First off, I’m mostly over my cravings. I no longer feel like I did when I was quitting smoking. In the first week, I was a bit obsessed with food, and I never felt satiated. Now, I’m feeling much more in balance and less obsessed. If there is a sugary treat in front of me, I do find it hard to resist, but if none is around, I’m not thinking about it. Secondly, I’m feeling much fuller when I eat then I did before I started this. I can eat a serving of spinach and a poached egg and feel very satisfied for several hours. When I eat an average sized meal, I will often feel stuffed. I’m having no trouble feeling satiated by simple vegetables, meat, whole grain bread and brown rice. I’m still having butter on my toast and drinking whole milk, but I don’t need it to feel full.

I have continued to lose weight, almost 10 pounds since I started. I think I would have lost more by now, except that every weekend, I’ve ended up going off the diet for a meal or two and gaining some back. I lose weight all week only to bounce on the weekend from some restaurant meals or a house party. Still, by mid week I seem to be on track again. I anticipate having less trouble with this over the coming weeks, since my Saturday plans will not be including many parties or meals at restaurants.

I would definitely recommend this approach, however, you most likely will have to stay on the plan indefinitely to keep the weight off. I think you would be able to indulge in the occasional treat, but the bulk of your eating would have to remain, whole, unprocessed foods, simply cooked.

This is not a short cut. That’s fine with me. And I think it allows for occasionally eating more indulgent meals. I’m not sure how much I want them though. Yesterday, I had a lovely piece of chicken, some asparagus and some brown rice for dinner. It tasted great.

Unprocessed Food Diet

To take a class with Kevin, check out the classes page at UCBTheatre.com. He can be seen performing with Reubin Williams on Saturday nights and also writes videos for UCBComedy.com.

Now you can become a fan of the IRC Podcast on Facebook:

Matt, currently lives in Las Vegas where he teaches with Improv Vegas. When he is in NYC, he teaches workshops at the The PIT.

Odds are, if you are an improvisor, you have said something like this when describing your work. You might even have some statement like this in the description of your group or show, maybe even your personal bio. And maybe you have heard someone else say something similar, contrasting what they do with what you do and casting your work in a negative light. Chances are you have felt that defensive lurch in your belly, a wave of anger as you think of things to say in response, to put them in their place.

Me? I’ve been on both sides of this. Gems like this fell out of my mouth quite regularly in my 20s (and probably well into my 30s). I was passionate about the kind of improv I was doing and convinced that there was no better place in the world to study it than where Del Close taught. I wasn’t above being arrogant about my training and the shows I helped conceive. And I certainly wasn’t above putting some other show or theater or group or genre down when describing my work, even if I had never seen what I was putting down.

I’ve also been on the other side and know what it feels like when someone puts down what I do, when describing their work. I still get a little irritated when I think back to someone who used to describe Harold as a “middle form” and her show as true long form. Even to this day, more than 10 years later, I still feel irritated by some of her statements along these lines. She wasn’t from iO. She didn’t study with Del. How could she possibly say that?

Of course, like I said, I’ve done that myself, many times. I’m sure there are people out there who may not like me very much because of similar things that came out of my mouth, or things I posted on the internet.

So this leads me to a new rule for myself (and maybe one for you too):

Don’t put someone else’s work down, when you describe your work

Every time you do something like that, you run the chance of alienating someone unnecessarily. Instead, just describe what you do and be done with it. Talk about your work using positive, affirmative descriptions and if you mention someone else, make sure you are doing it to clarify what you mean, not to place your work above theirs:

• “We improvise plays, with the goal of creating real, nuanced interesting characters and situations.”
• “We play fast and hard. We want your gut to hurt from laughing when the show is over and for you to keep laughing for days after.”
• “We call what we do improvised theater because often it’s a mix of drama and comedy.”

I’ll give you a good positive example of this. I recently heard an interview of a couple of the guys from Centralia. One of them talked about the early days of Burn Manhattan and how they wanted to somehow combine elements from two different kinds of Chicago theater, the raw, emotional power of Steppenwolf with the spontaneous, creative fun of Second City. He didn’t put down either Steppenwolf or Second City. Instead he was praising both theaters and wanted to find out how to combine some of the best methods and ascetics from both places. He used other people’s work as a way to describe what he does, without putting what they do down.

