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2. Two dentists walk into an Improv class
64 Plays2 years ago
Stephy Steph and Bobby start improv class in part to help them prepare for hosting the American Dental Association annual session (SmileCon). Why was Bobby terrified? What did they learn about themselves and others? Check it out!
Stephanie R. Ganter, DDS, MS and Robert G. McNeill, DDS, MD, MBA are a periodontist and oral & maxillofacial surgery duo that practice at The Dental Specialists in Dallas, Texas.
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Transcript
Introduction to Improv Experiences
00:00:00
Speaker
Hi there guys, I'm stuffy stuff. This is Bobby and there's an episode between two teeth. Hey, how are you? I'm doing great. I I've got some kind of a cool kind of
Beginning Improv at Level Two
00:00:10
Speaker
cool info. We we started a improv class. That's right. We started improv in in true between two teeth fashion. We started at level two.
00:00:21
Speaker
Yeah, not one level two. We said we're way better than level one, obviously. Well, it was a scheduling challenge that did not work out well. And that was part of the challenge. Well, we are so glad you're joining us. So we're going to
Key Improv Lessons Learned
00:00:36
Speaker
talk about improv. What did you, what'd you learn? I love it. Yeah. So I, the, what I learned with improv is it's a lot more about defining your set, setting who, what, and.
00:00:47
Speaker
Where? Where you are. Yes. I figured out I'm a really bad listener. Well, you are a very bad listener and it's also about supporting your person on set. So if I start pretending that I'm drinking a cup of coffee and Bob comes up and starts doing something completely different, the play doesn't work. The screen doesn't work. I agree with that. And I am a crazy planner.
00:01:17
Speaker
And so even when we're in a line and we're getting ready to go up and do something with someone else, and I've got a plan in my mind, but then they react differently. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I gotta change plans. Even if you try to front load a scene is what they call it where, because they wanted us to know who, what, or so who, what was y'all's relationship, so who were you doing it with?
Balancing Details and Embracing Failure
00:01:41
Speaker
Were you playing sister, brother, or husband, wife?
00:01:45
Speaker
And then they wanted to know what you were doing, and they wanted to know where you were doing it. So Bob gets up there on this first one, and he's like, I'm in Colorado with my sister, and we are digging. I'm like, gee, Dad, I'm glad we're on the Colorado mountains with this telescope that you just bought me. And the instructor was like, wow, Bob, way to front load the scene. This is too much detail. But it was nice because we got an introduction into what front loading a scene was. And I think your comment prior was excellent, where you talked about,
00:02:14
Speaker
hey you know it's okay to kind of have an idea but you're the second person will really determine where that goes ultimately can i say something i'll take that as a yes i'll take the silences yes what it taught me i'm not afraid of many things and i was afraid to do this improv class
00:02:38
Speaker
And I was super extra, well, maybe not super extra afraid, but I was more afraid because we were skipping to level two. And so they had expectations that we knew how to do certain things. And so before we start, we literally signed up like an hour and a half before the class.
00:03:00
Speaker
And I pulled up some YouTube channel things on Jason Sudeikas kind of talking about improv. Basic improv. And one of the things that I loved, and I forget which YouTube clip, but they said, you're going to fail a lot of times on this stuff.
00:03:22
Speaker
And that's okay. You're going to do something that you're going to do a scene with somebody and it's not going to, it's not going to be funny. And that's the, that's the thing, you know, we're also kind of reading some of these entrepreneurial books and. Well, we aren't, you are. I am. I can't get into books right now. That's odd. Well, I'm listening to some audible stuff, but I'm mostly a podcast guy. And what I'm, uh, what I'm, what I'm finding in some of these books is that,
00:03:49
Speaker
Most of the time people don't go after that big idea because most of the time you're probably going to fail first and failure's hard and so people don't want to go through that first awkward, weird failure.
Teamwork and Safe Space in Improv
00:04:02
Speaker
I'm okay failing but I was surprised that I was so nervous going into improv. I'm not telling you anything you don't know. I like to talk.
00:04:15
Speaker
But I think part of it is, and I hate to admit this, but part of it was you really have to work with that second person or the third person. It's definitely teamwork. And you have to lob, lob the ball up. Am I using the right terminology there? You got to lay it up for somebody. Yeah.
00:04:38
Speaker
I couldn't agree more, and it was really nice. The instructor, you would do these scenes, and these scenes were about 15 seconds or less, and the instructor would kind of ring a bell when she was done. Saved by the bell. Yeah, tonsying it, and the cool part was the magic happened when we would break down the scene, and we'd be like, okay, so who were you guys to each other?
00:04:59
Speaker
And if you couldn't answer it, then it taught you something. You're like, oh, okay. So if you had started the scene, you're like, man, maybe I wasn't specific enough. But if you were the second person on the set, you're like, I didn't define it either. And so you start realizing that it's not one person that, that saves it or doesn't save it. It's actually kind of team themselves, you know, get to that, that place and entrust each other appropriately.
00:05:26
Speaker
Yeah, now I hear what you're talking about. And so I would absolutely recommend improv for anyone trying to get outside their comfort zone and take some classes. You're going to end up meeting people that are very different from you and from each other, which is brilliant. It's great. And for me, it was awesome because I never get to act. And it was great getting there. You were actually really terrific at it.
