The improvisational comedy troupe The New Movement (TNM) brought humor and valuable principles for working in teams to Tuesday’s Net2NO meeting. Derek Dupuy, Mike Spara, and C.J. Hunt preached TNM’s gospel to transform you from a boring worker squirrel into a superman.
The heart of TNM’s message is the improvisational principle of “yes, and”. Often in our interactions, we look to find flaws in the ideas of others and propose our own ideas. “Yes, and” tells us to immediately accept someone’s idea and build off of it. We may not see the value in an idea initially, but if we take an idea and play with it, we can develop it into comic or business gold.
This principle removes our conditioning to be self-conscious and combative, and it improves creative problem solving. In their words, it unleashes our inner superman.
Some brave members of the Net2NO crowd helped demonstrate this principle in action. A small group of volunteers turned the simple suggestion of a bookcase into a medieval story of intrigue and cured meats. Your corespondent reminisced with Spara about their wild (and totally fictional) experiences as sailors.
In the end, TNM members showed Net2NO how its done by taking us on a journey through the life of a Russian runner who turns over the state secret to frictionless running (shaving off all hair) for his love of a former stock broker.
TNM performs and teaches improv, sketch, and stand-up comedy. The troupe was founded by New Orleans native Chris Trew and recently expanded from Austin to New Orleans.
In addition to performance and classes, TNM leads an improv corporate training called “For The Win” and a program called AP Comedy. AP Comedy teaches improv in local schools to increase confidence during those angst-filled teenage years and forms teams for a city-wide improv league.