NEVER TRY TO BE COOL!

I am not cool. In the past I tried to be cool. That just made me creepy. This is the rule every teacher must learn early to survive. Be the best geek you can be. Your passion for teaching and guiding young minds will save you. Ego and insecurity destroy you.

I know now, TRYING to be cool is like TRYING to be funny or smart. When you TRY you rarely are listening. YODA was wrong. There IS try. But his message was correct. TRYING rarely leads to success. You must do. Fail. Do again. Learn from mistakes along the way.

PERFORMING COMEDY IN MIDDLE SCHOOL

This has been one of the great challenges of my life. How do you do funny, clean enough for schools, while performing for kids that have been watching South Park since they were 7?

The secret? We were doing authentic 20 years before it became the buzz word on social media. You just have to be yourself.

BUT WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

The direction, JUST BE YOURSELF is one of the worst things you coukd say to an actor. Yet, at the same time, they need to hear it.

The secret to being your self is to stop trying to be like anyone else. At some point we need to move past the mimick phase as children and become who we are. As long as you are stuck in idolizing another this is difficult. As log as yiu are stuck living up to parent’s image of you, this is impossible.

We truly need to set aside all ego and insecurity and let the training take over. You shouldn’t even be thinking technique. You need to trust it is in your muscle memory then flood the zone with choices about story, or what ever it is you are working.

For me, the propper tone for middle school performance is rock and roll. I go full MTV edgy in energy but keep the language NICK junior. Simply not cursing, and skipping subjects of sex and drugs, you can focus on the rock n roll.

This is why my #1 rule is HAVE FUN but NEVER at another’s expense. And I teach the number one skill in comedy is LISTENING. Even if you forget to YES AND… you can deliver an amazing show that entertains ANY age group or demographic AND guarantee the school will hire you back and hopefully recommend you to others.

Don’t try to be one of them! But don’t act like an “adult” either.

They have enough old folks telling LISTEN FOCUS RESPECT all day long. Instead, lead by example.

I am a 5yo on the inside, so being childlike is natural to me. I despise the sound of adulting. It’s worse than Styrofoam or nails on a chalkboard.

Don’t frame their lack a focus as disrespect to you. Instead SHOW THEM what great listening, focus and respect looks like. Lead with a smile. I am there to TEACH them listening and focus. I cannot demand it.

And lets face, adults are worse. Teachers yell at the kids then talk in the back. Parents yell at the kids, then drive with cell phones in hand. We don’t model great behavior. We adults lead from a place of fear, sadness and anger far too often. We.complain about moddle.schools kids as if it’s not OUR fault they are the way they are, after years of doing what we do, not what we say.

Simply be patient, lead by example, give students the tools they need to succeed. At somepoint, around middle school, they need to start fishing and drawing the water from the well themselves.

BOOKING Improv 4 Kids or Improv 4 Teens at your school! NYC DOE VENDOR

We daily work with student groups from around the world: shows, workshops, residencies and professional development programming. Also check out our weekly shows and classes in Times Square for kids, teens and families. We have been performing kq2 students and family events live from Times Square NYC and touring nationwide since 2002.