Playing and Planning
Hey there!
As artists we’re usually pretty good at playing rather than planning, but sometimes we lose sight of the benefits of being able to adjust, to switch gears, to explore and to do what we all should have a firm grasp on – improv:
(Click/tap ↑↑↑↑↑↑ that red YouTube button to subscribe to my channel. You’ll get notified when I release new videos.)
Hope this helps!
David
[toggle hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”gray” title_closed=”All Episodes” title_open=”All Episodes”]
[text-blocks id=”one-a-day-episode-list”]
[/toggle]
[toggle hide=”yes” border=”yes” style=”gray” title_closed=”Raw YouTube Captioning” title_open=”Raw YouTube Captioning”]
hey it’s David H Lawrence the 17th and I
know that most of the people that watch
these videos are of my tribe they are
performers their voiceover performers
their on-camera performers maybe they’re
marketers I I don’t think there’s many
people outside that space but just in
case you are know that performers
sometimes even though we tend to play a
lot we tend to do a lot of improv we
tend to forget the value of that what I
want to talk to you about today is
planning and playing not planning versus
playing but planning and playing there’s
a school of thought that says you know
make sure that you hone and refine your
techniques and your strategies and your
tactics and you know try not to waste
too much time life is short to get
things done and you know people I’m sure
maybe you’re one of them that spends a
great deal of time trying to smell the
roses and enjoying life and maybe
playing a little more than other people
do you’re not as buttoned up and I
really like that you know as children it
comes natural to us to play it comes
natural to us to take crazy risks
because they don’t look at them as crazy
risks we do when we get older when we
get older we think oh if I try something
wacky or nutty or if I play around with
this and just improv it out I’m gonna
look stupid I’m gonna waste time I’m not
gonna have any results
no just I’ll just stick with the plan
and I would like to suggest that you
save time for playing around a little
bit
even if it’s to recharge your batteries
save time for playing because you never
know you might not look stupid you might
look brilliant and you might not waste
any time you might create some time for
yourself by reaching a solution even
faster and you might get more results
than you actually think you get because
remember playing frees us from the
structure that we’ve placed ourselves in
if we’re playing properly it’s great to
take an improv class because it
teach you how to play but definitely
plan I’m not saying you shouldn’t plan
plan but leave some room for play time
planning and playing that’s the message
for today I’d love to know what you
think how much time do you spend
planning how much do times how much time
do you spend playing do you feel
embarrassed when you like kind of want
to just sort of like play a little bit
you know take a break and see what you
can come up with see what you can improv
yeah tell me about in the comments below
do that for me would you please and if
you want to subscribe to this channel
and know when the next videos that I’m
going to do for you remember we’re doing
one a day for the next year are coming
up you can go ahead and click on my
myface there if my face isn’t there
there’s a button somewhere that says
subscribe so go ahead and click on that
and if you want to see the latest video
I’ve just come out with there it is
right there just click on that and it
will show it to you I’m David H Lawrence
217th I got to go do some playing I
thank you so much for watching and I’ll
talk to you tomorrow
[/toggle]
Absolutely! Play is an essential part of any creative art. Granted, you’ll still need to invest time in your business, and in learning the craft of acting. Gotta have some meat and potatoes with dessert. But don’t skip the dessert!
Several years back I was feeling a bit bored and came up with the idea of a weekly creative blog. Every week I try to come up with something creative. Might be poetry, or opinion, or animation – whatever. Today my blog (Joe’s Dump) has really taken root into an odd collection of creativity. And it’s landed me jobs several times (thru characters created or songs or impressions, etc).
Improv can help to get rid of the fears that often plague our performances too. Just relax and play…
Good stuff, as always, David – Thanks!
Joe
Hello David and thank you for this.
Because of what I do as a Fitness Instructor to supplement my income, and because I’m a Thespian, I have this thought pattern…which I am discovering is not a sound thought pattern, that I play too much. Just because I love what I do cause it is fun, doesn’t mean that I don’t get to mark out some time for myself…to play…chill out…me… So as a result, I’m always trying to spend my spare time planning and I get burned out, don’t get a lot done, depressed, spinning my wheels, tired, I isolate myself and end up not actually “playing” at all. Thank you so much for this. I’m learning that both can be done…not planning verses playing, but planning and playing too. Thank you David
I’m good at planning, but I’ll be honest, I have a love/hate relationship with improv. I dreaded it in my college acting classes. In one class I was the only person who didn’t jump into an improv skit, despite the class trying so hard to include me. It was awful. At the same time, I’ve been playing Dungeons and Dragons for 33 years and most of it is improv. I’ve been a walk-around character actor for SpookyWorld for 10 years, which is entirely improv. I think for D&D and SpookyWorld it’s ok because the setting is somehow “right” for me as an introvert. I recognize improv’s importance to performers, and the value of balancing it with planning, but right now I do a lot of planning while I still struggle with improv in some settings. Thanks for the video David.
What a great, fun message David! This really hits home for me bc I’ve caught myself thinking sometimes “oh my god, this can’t be real…I’m having TOO much fun!!” What a ridiculous thought! One should never feel guilty about having fun, especially when it’s work…something that we don’t expect “should” be fun, or “shouldn’t” involve playing.