{"id":103642,"date":"2019-02-05T09:35:33","date_gmt":"2019-02-05T17:35:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/?p=103642"},"modified":"2019-02-07T03:24:37","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T11:24:37","slug":"a-lesson-from-improv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/a-lesson-from-improv\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lesson from Improv"},"content":{"rendered":"

I regularly participate in Thursday night workshops for an improvisation group in Las Vegas. Improv is a form of on-stage comedic acting where the scenes are made up on the spot in response to a suggestion from the audience. Although the group I go to is \u201cclean burning,\u201d meaning the language is suitable for all ages, it\u2019s optional with each group whether to follow those rules or not. <\/span><\/p>\n

Improv requires quick thinking and a sense of humor. On average, the people who come to these workshops tend to be both smart and a smart aleck. \u00a0These are my kind of people! I enjoy the group.<\/span><\/p>\n

I first became fascinated with improv while seeing some \u201cSecond City\u201d performances on cruise ships. Second City is a group that started almost 60 years ago and is probably the best-known improv troupe in the world. On cruise ships, most of their shows are family-friendly, but sometimes they\u2019ll have a late-night \u201cadults only\u201d show where the language and gestures are raunchier.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to the Thursday-night workshops, once a month we have a showcase where the better performers in the workshop get invited to perform for audiences who pay $10 to watch. I like the idea of being onstage and so am trying to get invited to perform. There are more wannabe performers than open positions and selecting the actors to perform is a subjective enterprise. Sometimes I get invited and sometimes I don\u2019t. I expect to be invited for the February 16<\/span>th<\/span> showcase, but we\u2019ll see.<\/span><\/p>\n

There are a variety of games that are played during these workshops and showcases. I am best at the ones that involve rhyming. As a writer, I\u2019m sort of a \u201cword nerd\u201d and rhyming comes easier to me than it does to others.<\/span><\/p>\n

Plus, I study.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to a few games where you have to compose songs on the spot, there are two different games require using words that rhyme with one-syllable first names, so I have prepared a list of words that rhyme with John, Stan, Kate, Pete, and about 30 other relatively common first names. <\/span><\/p>\n

For a name like Jack the others in the group can \u201cspur of the moment\u201d come up with rhymes like back, black, crack, hack, rack, sack, stack, track, and whack. My list includes such words as amnesiac, Adirondack, Antonin Dvorak, Honor<\/span>\u00e9<\/span> de Balzac, cognac, almanac, Amtrak, insomniac, anorak and a bunch of others that are a bit outside of the mainstream. I have such lists for 35 names that I review periodically, \u201cin case.\u201d If one of these names is suggested by the audience, I tend to shine, which I am hoping increases my chances of being invited to perform in the monthly showcase. It\u2019s an unpaid gig but being onstage is a type of high for certain of us.<\/span><\/p>\n

Almost six months ago, on August 21, 2018, I wrote in this column about a buddy and his two kids. One of them, \u201cJack,\u201d a twelve-year-old boy, also participates in the improv workshop along with his father. The vocabulary of a twelve-year-old is quite a bit less than that of most adults — and especially smart adults of the type who show up in the workshop.<\/span><\/p>\n

To help compensate for this, I\u2019ve sent Jack a few lists of rhymes and other material. \u00a0When Bonnie and I join their family for dinner once a week or so, we frequently play one of the improv rhyming games. As a result, Jack continues to improve and is now a better rhymer than some of the adults in the group who don\u2019t practice. I have enjoyed watching his improvement over the past few months.<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve attempted to enlist Jack as an ally in my goal of being called to participate in the monthly showcases. I\u2019ve provided him with a short list of rhyming names where I think I\u2019m better than average. If I\u2019m onstage and we\u2019re going to be playing one of these games, I want him to call out one of these names from the audience that the group onstage will attempt to rhyme. Since I\u2019ll be prepared, I\u2019ll tend to do better than average.<\/span><\/p>\n

Somehow, either I haven\u2019t explained this well enough to Jack or he is unclear on what it means to be an ally. The last time the opportunity to call out a rhyming name came up when I was onstage, he came up with \u201cCole,\u201d which is a name for which I was not prepared.<\/span><\/p>\n

