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Theater often comes across as intimidating. With the usual requirements, expectations, and challenges that come with committing to any extracurricular venture, as well as pressures related to activities like performing, choreographing, and rehearsing, performance art organizations are some of the most intense commitments a student can make.
Improvisational theater, more commonly known as improv, challenges the rigor of live theater as it does not make use of scripts or props. Often comedic, it features performers who make up scenes on the spot through games, prompts, and audience interaction. Blue Bird Improv, a new organization under the League of Independent Organizations that is dedicated to self-growth through improvisational theater, offers a creative avenue for self-expression free from the pressures usually associated with performance art.
Setting the scene
Founded in 2019, Blue Bird Improv is a passion project by cousins Miguel Dobles (4 BS LfSci) and Rafa Chua (4 BS ME). The two got interested in this form of theatre due to the popular show Whose Line Is It Anyway (1998), which inspired them to sign up for a workshop at the Manila Improv Festival in 2015. “Ever since then, we just kind of fell in love with it because it was so different from normal performances,” Dobles says.
In their second year of college, the duo came up with the idea of an improv organization when they realized a lot of college students could use the activity to destress. By their third year, Dobles and Chua put their plan into action.
During their search for a moderator, the two heard that Exie Abola of the English Department did improv and got in touch with him. Over the course of the school year, they held weekly sessions with their friends and anyone who was interested, and by end of the school year, they had found a core group of people who were willing to officially start the organization with them.
One of Dobles’ most memorable experiences in Blue Bird Improv happened soon after the organization was founded. “I’ll be honest, we expected 30 people to sign up and 10 people to show up. But we got so many people signing up and then we had a full classroom [at the General Assembly],” he shares, adding that they received a lot of positive feedback from their new members after the event.
The show must go on
However, the pioneering duo still faced some challenges. For one, getting people to join was difficult at first because Blue Bird Improv was a new organization that lacked the reputation to get a new batch of fresh faces every year.
Another major issue was that people already had preconceived notions about improv, which made them afraid to try it out. “That’s, I think, every college student’s worst nightmare is to have a presentation na wala silang alam, diba (that they don’t know about, right)?” Dobles says. “But the truth is it’s freeing because in improv there are no expectations.”
The idea of improv as a performance also brought about the misconception that members need a certain personality to take part in the art form. Dobles counters this, explaining that improv is for everyone, introverts and extroverts alike. “When you create scenes, it can be dramatic. It can be sad. It can be angry or it can be political even. Nowhere has it ever been written that…improv has to be straight up funny,” he explains, adding that Blue Bird Improv focuses more on improv as an exercise of mindfulness rather than a performance.
Challenges and misconceptions aside, Dobles presents some of the advantages of improv as an exercise. Physically, performers get in touch with their bodies as they are required to mime actions instead of using props. Mentally, performers learn how to think on their feet by listening to both others and themselves.
As an organization, Blue Bird Improv has no hard-set rules, which is consistent with the organization’s nature of improvisation. “What we want to do is try to stray away from conventional org culture,” Dobles explains. “We want to see for ourselves what works for our org.”
As a result, being a member of Blue Bird Improv comes with no pressure to take on overbearing workloads or be the best. The organization’s goal is to help people have fun and improve at their own pace. “Essentially, I think our biggest advantage is you can really just be yourself.”
Small steps forward
Commitment and time can only be spread so thin, but Blue Bird Improv is looking to provide potential members, or anyone with an interest in improv, a chance to feel out the org and the practice.
Blue Bird Improv’s short-term goals include hosting more performances, getting more people interested in the theatre art, and encouraging prospective members to try out Blue Bird Improv. To expand their reach, the organization targets one show per month, and often hosts their shows at Sec C Foyer or at the Fine Arts Theatre. Their shows aren’t limited to a physical space, though, as Blue Bird Improv has no issues bringing the show online when the need arises.
Long term, Blue Bird Improv is looking to explore workshops as an avenue to capitalize on the team-building nature of improv. Improv is a naturally accessible art form, and Blue Bird Improv hopes to make themselves more visible to the Ateneo community at large.
“We want it to be open to faculty members, also to staff, the whole Ateneo community,” Dobles explains.
When asked about advice he’d give to improv newbies, Dobles had these to share: Listen, let go of all expectations, and keep trying.
“I think like any skill, any talent, any sport, any art form, any craft, the more you do it, the better you get. And it’s okay to feel like you suck or suck at the start, because you have to start somewhere. And the only way to get better is to keep on doing it,” he says.
