Welcome to One Word Suggestion
Hosted by: Eran Thomson
This week's word is: Acceptance
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Show notes:
This podcast is intentionally short and sweet, so don't expect too much from the notes. We will, of course, share links and details of things discussed in individual episodes as appropriate - and that's about it.
The main thing to know is every episode of this show starts with a one-word suggestion, and there's no reason the next one couldn’t come from you.
As long as its not "dildo."
Transcript:
In the context of improv people usually frame “acceptance” around the concept of “Yes and,” and that makes sense. After all, “Yes” is all about accepting the reality, or idea, and “And” is all about building on that reality or idea and taking it somewhere awesome. This acceptance is crucial for creating successful communication and scenes people want to watch.
And it’s a great tool for problem-solving and innovation too (especially when combined with divergent and convergent thinking). And there’s no doubt that getting better at saying “yes’ can help you get more out of life. People who say “no” live in the comfort and security of their own world. People who say “yes” live lives filled with glorious adventure.
But since “Yes, and” has been so well covered by others, I want to talk about acceptance in the context of community instead, because, as you may have heard in a previous episode, even though LMA is the fastest growing comedy school in Australia, we’re all about community first, and comedy second. In fact, acceptance and community is a founding principle at LMA.
When I first came back to Sydney after studying improv in LA back in 2012, I found the existing scene to be small, cliquey and hard to crack into. I didn’t feel easily accepted. Maybe it was my accent. Either way, it was that experience that inspired me to build LMA into the antithesis of that.
I wanted to create the sense of connection and warm, welcoming community that exists at some of the top schools in the US - and with the help of our wonderful teachers, overseas advisors, our support team, and students, we have. Look at any photo from one of our classes, or shows and you’ll see remarkable diversity and undeniable joy - and this is a direct byproduct of the accepting culture and community we've built. And it’s representative of the type of culture we believe is possible to create in the workplace too.
Our corporate training spends a lot of time endowing people with tools for more acceptance - listening, agreement, finding the good, supporting each other’s ideas, finding your way through failure and more. At the end of the day LMA exists to explore and apply the philosophies of improv, and comedy in general, as a tool for self-expression and personal growth so we can all live more authentic, meaningful lives and thrive together as a hilarious, open, and accepting community.
I believe (and have witnessed over and over again) that through the exploration of comedy people can, and do more than discover or develop their inner funny bone, they transform as humans into bigger, better, truer versions of themselves often gaining new levels of confidence, self-respect, and joy along the way.
In other words, they learn to accept themselves - and others - for the beautiful humans they are.
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The ideas, observations, and perspectives shared here are mine alone.
I’d love to hear yours in the comments, or better yet in a review.
One Word Suggestion: Acceptance