Last in a series…

Gary Schwartz

While at the Applied Improvisation Conference, I drank beer one afternoon with Gary Schwartz, of Spolin.com. Gary is Viola (pronounced vy-OH-la) )Spolin’s protégé, keeper and practitioner of what is, in my opinion, the mother lode of improvisation, the practice built by the grand dame of the craft, the godmother of the game.  Hearing stories about Spolin and her teaching was in itself worth the trip.

Schwartz, who before meeting Spolin had studied to become a mime, described for me how Viola taught (no nonsense, all about interaction, no note-taking allowed).  How she coached (get out of your head!)  How he happened to become her assistant (a random act of kindness on his part).  How long it took him for a real breakthrough to happen (a long time).

He said that Viola was profoundly influenced by a book entitled The Tao of Physics, which is now at the top of my reading list.

Viola Spolin did profound work that that relates improvisation to all human endeavors, and has particular relevance for business in the Networked World.  She said things like:

“Information is a very weak form of communication.”  (GameChangers translation: Meaning lies beneath the surface of things, hidden behind the facade, the artifice, the mask, it is found primarily in the emotions and in the meta symbolism lurking behind the cosmetic layer of information.)

And –

“Creativity is not the clever rearranging of the known.”  (GameChangers translation: Creativity is daring by design, a plunge into the unknown, into the collective unconscious, and into one’s own subconscious.  It is not rearrangement.  It is newness.  It is radical juxtaposition.  Ultimately it is transformation.)

And –

“Talent or lack of talent have nothing to do with it.”  (GameChangers translation: The individual’s ability to interact with, and be transformed by, environment, has everything to do with it.)  “Act on environment, Spolin said, “and environment will act on you.”

And –

“Don’t thank me!   It’s not me!  It’s not ME.  It’s the WORK!” (GameChangers translation: Stay humble, stay focused, and don’t be an asshole.)

Schwartz quoted Spolin as saying of improvisation, “You can’t write about it, it can’t be described that way. You have to experience it.  When you do it, it’s in your bones.”

At Spolin’s suggestion, I’ll quit writing now, and show you pictures–which I’m sure  Spolin would’ve had said is no substitute for the experience either–of improvisers having the experience at Edgefield.  Good name for it, Edgefield.  We like that about it. At the edge of the field, the transformation begins.