Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Reflection: Two Lively Virtues

Susan Owicki
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Palo Alto, CA

Amy’s sermon today concerns the “Seven Deadly Virtues” as illustrated in a New Yorker cartoon by Roz Chast. There are a number of jokes about the seven deadly virtues. The humor depends, in part, on our sense that virtue isn’t much fun. As the saying goes, “Heaven for climate, hell for company.”

Given virtue’s dull image, maybe what we really need as a contrast to the “deadly sins” is “lively virtues”. So I’m going to reflect on some lively virtues that I learned in improv classes.

Improv, which is short for improvisation, has players working together to create a scene spontaneously. There are many improv games, some very verbal, some mostly physical.

I took a bunch of beginning improv classes a few years ago. Improv is lots of fun, and I recommend it highly. It also teaches useful life lessons.

In class we learned slogans to get us in the proper frame of mind. Patricia Ryan Madson, who teaches improv at Stanford, gathered 13 of those slogans into a book called Improv Wisdom. Although she calls them improv maxims, I think we can call them virtues.

I’m going to say a bit about two of my favorite improv virtues.

The first is Say “Yes”

In improv, you’re creating a performance from just a few cues, and you are doing it in real time. A scene can’t get off the ground unless the players are willing to run with whatever ideas arise. You have to Say Yes to yourself and to your partners.

Suppose Annie enters leading a large animal, and Jim says, “That’s the biggest horse I’ve ever seen.” Annie should say something like, “Yes, and he’s fast, too.” Not, “Can’t you see he’s a giraffe?”

Saying yes isn’t always easy, even in improv. It often means taking risks and letting go of control.

Madson suggests an exercise to strengthen your yes muscles.

For one day, say yes to everything. Set your own preferences aside. Notice the results. See how often it may not be convenient or easy to do this.

Obviously, use common sense in executing this rule.

I tried this exercise at Bass Lake two weeks ago. It was harder than I expected. All too soon, I heard myself saying “no” to a chance to sing with a group at skit night. It turned out the song was hilarious, and I was sorry I chickened out.

Later I found the nerve to say “yes” and join an impromptu performance of the flying Zambinis. (If you don’t know the Flying Zambinis, go to Bass Lake next year.) I have been a Zambini wannabee for years, and it felt great to fulfill that ambition.

The Second Virtue: Make Mistakes, Please

The fear of making mistakes is disabling in improv and a lot of other endeavors. Often we protect ourselves from mistakes by being cautious. The Make Mistakes maxim frees us by turning mistakes into a virtue.

In my improv class, when you made a mistake you didn’t slink and hide. You proudly jumped up and yelled “WHOOPEE!” Somehow, when that happened, everyone else joined in the fun. You had 12 people celebrating your mistake. It’s amazing how innocuous mistakes became.

Madson suggests the circus clown’s way of dealing with mistakes: you stand up tall, raise your arms, say “Ta Da” and bow deeply. She suggests that you try this the next time you flub up. Depending on the situation, you may want to do it silently.

Madson sums it up like this, “A good improviser is someone who is awake, not entirely self-focused, and moved by a desire to do something useful and give something back and who acts upon this impulse.” Not a bad way to live your life.

 

Sermon: The Seven Deadly Virtues by Rev. Amy Zucker Morgenstern