Shaking the gloved hand... on his way to Neverland.

Back stage at Disneyland is a special place. The limbo between the 'Magic Kingdom' and the real world. It is the area just behind the buildings on Main Street USA. It's the place where cast members take a break, characters remove their heads and shop lifters are marched through to the Disney security office ("Disney Jail").

When we auditioned to perform at Disneyland in the '80s...one of our audition acts was our stilt walking act.

When we came 'off set' and went back stage we noticed a limo pulling up. This was unusual.

A young performer stepped out and ran over to the 4 of us. He reached up and shook our hands then just as quickly he was gone....out into the park.

An odd feeling then and now. He was a public character that we could both celebrate and satire.

But backstage at Disneyland that hot afternoon...he was just another happy fan enjoying the playful magic that comes so rarely and is so much a part of what makes us human.

Clowning Around: Lessons from the Road

Cole is a clown.

He studied to be a clown at the Clown Conservatory in San Francisco where I am on the teaching staff.

He spent the last year traveling the world. Occasionally he would send out an email about his wanderings...but not frequently. So I was surprised to see him a week ago at the Clown Conservatory.

“You’re back”, I said, giving him a big hug.

"Yes" he said with a smile "I'm living with my parents for a while, laying low, I'm taking a break from performing"

I asked him what he learned in his travels.

"I learned how to survive on sardine and bread." It sounded like a joke, but he wasn't laughing. "I did a lot of busking [street performing] and learned a couple of things." he offered. “ You have to persevere. Some days your act just won't work, even though it worked yesterday...but you just have to keep going."

"And", he continued "it's not good to busk when you're starving...it's okay if you're hungry, but not if you're starving."

We looked at each other in silence.

A few clown students walked in the door and Cole was swallowed up in hugs, smiles and laughs. And he was gone.

I've been reflecting on that conversation quite a bit.

I admire Cole and all the students who commit their life to the pursuit finding group laughter. And I admire the courage it took for Cole to step out into the world with a few juggling balls, a red nose and a pratfall.

Life offers us lessons all the time. But we only get them when we're ready for them: when we are listening and want them.

Thanks for the lessons Cole.

You have the right to remain silent....but your body is talking loud and clear.

How do detectives learn how to talk to a suspect?

Do they watch Law & Order for hours? Nope. They go to School. They get intensive training on techniques to establish rapport (to see how the suspect responds truthfully) to exerting dominance to get a confession. [Think 'good cop'- 'bad cop'.]

Recently I went along on one of these training sessions. And it was fascinating.

The training involves groups of 5 detectives moving from room to room. In each room one of the detective-students interrogates a suspect (an actor) while an experienced detective and the rest of the class watch.

If you think it isn't tough consider this. One of the first things they tell the suspect is that they have a right to remain silent and that anything they say can and WILL be used against them in court. After the suspect verbally acknowledges that they understand this right...that's when the detective must get them to talk.

As an observer I teamed up with a group of 4 young men and 1 young woman who come from police departments all around northern California. After each interrogation I was asked to share my observations. As a professional actor, teacher and corporate communications coach, I had a quite a few insights into what the suspect's body was saying (and in some cases screaming).

You can choose to remain silent, but every move of the body reveals something. I was very pleased that the experienced detectives and student detectives found value in my observations.

I find it remarkable that as we grow up, our schooling puts a lot of emphasis on how to use language correctly to be an effective communicator, but we are expected to become fluent in the language of the body on our own. For example for emphasis try holding the head completely still when you speak. Do it too long and you look like a stiff robot, but do just for a phrase or two and the people you're talking to will take notice.

I respect the detectives I met and admire their desire to learn how to talk and listen to people in stress. And I have two take-a-ways that I'd like to share:

1. Avoid getting arrested [it's not pleasant]
2. If they tell you that you have the right to remain silent....do it. [and hope they haven't learned how to read your body language].

A special thanks to my friend Glen Micheletti for making the arrangement for me to be a part of the training.

Remember science classes in Elementary school? Middle School?

Did you play with an erupting volcano? Bunsen Burners? Dissecting?

