The bar was set high for my Applied Improv Network Conference when I kicked it off with a one day Johnstonian Intensive with Kasey Klemm:
In this one-day workshop, Kasey Klemm will guide you through the philosophies, techniques and activities of improv innovator Keith Johnstone, author of Impro and Improv for Storytellers and creator of Theatresports, Micetro, Gorilla Theatre, Life Game, and other performance formats.
Kasey began his study with Keith Johnstone more than 15 years ago, and has studied and taught his philosophies ever since. Focusing on status, storytelling and presence, Klemm will give you a solid introduction to what makes Johnstone’s work timeless, true and compelling.
I’ll come back and share more of my learnings but for now here is one of the big insights I walked away with:
Status is about physical behaviour… Lower status happens through slouching, head moving about, not taking up space. Higher status happens through taking up lots of space with your body, strong eye contact when speaking… It’s not about low status being bad and high status being good, it’s in context, and status is always moving between people.
