ll save time and it’ll be heaps fun.

It’s ok to let it all out and have a good cry

Similar to her encouragement to not hold back in making many and varied noises, Patti encouraged many performers to not be shy in showing big emotions. In particular, if it was shown that a character was probably sad, then it would likely be more interesting for the performer to let out a big cry. And it was more interesting! Letting out big emotions gave each relevant scene an interesting pivot point, progressed the developing story and gave the other performers more to play with.

So if having a big cry in an improv scene is ok, then we can be confident that it would not be the worst thing to do in real life. You’ll definitely make people sit up and pay attention. What’s more, we can infer that letting it all out is much more likely to lead to growth and resolution than keeping your feelings bottled up inside. Don’t be afraid to give it a go.

One particular performer may have unresolved family issues

When you take part in a full day, intensive improv workshop, you start to notice when particular themes are repeated in different exercises. So it was particularly noticeable when one particular performer (who shall remain unidentified) appeared to delight in playing characters who had enacted violent crimes against their brothers.

In one scene, this performer called their mother to brag about how they had just killed their brother and demanded to know if they were now the favourite child as a result. In another scene, the same performer played a ghost who haunted a prison cell where they had been sent after harming a brother who didn’t want to play with him anymore.

Now we’re not trained psychoanalysts, but the incidental lesson was that this performer clearly has some unresolved feelings towards their own brothers. But the brothers in question don’t have to worry now because taking part in those scenes probably exorcised that performer’s demons………………………right?

One of these people could have unresolved familial tension to work through