There is a trade show just for science teachers. And it looks like a bi science fair. Walking through the convention center in New Orleans last month I saw butterflies, crickets, tarantulas and even penguins. I also saw solar car kits, balsa wood airplanes and lot of plants under grow lights.

These teachers are all looking for ways to engage the youth of America in science. The reality is that only 7% of college freshmen choose a science degree (science, technology, engineering or math)...and of that 7% more than half change their minds before they graduate. So it’s less than 3% of students graduating from college have a degree in science.

Now compare that to the science and technology requirements in the job market and it can seem not just depressing but tragic. Science and technology is intertwined into our daily tasks.

So the teachers gather once a year at NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) to share ideas about how to engage young people in science education.

The tools of engagement are the tools of theater.

So when PASCO Scientific decided to roll out a product that puts the science research into the hands of the students they wanted to engage the teachers at their booth and educate them.

How engaged were the teachers? The Pasco team ran out of lead cards (the information cards filled out by the theater audience) and had to Xerox more. Then, they ran out of those.

The person who brought me in to deliver the message confessed to me that the executives were worried. They were concerned that I might appear to be a hired ‘narrator’ and their product would lose credibility. They were also concerned that a large part of the budget was taken up in ‘service fees’ (as opposed to goods). But, she said to me, “after the first show they turned to me and said ‘this was a good investment’.”

The FB Presentation Team did three things to prepare for this show.

Have a trade show coming up?

Want to get the audience engaged in your message?

Contact us and let us tell you the three things we did for Pasco and what we can do for you.

(What? Did you think I was just gonna write it all out for you? I want some interaction. I love creating shows that get attention at trade shows....so let’s talk.)

One Part Engaging Theatre and One Part Solid Content

Martin Ganapoler of the FB Theatre Team
[Salmon colored jacket]
interviews David Hawks of Absolute Software

At trade shows you want attention and you want leads for your product and/or service.

The challenge has always been that the people with the content may not be the best presenters on the trade show floor. And the thing that gets attention may not be directly related to your product and/or service (think magic, juggling, comedy and young women [sometimes called Booth Babes [it's true]]).

FB Theatre Team expert Martin Ganapoler (pictured above) delivered the perfect blend at FETC this year. How?

One Part Engaging Theatre. One Part Solid Content.

We can do the same for you.

Contact us for the whole story and to find out what we can do for your next trade show.

The Added Value of Improv in Business [?!]

I spent a week in The Netherlands with this great group of 4th year business students considering this question:

Is there an added value of Improvisation in Business?
And if so, what?
And further, how do you get it and demonstrate the value (and by value I mean revenue)?

My two and a half hour lecture/demo was attended by students, faculty and business professionals eager to increase value. (and by value, again I mean revenue).

At the end of the lecture/demo we did an exercise to evaluate if those present could see any added value to businesses that use improvisation.

I asked, how would you use improv in your business? (I suggested that a possible answer was: "not at all".)

Here are the top results:

• Maximize potential & fun.
• Accepting and reacting with unpredictable things in business
• To break up/ loosen awkward situations
• Team training & presentation skills
• Get through from "Yes, and”
• I’d use it to motivate my teams
• To gain more trust

A few conclusions:

• Young people coming into business want engagement AND profitability
• By asking improv to include both of those goals they WILL find a way.
• I feel like the luckiest man on earth to be able to share my 23+ years of improv experience and training with people around the world.
• An added value of improvisation in my business? Getting paid to travel and deliver these programs. [Let's talk!]

After the series of lectures/demos in Arnhem I went into Amsterdam to give a mask workshop and to perform in an international improvisation festival...but that's a different blog post!

And the award goes to .......[wait for it].....

Does this look like a photo of a training session?

It is.

Instead of a room with desks and a powerpoint screen, Phil Cutrone's team decided to use the tools of theater to engage the trainees.

The training worked. Laura Bell, the producer and scriptwriter said, "we were rated the best session of the conference and the message got through."

The session was a 75 minute mix of life presentation, video and improvisational audience interaction. The products were the award winners and were interviewed about their features that won them recognition.

You can add a bit of 'good' drama to your next event: Call us.