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Sam W is our other blogger of the week...

Greetings! It has been a while since I have blogged and with all the opportunities to do so I feel as if I have been doing a disservice, especially since writing the odd blog is rather an enjoyable experience. So, a quick summary of Sapphire company this Monday.

Now, I must say that improvisation is hardly something I feel comfortable with. When I heard that is what we were doing, I had the little devil on my shoulder whispering into my ear about how disastrous it could be and how wrong it could go. A weakness of mine is most certainly my need for some sort of plan before I do anything. For that reason, I decided that a session on improvisation would do me no end of good and I should pull my act together.

We started with a quick Magic Box sesh. Pulling things from the front of your mind rather from its depths, it transpired, is the key to coming up with things quickly and smoothly and very often humorously. So, comedy doesn’t always have to be carefully crafted the way one builds an Eiffel tower of cards… An item which was rather conveniently pulled out from my box at one point. Smooth.

I think that playing Yes But was the most wonderful experience of my entire week. Before today, someone may suggest such a game - with undying enthusiasm - and I would merely “Meh” in relative indifference. Change was bought to my opinion today after trekking across the world’s 5 different biomes, encountering such things as melancholy sharks and veils of darkness. Moving around really bought another aspect to the game and helped our ideas to bounce from one another into what I would consider a masterpiece, which, if written down, could surely be thought of as a revolutionary step into great modern literature.

Make It was as brilliant as ever.

Our creative task, in pairs, was to come up with 5 different ways to show the meaning behind the words:
“Are you okay?”
“Not really.”
“Okay then.”
to rather humorous effect. From wild shindigs to broken nails and uncontrollable sobbing, there was a veritable cornucopia of settings and backstories. I don’t know if I am allowed to suggest this, but, it may cheer you up to think of a few of your own and practice them with yourself in the mirror. It is certainly how I will be spending my Saturday nights from now on. In all seriousness though, the variety of combinations was awe-inspiring and left me feeling much better about improvisation than before. I await next week’s Improvisation: Part II with much anticipation.

Finally, a quick shout out to those people who came to Sapphire for the first time today. Welcome. Do not resist the urge to become a ridiculous creature.

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