Boxing matches. A zoo overrun by maniacal monkeys. The grocery store dairy aisle. First day at boot camp. Oh, the places you’ll go in the span of a single class at Lower Left Improv!
“Improv to me is Yes-And’ing,” says owner Mary Quinn, referring to improv’s one immutable commandment: Thou shalt answer ‘yes, and…’ to all statements. Improv actors never reject what their collaborators generate on the spot. They agree with it and pour fuel on the fire.
Improv instructor Sarah Syverson agrees, adding the group’s core guideline, “Everyone's a genius, an artist, a poet. Think of everyone that you play with as that. There’s power in that.”
Lower Left launched in 2022 and swiftly expanded from a handful of eager students to an intricate scaffolding of multi-level beginner and intermediate classes all packed to the gills. The group stages performances on the second Friday of each month and can be found generating guffaws at the Durango Arts Center and the Sunflower Theater in Cortez. Students train with a deep bench of star-studded professionals whose bona fides include the hallowed comedy proving grounds of Chicago’s Second City, New York’s Upright Citizens Brigade, and other renown centers in the U.S. and abroad.
While it’s easy to suppose such lessons are reserved for extroverts longing for fame in Tinsel Town, both Quinn and Syverson insist that their improv classes are for absolutely everyone. They point to a host of interpersonal skillsets and mental/emotional benefits gleaned from improv participation.
First off, the games and activities are neurological calisthenics. In one game, commands suddenly take on opposite or unexpected meanings. Go means stop. Stop means go. Hop means clap. Clap means hop. The difficulty short circuits the brain and spurs lots of laughter.
Other activities work players through escalating stages of emotions, from mild to extreme. These progressions provide a safe means of moving genuine emotions. Through improv, participants experience deep self-discovery and self-awareness that serves them out in the real world. According to Quinn, ordinary individuals learn how to wield their anxiety as a superpower.
Quinn also finds that a lot of savvy supervisors take improv to boost their leadership skills or buoy their knack for cultivating teamwork. Entire office cohorts have taken improv classes to cultivate healthier office dynamics.
“Yes, [improv] is about being funny or humorous, but really, I think improv is about finding your authentic self.” Quinn attests. She goes on noting, “Because it gives you space to let go of all that you carry, you get to hit the pause button on being the day-to-day you and bring alive whole other versions of you—better, stronger, truer versions that have never been unleashed.”
Syverson highlights the benefits of cultivating a yes-and mindset, stating, “It just creates such curiosity. There's an opportunity to actually find [yes-and] in the world, after you leave class and go to the grocery store and find that with the cashier or with your neighbor in the bank.”
Unique among comedy centers which tend to be male-dominated and competitive, Lower Left is spearheaded by women and institutes kindness, community, and an I’ve-got-your-back attitude into all of its classes and performances. Look for Lower Left’s fresh batch of classes early February plus a special Valentine’s Day performance at the DAC.
…you get to bring alive whole other versions of you—better, stronger, truer versions…