An Experience of Endless Possibility

Leading Up to the next session of the Everyday Improviser online series Oct. 24-28, we (myself and collaborator Robert Poynton ) will be sharing stories of where improvisation intersects with everyday life.

Do I have the patience for this??

You can divide the world into two kinds of people: those that like soccer (football) and those that don’t. My friend Rob is in the first category. I am in the second. Or at least, I was, until last week.?My daughter Emma convinced me to go see a professional women's soccer match. The Portland Thorns were playing Chelsea FC for a third place showing in the International Champions Cup.

Emma and I got to our seats, took in the atmosphere, sights and sounds (there are deafening drums and smoke machines constantly in action) and settled in for the match.?As the game began I realized that I didn't really care about the outcome, had a list of to do’s and projects waiting for me back at home and wondered if I had the patience to watch people running around chasing a ball for 90 minutes with the potential for a scoreless outcome at the end. It took about 3 minutes to forget all of this and become completely riveted.

Unearthly skill?

First was the unearthly skill I saw on display. I have a hard time kicking a stationary ball.?I once tried to kick a field goal during an offsite at Cowboy Stadium in Dallas. I tried 12 times but it was impossible. I pulled a hamstring.?Seeing a human stop a streaking ball in mid air with their foot and redirecting it to a teammate was mind blowing.

Better than Star Wars

Second, and the reason I am writing this piece, was the?deep improvisation on display. This was more exciting than anything I could have seen that was pre-planned or scripted. Yep, I am declaring that a 3rd place women's club match was more engaging to me than Star Wars. Every action was dictated by the action that immediately preceded it and together the cumulative effect was that I was not just watching something that someone else had made, but rather I was experiencing the endless possibility of a story that could shift and change every second. This was a story that could not have been predicted and was being written (played) in front of my very eyes.?

World class engagement?

Our home team lost that game. But I didn't really care. I was exhilarated and exhausted. My brain was learning, appreciating and following spontaneity in real time.?Emma and I talked about the experience on the drive home and together we came up with this formula:?

?Mastery?(in this case amazing soccer skill)

+ Improvisation?(unplanned/unpredictable action)

=?World Class Engagement?( in our case A great f***** evening!).

Where else might that you use that formula, I wonder...

The Everyday Improviser will run?from Monday October 24th to Friday October 28th at 5pm CET (4pm UK, 8am PST, 11am EST). Until then, we will be sharing stories of everyday improvisation. More information and tickets here.