now that's improv!

Greetings!

Over the past couple months I have been taking summer classes. I mainly was doing this just in hopes of getting some hours out of the way and a few easy A's to boost that ole' GPA. I figured that there would be a few tests, some reading, class discussions, you know, the usual. However, much to my surprise that is not the only baggage that came along with this June class. For the past month I have been in a class called Performance of Improv Comedy. I had completely underestimated what was in store for me when I signed up for this class. 

IT WAS A BLAST!! 

We did so many fun things and had so many fun times! Besides all of the absolutely hilarious stand up routines that we watched, I actually learned a lot of cool things about where and when improv was started and all kinds of theories about why people laugh at different things. These are just a couple of photos, a preview if you will, of all some of what we did in class!

A couple people had birthdays, so naturally I made cupcakes and someone else got pizza!

We had our first annual "Ian Custar Day"which is now on June 18th, so mark your calendars! Ian is a two time graduate of Georgia College, undergrad and a masters in teaching. And he helped start a local improv group in Milledgeville called the Armed Farces, so he came to play with us!

We had prop day! And yes, that is a troll on the end of a foam sword and yes, that is also a holographic picture of Jesus.

And this is just an overall taste of some of the discussions we would have in class; quotes from our teacher, who also happens to be one of my favorite people on this planet!

Finally, this past thursday it was time to put our improv skills to the test! We had an improv show at the campus Black Box Theater! Admission was free, it was at 8:00pm, and we ended up having around 65 guests come and watch us. {Although about half of them were incoming freshman that are taking summer classes here and their teacher made them come, but who's counting!?!?} We started the night with about 30 minutes of different improv games. Our whole class and some self-selecting audience member all participated in those and then we had about 30 minutes of stand-up that was done by two girls from our class, Ruthie and Samm, and Ian Custar. So, the show was definitely a success and it was so much fun! 

TTFN,

Jessica

what is this thing?

I have been apprehensive about starting a blog for the past couple of weeks because I guess I figured that the first post would need to be something profoundly interesting or maybe something I would deem "worthy" of reading. But, alas, I got nothing. This blog is going to be a compilation of many different things that I find interesting, funny, inspiring, or maybe not so much of any of those. 

I guess I could start out telling you why I decided to call this blog "just trying to do the little things." Recently, as in all my life, I have felt the need to change the world in some big way. I think that is a pretty natural thing for all of us on some levels. But, of course, despite most of my best efforts and ideas I still seem to come up short in different ways. Tasks and ideas and dreams of things all become too big and lofty and I somehow crack under the pressure because after all I am human. SO, recently, as in the past couple of days, I have been thinking more of where I can place these ideas and dreams that I have so that they won't be crushed under the weight of my perfectionist tendencies and all of a sudden as if it came straight out of no where I thought, what if I just didn't go so big? What if I just dreamed a little but smaller but still with the same amount of passion? As I chewed this idea over for a few days I was reading another really great blog by a woman named Michele Perry. Its called from the unpaved road. You should definitely check it out, some of the things she writes well, mostly bring me to tears but also completely blow the perspective I have of God right out of the water. Anyways, in it she wrote this thing that seemed to capture all that I was thinking and feeling into one perfect line. 

"Perhaps it is the little things done with great love

 that matter most in the light of eternity."  

So, that is what this blog means. This is the journey of me trying to do the little things with great love. Still there will probably be times when I will fall short and I am sure that it will never be something that I will completely conquer. I think that this is the kind of thing that is meant to be practiced and strived for and failed at time and time again and I am okay with that.