Spur of the moment, I came up with mole, foal, goal, and dole — but since I hadn\u2019t studied this word, words like patrol, parole, rock-and-roll, espa\u00f1ol, shoal, skoal, and Superbowl, among many others, were not at the tip of my tongue. (They are now. After a name is used in the group, they tend to be re-used.) I had an opportunity to shine, with my helper in the right place at the right time, and he threw me a curve ball.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I asked him why afterwards, he said he didn\u2019t remember the words on the list I gave him plus he figured I was smart enough to figure it out on the fly. I\u2019m not sure whether his \u201csmart enough\u201d comment was meant as a compliment or a dig. I\u2019m betting on the latter.<\/span><\/p>\n

While it is true that I could do better at that word than Jack could (assuming he had not extensively prepared for it), or better than many others in the group could do on the fly, I want to shine. I want to be a LOT better at these games than the others. I have only limited opportunities to impress the decision-makers with the fact that I deserve to be in the showcase. I want to be successful when these opportunities come.<\/span><\/p>\n

So, I\u2019m now asking Jack to review out loud the words I\u2019ve sent him while he and his father drive in to the workshop every week. If Jack and his father, who\u2019s also in the workshop, are both reminded of what\u2019s on my list just before the workshop, perhaps one of them will \u201ccome through\u201d for me. I\u2019ve told them both that if they provide me with a list of the words they think are best for them, I\u2019ll try to call one of them out at the appropriate time. I\u2019m willing to be their ally whether or not they return the favor, but I strongly prefer that it be a two-way street. (Jack\u2019s father is definitely an ally of mine — in many ways. Jack is so far a bit unclear on the concept. But he\u2019ll learn!)<\/span><\/p>\n

So, finally, what does this have to do with video poker? I am a very strong player and so some people conclude that I can play any video poker game in the world competently. Those people are incorrect \u2013 big time. There are a number of games I play at the professional level, but there are several dozens of games a casino could offer, along with a good promotion and slot club, at which I\u2019m not currently competent. I can get good fairly quickly, of course, but it\u2019s a process I must go through each time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Right now, for example, I don\u2019t play 9-5 Super Double Bonus competently. I used to know it well, but it\u2019s not offered at casinos I frequent, for stakes I\u2019m interested in playing, during the right promotions. So, the exact rules for the correct play when you have an ace along with a suited jack-ten are not front and center in my mind. I know sometimes you hold the ace by itself, sometimes you hold AJ, and sometimes you hold JT. Just knowing those things puts me ahead of most other players, but I want to be perfect at these decisions.<\/span><\/p>\n

When I started playing Jacks or Better Multi Strike recently after a hiatus of a few years, I spent several hours getting up to speed and learning all the fine points. Now, I\u2019m competent at this game, and so now is when I\u2019ll go into the casino to play it during the right promotion. If I take another break from the game, I\u2019ll need to relearn it one more time. Each time I relearn it takes a little bit less time than previously, as I certainly remember much of the strategy even after not playing for a while. But the fine points don\u2019t stick with me as well as they did when I was younger. <\/span><\/p>\n

The secret to my success, such as it is, is preparing extensively before I compete. This is true in video poker, improv, and many other things. \u00a0I like to \u201cstack the deck,\u201d as it were, so that I\u2019m only competing when I\u2019m prepared. Competing in things where I\u2019m not prepared to succeed is not as attractive to me. <\/span><\/p>\n

Obviously, none of us can be good at everything, and sometimes you must participate in things where your skills are less than average. I\u2019m less than average at far more things than those things at which I\u2019m better than average. But if I\u2019m required to participate in something over and over again, I usually find it is worth the effort to get good at it. If I can\u2019t get good at it, I\u2019ll usually stop doing it if possible.<\/span><\/p>\n

Author\u2019s note: If you live in Las Vegas or are in the Vegas area on a Thursday night and are interested in checking out improv, look at <\/span><\/i>\/\/www.lvimprov.com<\/span>. It will also provide you with information on our monthly showcases, where you are likely to find me, either onstage or in the audience.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"youtube\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I regularly participate in Thursday night workshops for an improvisation group in Las Vegas. Improv is a form of on-stage comedic acting where the scenes are made up on the spot in response to a suggestion from the audience. Although the group I go to is \u201cclean burning,\u201d meaning the language is suitable for all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6498,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[29,2],"tags":[428,196],"yoast_head":"\nA Lesson from Improv - Gambling With An Edge<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/gambling-with-an-edge\/a-lesson-from-improv\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A Lesson from Improv - Gambling With An Edge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I regularly participate in Thursday night workshops for an improvisation group in Las Vegas. Improv is a form of on-stage comedic acting where the scenes are made up on the spot in response to a suggestion from the audience. 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