Blog #4: WERK Through the Steamy Summer Slump

Summer is my favorite season. The sun's warmth soaking into my skin, the warm rain to run in, and the gorgeous parks filled with an array of colorful flowers and fresh cut grass are just a few of my prized summer treasures. A toasty atmosphere makes it easy to transplant my boring work station in the gazebo and flower garden across the street, and transforms lack luster computer work into a little adventure.

Manhattan also seems to take a vacation herself. The city becomes a quieter place with many residents vacationing in the Hamptons or out on regional/ national tours or doing summer stock productions. Auditions happen to be quite enjoyable as well with a smaller pool of actors left in the city. As it turns out, this is also the perfect time to dig in and take some acting classes that are otherwise waitlisted or impossible to get into during the normal working part of the year.

It was with this revelation that I decided to sign up for my first official improv class. On Thursday June 7th I found myself sitting inside room 903 waiting to begin Improv 101 at the UCB Training Center. The past 7 weeks have flown past as I've played and learned with a class made up of actors and non-actors looking to strengthen themselves as communicators and storytellers. Each of my classmates has been such a joy to work with, and it has kinda been an outta this world experience. One of the biggest take aways I've acquired, is allowing myself the freedom to play again and to just freaking try something- ANYTHING! If it works, GREAT! If it sucks, GREAT! I had unconsciously become so conscious of making the "right" or "perfect" choice, that everything had all of a sudden become stuck when I was performing. Songs I had loved to sing in the past felt ungrounded and disconnected and I didn't understand why. Why was I having such a hard time connecting to material I loved? Or making a choice? When I was a kid I LOVED improv and along the way, I guess that part of me got lost and I'm SO grateful to have rediscovered that strength. I didn't know how to critically judge myself as a kid...I just made a choice and moved on. I HIGHLY recommend to any human who is looking to rediscover their inner kid, creativity, or find better ways to connect and communicate with people, TAKE AN IMPROV CLASS!

This coming Thursday marks the last day of Improv 101. If there are any NYC friends reading this blog that wanna come out and support my awesome team, we are performing at 6:00pm at UCB East 153 East 3rd Street NY, NY. I can guarantee it will an hour of laughs and fun.

xoxo ~Abby

I mean...check out this SUNSET! GORGEOUS!! <3 <3 <3 #summerlovin'