Monday, April 6, 2009

Laughter is the Best Medicine

My blog has been rather improv-centric as of late. I suppose that tells you what has been consuming my time besides school (writing about improv is far more interesting than writing about taxes). This entry is not going to deviate from that theme.

Last night we played our standard main-stage show. It was solid. The audience was excellent. Near the end we called up a birthday for our typical birthday routine (making up adventures that the birthday celebrant had with us) and last night we had a lovely lady named Liz. Her daughters had kidnapped her for the weekend from Illinois and brought her down to Springfield for a get away. She is a Registrar for a hospital and is recovering from cancer herself. Her daughters expressed that we shouldn't do anything "too crazy" because she just came off of Chemo a few months before and was still fragile.

After that warning, I was afraid that this woman would be no fun, but I was proven wrong. She came up dancing to the music and then progressed the dance with me when she got on stage. Then while we were telling different stories, she would interject with hilarious one-liners. She was such a joy.

After the show she told us that we had re-energized her and given her the ability to give hope to those people she encountered at her workplace.

It is moments like that where I realize exactly why I give up nearly ever Friday and Saturday night to perform. It isn't for the random recognition I get in the grocery store, or the few dollars I make every show. It is because I have the ability to genuinely lift someone's spirits and make their life better.

And that makes all of it completely worth it.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

yes indeed!

Anonymous said...

That's awesome!