This is the third part in a series about how Dale Carnegie’s book (How to Win Friends and Influence People) might apply to the improv and theatre world. (Part 1, Part 2)

1. Eat unprocessed, whole foods like meat, eggs, nuts, vegetables, fruit. Buy it fresh when possible, but frozen is fine too.
2. Cook foods simply without adding oil, spices, sugar, salt or anything else.
3. Do not mix foods together.
4. Eat smaller portions than you are used to.
5. Eat as often as you like, and as much as you like overall–no need to count calories.
6. Eat as many of your meals like this as you can, and especially avoid chain restaurant meals and processed foods from the supermarket.

Here are some sample recipes:

• Fill a 1 quart microwavable dish with fresh spinach to the brim. Cover and cook on high 2 1/2 – 3 minutes.
• Grill a piece of chicken or fish until done using only a little unflavored Pam if necessary
• Wash and slice a tomato.
• Clean some mushrooms and boil them for 20 minutes

I think you get the idea.

I have been on the diet for about two weeks now. For the previous two months, my weight bounced around from between 191 to 196 pounds. I didn’t weigh myself on the day I started, but lets assume I was 192 pounds around February 2nd. On February 9, after doing this for about a week off and on, I was 190 pounds. This morning, after the 2nd week, I am 187 pounds (my lowest weight for the week was 186 pounds). This is the first time I’ve cracked 190 pounds since August of last year and I have been exercising and trying to eat well this whole time. So it seems to be working.

It is not necessarily the easiest way to lose weight. While I can fill myself up on these foods, I often do not feel satisfied. I also found myself gorging on a seven layer dip at a party when I was given the chance. I also feel a bit like I’m trying to break an addiction, to what in particular, I don’t know. But I often have the feeling of my belly being full, but my tongue craving some taste or sensation that it’s not getting. This is beginning to diminish, but it’s still there.

While I’m trying to do this as much as possible, I’m also still eating a few of my meals out at restaurants or at functions where my friends might bring some food. I also anticipate that as time goes by and I get closer to my goal, I’ll be able to loosen this up a bit, still eating many of my meals like this, but perhaps adding some seasoning and homemade sauces back into the mix.

UPDATE 2/17: I think I found another way to give me that satiated, satisfied feeling when I’m full but still seem to want more food. Yesterday I drank a glass of organic whole milk. It seemed to do the trick. I am going to try drink a small glass (6 oz) to cap off my hunger after meals and at the end of the day.

UPDATE 2/18: Adding this chart to see progress.
My Weight Chart:

Some improv groups were added to the wiki this week, Great Heights and Twenty Seven and some updates to Whisker Bliss, UCBW and Un-scripted Theater. We also had some updates to some performer pages including Shannon O’Neil, Julie Klausner, Jodi Skeris, and Rachael Mason.

If you are interested in taking classes with her, visit hugetheater.com.

I’ve been thinking of my own interactions with people over the years, where I did well and where I came up short. I feel like there are some situations and stories I’d like to share that might help me in my future interactions in the theatre and comedy worlds. One thing I’ve been thinking a lot about is status.

Pay less attention to status

I remember when I was in Chicago, I was intensely aware of status within the improv world. I was a part of many conversations that likened the ImprovOlympic subculture to a second high school. The new students were the freshman. After a few classes you might find yourself on a team and begin to feel like a sophomore. The players on house teams felt like the upperclassman, the cool juniors and seniors, with whom everyone wanted to hang out. And that was just the status within iO. There were similar communities at Second City and the Annoyance and while you might feel like a big dog at one theatre, you might be considered a peon at another.

Your status was determined by several things, your talent, how long you had been in the community, what team you were on. Your status was higher if you were a coach or a teacher. And of course, like in any community if you were well liked by your peers, that tended to raise your status.

I remember feeling at the time, that my personal status had a lot to do with how long I had been around the theater. I felt deferential to some players because they had been there a year or two longer than I had. And I also felt entitled to a greater status because someone started taking classes six months after I did. I spent six years at iO, four of them on the house team. I was a coach, a director and a teacher there. I remember feeling like I had a certain status there, one that I had earned.

