Good Clean Fun! Improv Workshops Used As A Practical Joke?

Don't ever use an improv comedy workshop as a practical joke on your work colleagues, but if you absolutely must, hire me to help you.

READERS NOTE: This is an experimental blog post. I have written it partially using a stream of consciousness approach. It may be that this experiment is ill conceived, but if you read it very fast to yourself and gesticulate as you do, I I think you might love it.

Of course, who am I to ask you to rapidly read out load while gesticulating? I do not ask it, I only suggest it. And I also suggest, if you do that, please record yourself doing it?

And send it to me! Whoever sends me the funniest recording of them reading the below improv post very fast and with lots of gesticulations gets a free class!

Without further ado, the reason you all are here.... THE BLOG POST!!!

For whatever reason, people who arrange to have improv-based workshops used in their offices for team building or professional development, often think it would be good clean fun to quote, unquote “spring” the workshop on their colleagues.

These people are mistaken, but we must love them anyway. We can forgive them their grave error, because the idea of pranks is generally within the Zeitgeist of our society as something “funny”. This must be why people think of pulling a prank when they hire professional comedians to come into their office.

It's a natural association. No one is to blame. These poor people think weaponizing improv is good clean fun.

Someone being hilarious at work with an unhinged stand up practical joke!

That doesn't mean it isn't a terrible idea and any experienced corporate improv instructor will tell you that!

This is true. It is a bad idea to start a team building workshop or any kind of workshop at work with a trick, even when that trick is well intentioned and meant in the spirit of good fun.

It nonetheless undermines the purpose of the workshop by its nature. So it is a bad idea and it is such a bad idea, in fact, that many improv instructors will just refuse to do it.

“No, I won’t do it, because I know what a bad idea it is,” they say, or something like that. “I'm saying no,” you know, maybe they say that instead.

Not me. I won’t say no. Not ever.

You know these improv instructors you are thinking about working with? I’d be careful. Many of them will refuse to go along with the practical joke I’m telling you never to do.

To be clear, I am saying don't do it, but if you absolutely have to, for whatever reason…

Because of your childhood, because you are just very stubborn, because you made a deal with your brother-in-law that you were going to pull a certain number of pranks every year and you are way behind this year…

Whatever the reason might be, if you have to do it then be certain to hire me to be your improv instructor for the day of. While I object to the practice and while I am telling you, flat out, right now: It is wrong and bad for you and for your company’s morale - I am a pretty good pick if you are going to do it anyway.

The reason why is, I have a moral flexibility that allows me to be engaged in something that I know is wrong without judging it. So you will not get any wagging fingers from me!

No I told you so, even though I am telling you right now and I am right.

Okay and I am not talking about horrible crimes, I am just someone who is comfortable with an improv workshop getting off on the wrong foot because of a bad decision. That is all.

Also I have a lot of experience doing it, running workshops that get off to a bad start but then righting them.

Just recently I had a client in Atlanta ask me to come down and lead a workshop on agility in the workplace. And she sort of said to me a day or two before the event, “I'm going to be keeping it a secret until just before the workshop.”

"Oh no! Don't do that! That is a very bad idea!" I blurted out.

"You know people don't like showing up to an improv workshop wearing high heels or their favorite suit, you know, that's not what you want to be wearing when you're going to be doing exercises that might result in you deciding to kneel or roll on the ground." - This is what I said.

Then I said some more:

"And don’t forget, there are legitimately some people who have a serious reason for not wanting to participate in that kind of a performative workshop. And so they need to know the nature of the workshop so they can tell you that they can't come."

And I wish I could say the client saw where I was coming from.

See, none of this matters if you have to use an improv workshop as a practical joke at work. If you have to, you have to. Ice bergs don't want to melt, but they have to.

Did Carrie have to marry Mr. Big? I think so, but whether you agree or disagree, you must agree that sometimes, some people have to do some thing. And sometimes that thing is to use an improv workshop as a practical joke.

How do you know whether you're someone who absolutely has to use an improv comedy workshop at work as a practical joke or just someone who wants to? Great question! I have often asked myself that question.

No one can say for sure where everyone falls between that line that divides us between having to and wanting to use an improv workshop as a practical joke. But I can give you an instance of when I know for sure someone has to use the workshop as a prank.

I was just mentioning the workshop I did in Atlanta? Well when I first heard what the intention was, I said to my client, “Don't do it.” And she said, “Well I really want to.”

And I said, “Please read this blog post,” and not the post I’m writing right now, but a different one I wrote filled with tips for how to prepare for an improv workshop at work. (It has a part in it telling clients not to do a practical joke and why.)

The next day we speak again and my client says, “I get it. I won’t do the workshop as a trick.” I say, “Phew!” (This was the conversation when I said all the other things I said I said earlier.)

On the day of the workshop, I show up and, oh my gosh, the hotel the workshop was happening in was spectacular! So I spent like 15 minutes just kind of wandering around, marveling at it.

It was a giant Marriott Hotel in Atlanta. I didn't know Atlanta had this building, it looks just like the Marriott in Times Square, so it must have been erected around the same time.

And maybe even grander?

Anyway, there is my client and what does she say? “I didn't tell anyone! I'm doing it as a practical joke!” Okay so, that’s when you know it isn’t a choice.

And you know what? People didn't like it. They didn't love it. When she told them, they groaned and then I took over and I made a little joke about it and I rolled my eyes and everyone got over it and we had a really great time.

And there were some people in high heels, so we did not do many motion based exercises.

You know what? That's fine. It is not that big a deal.

You might say, “Well that wasn't the best way to start that workshop.” And if you said that I agree with you.

But at the same time I disagree, because it is the best way. In fact it is the only way, and because it is the only way it was the best way to start that particular workshop.

There was no other way. The client simply had to.

And if you are a client like that, I'm telling you right now, hire me because I'll help you. I don't mind doing it. I like doing it.

I like, look, I like practical jokes. One of my favorite shows is Impractical Jokers. Before my favorite show was Impractical Jokers, one of my favorite shows was Just For Laughs. Before one of my favorite shows was Just For Laughs, one of my favorite shows was Candid Camera.

So I like practical jokes.

Oh and Scare Tactics! Do you remember Scare Tactics?

So I know practical jokes. I love practical jokes. I a'm not opposed to practical jokes.

I'm just opposed to using practical jokes as a way to kick off team building workshops.

Is that so strange?

If you don't think that's strange, how about this? Professional actor Duane Solem agreed to read this blog post as if he were its author! I honestly think Duane is hilarious in this video and encourage you to watch it!

I should note, Duane and I worked on this probably more than you suspect. He filmed his reading over 4 times getting and applying notes from me each time. What do you think? Would you like to see more versions of Duane reading this blog post? I bet he would record them! Leave your notes in the comments below and I'll see whether I can get him on board!