Difference Between an Expert and a Novice

In honor of Mock Turtle Soup's 10th season celebration happening this weekend, it's worth taking another look at being into comedy for the laughs. Here's an abstract from the Journal of Consumer Research that applies:

A large proportion of marketing communication concerns feedback to consumers.This article explores what feedback people seek and respond to. We predict and find a shift from positive to negative feedback as people gain expertise. We document this shift in a variety of domains, including feedback on language acquisition,pursuit of environmental causes, and use of consumer products. Across these domains, novices sought and responded to positive feedback, and experts soughtand responded to negative feedback. We examine a motivational account for the shift in feedback: positive feedback increased novices’ commitment, and negative feedback increased experts’ sense that they were making insufficient progress.

Both are important on the route to perfection, but for now which is it, improvement or applause?

Every Player Should be a Coach

In honor of two blog contributers and soon-to-be-ex-Presidents of Mock Turtle Soup:

One of the biggest changes in my life over the last couple of years is my transition from a follower to a leader. Not in that vague interpersonal kind of way, but in real and tangible ways. Just a couple of years ago I was the student sitting in classes. Now I'm the teacher planning and executing lesson plans. Not too long ago I was still a part of my college improv team, taking direction from the leadership there. Now I'm teaching and coaching old and new improvisers.

I can say, without a doubt in my mind, that I've learned more being a leader than a follower. I've learned more about US History in three years as a teacher (see my series on learning by teaching) than in four years as a student. I learned more about economics in three years as a blogger than in four years as a student. I learned more about comedy in my years at the Dirty South Improv Theater than I did in my four years at Mock Turtle Soup. But this is not just the experience of one person, it's supported by research.

Author Dan Pink points to three experiments where "subjects were more likely to come up with the answer on behalf of another person than for themselves; the farther away the other person was imagined to be, the more likely the participants were to come up with the correct answer." But here's the catch, I couldn't have done one without the other. My years of history and economics classes were vital to my current teaching. My years of improv workshops were vital to my current coaching. The transition between a player and a coach is tough, but let me assure you, it you want to be great, it's worth it.

This was cross-posted at my personal blog.

Why Hello, I'm Harrison

As a Mock Turtle Soup alumni it's my pleasure to be a apart of this ongoing discussion. Here's my current bio:

In 2004 Harrison joined Clemson University's comedy improv group, Mock Turtle Soup. The next four years he performed short and long form in Clemson, along with Atlanta, Nashville, Orlando, and Chicago. He has attended the Black Box, Implosion, Charleston, Richmond, and North Carolina Comedy Arts Festivals training under a variety of instructors from The Annoyance, iO, Comedy Sportz, SAK, and Second City theaters. In 2007 Harrison also coached a high school improv team in Anderson, SC. In 2008 he moved to North Carolina with his wife to teach high school history and economics.

Harrison is currently a member of the DSI Comedy Theater Company, performing with The 708, Mister Diplomat and half of the two-person team Pound for Pound. He is also a resident instructor at the DSI Comedy Training Center.

Look forward to (re)meeting all of you.

Game Theory of the Improv Scene

Something I've been working through as a coach and a player, is the problem of balancing stage time. You want to feel responsibility for the show, but you also don't want it to feel like a one-man-team. Should you play aggressively or politely? There's certainly some individual wisdom required, but I think I've decided what the default mode should be. Here's a game theory chart to explain:

No matter what Player 1 does, Player 2 should always play aggressively. No matter what Player 2 does, Player 1 should always play aggressively. Best of all, if both follow this strategy it results in the best possible scene, fast-paced and exciting. And you though Game Theory was just for classrooms and reality TV.

This has also been posted on my personal blog.