Now here is where the story becomes particularly unflattering for me. Anyone who knows iO, knows there is a long running show on Monday nights which features “iO’s most accomplished performers and alumni.” I wanted badly to be in this show, but while I was respected as a performer and certainly valued as a coach and a teacher, I had to wait to play in that show.

For a long time, it didn’t bother me much. The people who were invited to play were players who had been around longer than me and were great performers. Even in the early days of that show, some people from my generation were invited to play. However, they were clearly performers who were better than me, and I didn’t mind at all that they were getting a chance that I wanted. As the months and years went by, more and more of my peers were invited to do the show. Eventually even some of my teammates were regulars in that show, but not me. I felt this was a good thing. I was getting closer, moving up the queue. It wouldn’t be long now when Noah or Charna would give me the nod to play one Monday night.

And then I got skipped over. They started inviting one or two people to play who I had coached or taught. If I remember correctly there was even someone who started performing in the show while he was still in classes. I thought I was at the top of my imaginary waiting list for the show, but apparently I was wrong. It wasn’t about how long you had been waiting to perform in that show, it was about how talented you were and how ready you were to be in that show, and really that’s how it should be.

I know I have been in other situations since where I valued one person over another simply because they have been around longer. Being around longer should mean something. If someone has spent five years performing at a particular theater, their experience and their loyalty should count, especially if that experience makes them a better performer. But ability should always trump status when we are talking about casting someone in a show.

One thing that is easy for me to forget, is that people have all kinds of experience and talent beyond what I first notice. This might be their first class in long form improv comedy, but they may have been an actor for years. Perhaps they are a musician who understands many of the concepts I am teaching implicitly already. And maybe, they have worked for years for another theater and they know a hell of a lot more than me. I have certainly taught many people over the years who had more raw talent than I did.

So, I hope I can really put this into practice. I think the older I get, the more I realize that this status is less important than I once thought. There was a time when I only wanted to be coached or taught by people who had been doing this longer than I have, but I realize now that I have a lot to learn still, and that there are a lot of people younger than me with less experience than me who nonetheless have a lot to offer.

Over the years, I’ve sometimes been in the position to cast people for shows, to pick people for teams or decide which shows should get a run at a theater and which should not. I always hoped that I was making the best decisions I could. In those positions, the most important factors should be how good are they or their show and do I want to work with them. Their status inside the theater community shouldn’t be all that important. And yet I know it is. Why? Because people get upset. The actor who has been at the theater for years might feel slighted if they aren’t cast as the lead. The most veteran team is sure to feel passed over if the most plumb time slot is given to a newer team. The politics inherent in decisions like this still makes my head hurt even though it’s been years since I’ve had to make one.

Everyone thinks they just want their fair share, what they deserve because of their status. But really we all want more, more than is collectively available, and so a lot of people feel bitter in the end. If you ever catch yourself thinking something like, “I should be in that show, because I’ve paid my dues,” or “Why does she get to teach that class, I’ve been around here longer,” stop it. Stop it right now and tell yourself that paying your dues or hanging around a theater longer doesn’t entitle you to anything. At least that’s what I’m going to try to tell myself, the next time I hear myself thinking that.

I’ve been wanting to create a podcast for some time, but I wasn’t sure what shape it would take until a few weeks ago. I decided to make it very focused and relatively short, in the hope that it becomes a very practical resource for myself and others. I’m going to interview improvisors–teachers, coaches, directors, performers–and ask them to describe exercises and techniques that they are using in their rehearsals and classes. The interviews will be between 5 and 15 minutes, and their purpose will be to spread exercises around and inspire people to come up with new techniques.

For my pilot episode, I asked Rich Talarico from Dasariski to help me out. I called him up and he shared two exercises that he uses in his classes. I’ve already got a few more friends lined up.

I’d like to get all kinds of people on this podcast, not just my friends and not just those who share a similar improv background, but people from all kinds of improv theaters and groups across the country and beyond, veteran teachers and new coaches alike. If you are interested in sharing an exercise, email me at irc.podcast@gmail.com.

By the way, this was inspired by a thread on my website where people will describe improv exercises that they use in their rehearsals.

Also, I’ve been working on the pilot episode of a podcast. I think it’s ready to go, but I want to wait to see how it looks through the iTunes store before I start plugging it. Come back tomorrow if you want to hear it. It should be ready by then.