Improv Wisdom: Showing Up for Your Life

(DRA 173 B)

The study of improvisation provides us with a way to learn to trust our own ideas. If you doubt your ability to adapt to change, and to think and speak spontaneously, this course will give you tools you can use to develop a more nimble and responsive engagement with life. True creativity lies in honoring your own voice. Improv basics include attention to reality, learning how to work with a spirit of cooperation, and coping positively with mistakes. Improvisation is not about comedy or being clever; it is about recovering and using your native common sense to solve problems. In addition to the weekly class sessions, students will attend a San Francisco improv theatrical performance on a Friday night.

Attendance at the first class is mandatory. This course will be offered Credit/No Credit only.

Patricia Madson, Senior Lecturer, Emerita, Stanford Drama

Patricia Ryan Madson is a prize-winning teacher and a popular faculty member in the Drama department before achieving emeritus status a few years ago. In 1998, she received the Lloyd W. Dinkelspiel Award for Distinctive Contributions to Undergraduate Education. She founded the Stanford Improvisors in 1991, and has taught improvisation in the Continuing Studies program for sixteen years. She is the author of Improv Wisdom: Don’t Prepare, Just Show Up.