Day 312: Kristen Schier

August 8, 2010 at 12:01 am, Category: Inspiration

“… improv and play in general does that for people, and inspires them to, you know, love each other’s idea and to get excited about what someone is doing, and who they are and what they present to the world …”

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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Kristen, for being part of the Project today, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?

Kristen Schier: Absolutely, I’d be happy to.  My name is Kristen Schier, and I am an actor, improviser, and teacher in Philadelphia.

Toni: Well thank you for being with us.  Now, when you think about inspiration, Kristen, who you inspire, and how does that happen?

Kristen: Well, as a performer I certainly like to think that I inspire a lot of people, but really where I get a lot of satisfaction and joy is in teaching improv classes.  I like to work with all sorts of people that come to the improv class, either just looking to break out of their 9-to-5 or looking to, you know, find something fun and different.  I like to work with those people to get them to play with each other and get them to take risks and put themselves out there.

Of course, if you’ve heard anything at all or even slightly knowledgeable about improv, you might know already that it works on the principle of “Yes, and …,” and I love it when people work cooperatively in the spirit of collaboration with each other and out of admiration and respect and excitement for one another’s ideas.  I think of course not just me, but improv and play in general does that for people, and inspires them to, you know, love each other’s idea and to get excited about what someone is doing, and who they are and what they present to the world, and you know, rather than the usual sort of moment of pause and of judgment and of caution that it might be smart to have in your everyday life.  In improv, you get to play and you get to take risks, and you get to love each other’s ideas, no matter how weird or crazy or unusual they are.

Toni: What a great way to describe improv.  I had never heard it described like that.  I do want to clarify one thing.  You said that improv is a concept made of “Yes …” – what was it that you had said?

Kristen: Oh, “Yes, and …”

Toni: Oh, “Yes, and …”  Okay.

Kristen: Yeah, agreement, and then building from that point of agreement.  Two actors start a scene, and they agree with each other to play that scene that’s proposed, and then they build creatively onto that world that they start with just a word or with just a look, even.  Some actors improvise many scenes off of one word, and they build on that, and they work together to build that world, and that sort of moment of fear that’s improvised.

Toni: Now, how do you think improv in general, or just what you’re doing, okay, that’s inspiring others also helps them to explore their own potential?

Kristen: Especially with my improv students, just that risk taking of agreeing with someone and not judging their ideas allows them to go places that they might not normally go in their everyday life.  If someone proposes a scene or a character for them that is not just something they come across every day, it’s one of those things where now they’re invited to play with that concept, to play with that point of view.  And hopefully that expands their horizons and their understanding and grows them, you know, not only as an actor and as an improviser, but even as a person.

Like I said, you want to try to eliminate judgment of a scene from the beginning so it allows you to come at things with a point of understanding and of excitement and appreciation and respect for what people do.  I like to think that they open up, that they take risks, that they explore different points of view and characters and scenes that they don’t get to do in their everyday life.

Toni: But isn’t it interesting, because most people do get to play those scenes in everyday life; they get to play a character at work or work with different characters at work, and then at home, or with their family and friends.  I’m finding this very interesting because what you’re asking them to do in an improv class is really that sense of collaboration and less judgment should be going on in the day-to-day life.

Kristen: Yeah.  It’s fun to see it translate.  Often, there are improv organizations — and I’ve done so myself — that teach in corporations or in businesses, and we take their, you know, the people who are in the business world and we add this philosophy to their meetings, you know?  And they … instead of in a meeting say “No, that will never work” try saying “Yes” first, and see what you can do with “Yes” as a jumping off place.

It’s pretty interesting to see how people open up and how they can carry it into their 9-to-5 or into their family life.  I mean, parents who take my class are constantly talking about how their young kids are able to play and to improvise for hours on end with just a toy, and that they have trouble maybe even playing with their kids, being as imaginative as their children.  And you know, an improv class can hopefully sometimes open that up for them as well, so the ramifications are far-reaching, hopefully.  I don’t pretend it’s just me.  It’s just a great idea, this setting and this space to create that improv is, you know?

Toni: So, Kristen, what inspires you?

