
IMPROV WITH CHARLOTTE
A few years ago, Heather’s improv group began having some shows at a new local comedy club at Marathon Village. The Sunday night shows sometimes had a theme or other performers joining in and the audience got to participate by giving challenges to the improvisers. This photo captures the tone of an evening at the club. This time the featured musical guests were The Ukedelics, Nashville’s favorite ukulele band. On the left, Heather’s chatting with her friend who’s a member of the group as the musicians give their attention to Charlotte’s own improvised dance routine. After the show was finished, she loved to get up on stage with all the performers and add her postscript to the evening.
Learning more about improvisation through Heather’s training and performance has been a good experience. To see her able to do things she previously thought impossible—like doing live improv routines before audiences (without any stage fright), writing and belting out songs onstage (when previously she insisted she couldn’t sing) and perfecting her clown persona—was entertainment at its best.
She’s also taught us (including the Camp Grandmama kids) to play some challenging and entertaining improv games. I’ve also used them at some group parties with friends.
Today in a podcast, my favorite contemporary poet Christian Wiman spoke about writing poetry as improvisation. He described the way his poems come to life—spilling out unscripted and freely. Creativity unleashed. Doing what you thought you never could do.