00:05:53
Speaker
Oh, man, thanks. I thought you were really funny. Thanks. Oh, and it was so cool because you get to be in this safe space where even if it's bad, it doesn't matter because it's so the failure is OK. And that's what I'm telling you. When I when I when we watch that YouTube show before.
00:06:11
Speaker
I'm like, this is fantastic to know that, that you're going to fail a lot on this. The cool thing about improv, the reason it's such a safe space is because it's not about trying to be funny. You're trying to, especially in these intro level classes, you're just trying to establish who are you to each other, what are you doing, and where are you doing it.
00:06:31
Speaker
It's kind of really basic acting and setting the stage. And so if you are a terrible actor, it ends up being funny. So success. But if you're a great actor, then you end up accomplishing what you set out to do. So it's a win-win no matter what you do when you get there. And I just, I love that space. That space just kind of was magical for me because it just seemed like a no fail space. Oh, a real safe space. I agree.
00:06:59
Speaker
Yeah, so definitely would consider that for anyone who is looking at a way to get outside their comfort zone, work better in a team and in communication. Yeah, I think a lot of people in the class were certainly there to get out of their comfort zone and work on communication.
00:07:17
Speaker
And the coolest thing I thought was our emphasis on nonverbal communication.
Communication Skills in Improv
00:07:23
Speaker
We called it object work. And I thought this was real slick because a lot of times in life, nonverbal cues are a big difference maker. And so the instructor encouraged us in these scenes that, you know, some scenes we couldn't talk. It was just objects. And then after the scene was over, like, okay, what do you think she was doing? Or what do you think he was doing?
00:07:42
Speaker
Sometimes it'd be right on sometimes it'd be way different and and you really got a look see into nonverbal cues I could be you know painting a fence but someone might think I'm getting you know a can of soup out of the cupboard and It just kind of goes to show you perspective is everything and even when you introduced very limited dialogue it was still wild and and so I just kind of translate that and
00:08:07
Speaker
you can translate into life any relationships you have or even you know we're in we're in dentistry so even in the dental office and you start to realize how relationships break down so quickly and it doesn't mean people are bad it's just the communications off the thing i love about improv after taking one level two class the thing i think that i will enjoy is for me to be better
00:08:33
Speaker
at picking up cues. And I thought I was pretty good if you're interacting with anybody. For us, as oral mics fish surgeon and periodontist, you're interacting with patients routinely knowing that you're looking at what cues they're giving you. You've got to be in the moment, meet them where they're at,
00:09:00
Speaker
and anything you can do to work on that is awesome. And to have fun doing it, that's pretty cool too.
00:09:06
Speaker
Yeah, so I'm so excited where this experience is going to
Challenges of Undefined Roles
00:09:12
Speaker
take us. I think both of us will be better communicators as a team. And that's the tricky part is that I think that one-on-one, I don't know about you, but one-on-one, I feel like I'm decent at communicating when there's no one else around. I don't feel rushed. I don't feel like I've got to jump in.
00:09:32
Speaker
and say something, I can really focus on that one person and all my attentions on them. When you start to get multiples in a room or you start to feel as though it's not a safe space, what maybe you have to rely on your wit or you have to rely on your size to get seen or it's all competition, who gets heard, especially in a new group when roles are just being established for the first time.
00:09:55
Speaker
That competition, you know, it's not, it really challenges your ability to communicate and communicate very quickly. And so for me here, being in this group, it's just been awesome. Absolutely wonderful. Yeah. We'll see how the second class goes. First class. They'll probably kick us out at the second class when they realized that we were not supposed to be in the second class. Yeah, exactly.
Reflecting on Skipping Levels
00:10:17
Speaker
Yeah.
00:10:17
Speaker
You know, they're explaining the game to Bob and Bob's not listening. I literally was not present. No, no, no, no. Three lines. We had to do this three line thing with finger puppets. And yeah, I didn't listen to the instructions. Your finger puppets talk way too much. That's surprising. Oh, no. The first two things. The problem was we're in a circle. I was the first guy to go like each time. And there were things that were assumed that we knew from taking level one.
00:10:46
Speaker
And I'd love to do this game as we're kind of wrapping this up.
Improv Game and Conclusion
00:10:51
Speaker
Let's do this game of Words of Wisdom for Monday. And this game is about, it goes back and forth and you can do it in a big group. But what Bob and I are about to do here is we're gonna go back and forth in each say one word and create hopefully, what hopefully is some lasting wisdom. This is a good idea. So it's gotta be specific to wisdom. This is Bob and Stuff, one class into improv. Let's see what we've learned about setting up the scene.
00:11:16
Speaker
Are you ready when we start? I was born ready. You start, sure. The. Way. Is. The. Path. To. Truth. Period. That's really good. The way is the path to truth. Okay, let's do one more. Let's do one more. Can I start this? Please. Super, can I start again? Wow. Are you really going to throw me that? Yeah, I am. Wow. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. Is. A. Formidable.
00:11:47
Speaker
word to use in almost every sentence. Oh, that's awesome. We're gonna do one more. This one's gonna be real fun. Oh, now listen. Life is all about expectation management. What if it's a disaster? I think you are so
00:12:17
Speaker
Very. Inexplicably. Awesome. Period. Period. We think you're awesome, guys. Oh, there we go. All right. Thanks for joining us, guys. If you love what we do, please hit the subscribe. Thanks for listening. Shout out.