It's All About the Status

Hey everyone,
I'm new to the blogging community so why don't I introduce myself. My name is Katie, I am 19 years old, I am a writer, student and Improv lover. I have 5 siblings, which is probably the appeal of Improv-I can be an only child, I can be quiet or loud, I can be anything I want to be. In Improv you are not constrained by your past or by the person other people think you are.

Alright, I am obviously not that interesting so let's move on. Everyone who says that they don't improv is a LIAR. Seriously, I only script about 70% of my conversations-every other time, it's completely improv. For some reason when it takes place on a stage people start to freak out. I like to think of it as having a really rediculous conversation with my best friends that's just being watched by everyone else.

So, I have to confess, I am not that good of an improv-er. I work my ass of but I am still just okay. It's more that I am rediculously passionate about it. I take everything that is said and try to improve. I think my best quality is probably my characters. I get really into them and I make them fun and interesting and give them insane quirks that is hard not to have fun with it.

Alright-on to the topic of my blog. Status-in Improv status is the way you act...okay, so that's a really bad definition. Status is separated into 2 categories: High status and low status. High status characters are confident, they stand up straight, they are not afraid to look you in the eye, they have a firm hands shake and are visibly not nervous (think Donald Trump or Oprah). Low Status characters prefer to look at the ground, they won't start a conversation unless they have to, they are quiet and often have their hands in their pockets or in some other place that shows they are uncomfortable (please don't go dirty on me).

It's usually a good thing to have one of each status in a scene. That way they work off of each 0ther and it makes for a really interesting scene. It also helps with the levels, most of the time high status people keep themselves at higher levels than low status to show that they are in power. Status is also interesting when you go from high status and you are brought down a notch and the characters switch status-with the lower status preying on a visible weakness of the high status.

Me, I would LOVE to be high status in every scene. In real life I am probably closer to low status so when I get a chance to be powerful, stong and evil it's so much fun.

When you think about it, you use status in your everyday life as well. For example, the likelihood of you going up to your Trumpesque boss and trying to bring him down a notch is not high, and if you do the likelihood of you keeping your job is even lower. On the other hand, imagine you are a teacher and you let a group of first graders bring you down a notch-in that situation you need to be high status and in control.

I have a boss with whom I am constantly low status, always polite, doing exectly what I am told and apologizing for her mistakes sometimes, I really wish I could go high status on her ass.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed my first blog-I'll probably post more. Leave your comments and let me know what you think and what you want me to improve. Also, if you are an improv-er and you don't think I explained something right or well enough, comment and tell me-better know that not.

Improv for Life
Katie