Kristen: Oh, wow … I love just watching people.  I also have studied clowning.  A lot of my everyday life …. and I literally will spend, you know, time sitting at a park and watching the way people move and the way people interact with each other.  I love … I love just serving people in the way that, you know, I love making people laugh.  I do work with kids a lot.  It sounds very cliché, but their imaginations are just … they’re just amazing.  The way that they can create an entire story, as far-reaching and expansive as pirates and then aliens coming and kidnapping them – no, there’s this thing that you have to do … you know, it’s wonderful to watch that and that backs for myself, even as an adult and as a performer, that spirit of play and imagination.

Toni: When you … do you find yourself going for certain go-to resources and tools when you’re looking for inspiration?  Now, you said you had studied different … you had studied clowning, did you say?

Kristen: Yes.

Toni: And so that would probably be one … is that a tool that you can use to be inspired?

Kristen: Absolutely.

Toni: Can you share that with us as an example?

Kristen: Yeah.  Clowning is just a fantastic art form of being willing to expose your flaws to an audience and allowing the audience to laugh at who you are and the universal thing about you that is kind of stupid or silly, and embracing that thing, and just being willing to share it with everybody.

It’s just great, because that relationship of the audience looking at you and you looking at the audience and them sharing their response with you and you sharing back with them … I use it often in improv, and I use it very much in acting as well.  It’s just a very slow, honest, vulnerability.  It’s a place I come back to time and time again as a performer.

Toni: Thank you for sharing.

Kristen: Hopefully, if I’m doing my job right, you know?

Toni: What else do you tend to reach for when you’re looking for inspiration?

Kristen: Wow.  So many things inspire me.  Like commercials to me are hilarious.  Just sort of strange, you know, do-it-yourself commercials I find very funny.  My mother is hilarious and wonderful.  Like I said, the kids.  I’ve come across 1,001 personalities in these children that I get the chance to work with.  Yes, my grandmother is just wonderfully pessimistic.  Just the people in my life really are great.  I have a fantastic group of friends, too, that I draw characters from all the time – that I steal from all the time, I should say.

Toni: And then do they recognize themselves?

Kristen: Yeah, hopefully, if I’m doing my job right, they will, they’ll call me out on it.  But yeah, I know … and they’re also just great as performers.  I have a great group of friends who also perform and just watching them work, watching them take risks and make characters is a lot of fun.

Toni: So what do you do now to continue to explore your own potential?

Kristen: Well, I’m involved in several projects in Philadelphia that I’m really proud to be involved with, and I keep trying to push the limits of those projects.  You know, they might be too numerous to talk about here, but I’m the artistic director of a short form group called The N Crowd that performs in Philadelphia, and I love working with those actors.  We put on a show on a weekly basis in Philly, and that’s a lot of fun.

I do a couple of improv projects that are interesting; a musical improv project where we create songs on the spot and an entire musical.  I do a show called The Real Housewives of Philadelphia where we do an improvised version of the Bravo TV special with characters that we created that we set in Philadelphia, and you never know what the episode is going to be like, but we know which characters we’re going to play, and we just go on this wild, fantastic ride.

I do a duo show with my friend Amy and work with another group from the Philly Improv Theatre called “Fletcher.”  We’re just trying to do the best improv that we can and keep taking more and more risks.  I  know I’m repeating myself, and I sound like a broken record, but that’s what’s exciting is walking on that edge of, you know, doing the new thing, discovering more.  I’d love to be involved in more projects and keep pushing the limits of the projects that I am involved in.

Toni: Well, I know that we had spoken prior to the interview and there was … you know, the question that everybody asks is, should I prepare or do it off the … you know, just do it now, and you’re an improv, and let’s do it now, and what a great interview that you gave without any preparation or thought whatsoever.  We could continue talking for a whole other hour, and I really appreciate it.  It’s been a pleasure to meet you, and I appreciate the time that you’ve given to the Get Inspired! Project.

Kristen: Absolutely.  Thanks, and I look forward to seeing, you know, the next person down the line who has something to say about inspiration.  I think that’s great.

Toni: Thank you so much, Kristen.  Take care of yourself.

Kristen: You too.

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For more information about Kristen Schier:  www.phillyimprovtheater.com, www.phillyncrowd.com

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