tonygoodson

Learning to be a Creative Genius

Déjà Vu, I come here to write about 10,000 Hours to Become a Genius, and realised I’d already used exactly the same title when writing about exactly the same subject last November.

So let’s call this Part II.  I’ve realised recently that for 42 years I’ve been struggling.  Struggling to fit into an education and white collar working system that has a very narrow confine on what is intelligence.  And I’ve fitted in, I’ve had to, but at great cost to myself and talents.

At aged 6, I was highly mathematical, spatial, chess, sporty, but I couldn’t handwrite properly, struggled to spell, couldn’t draw well, struggled with English comprehension.  I was a classic geek, shy of girls (but loved them really), crap dancer.

My 10,000 hours of genius, didn’t go into a single subject but across a number of subjects.  Sport, Man United, Chess, Maths, Sport, Current Affairs, TV, General Knowledge, Newspapers, Encyclopaedias, Science.

That inability to write and draw, and remember language, has been a blight on me ever since.  I’ve been blessed with enough intelligence to survive it, but I shouldn’t have to survive life.

So now my oldest child has just come through being 6, and my youngest is fast approaching 6, I’m really attuned to what’s expected of them in education, and what they can and can’t do.  But here’s my own breakthrough and realisation.  Genius may not be nature.  It might be nurture.  We find our talents out early on for ourselves, or someone helps us.

I say this because, I’m noticing some things my kids aren’t learning for themselves.  That doesn’t mean they can’t do something, just that they don’t know how to.  Jay’s reading is great now he’s started school, and I should know, I taught him (proud Dad), but his handwriting and drawing are behind many of the kids in his class.  Mmm funny, but that’s me at school all over again.

Now, for the last few years, I’ve been looking for a cartooning book to help me learn to draw for when I’m training and writing on boards and flipcharts.  I made a concerted effort to find a book this week, for my sake and now for Jay’s.  And hallelujah, I’ve found it. 1001 Awesome Things To Draw.  A fantastic book.  Suddenly I’m a genius cartoonist (and so is Jay) just by following the rules.  Neither of us can naturally draw, but who can.  The untold secret is that many children and adults, learn to draw using the rules, without telling the rest of us, what the rules are.

It’s the same with Improv.  You may look at Who’s Line is it Anyway and Thank God You’re Here, and watch in wonderment at how those performers and comedians take on random situations and be so funny.  It’s rules based.  There are basic Improv rules, which if you follow with a few hours of practice, I’ll guarantee most people can get up there and perform very well.

 

And I’ve just bought a book on design and layout, How to Understand and Use Design and Layout. It’s rules based again, along with some artistic genius!  It’s taken me years to find a good book on Design and a good book on Cartooning, and now I can be an Artistic genius like the rest of you.  Now I just need to find those 10,000 hours!

The Spirit and Fun of Dance

I saw the most amazing thing today.

I was at my 6 year old daughter's dance concert in Melbourne City today, her group were on second, very cute.  But watching the other 12 groups come on stage, with varying ages up to mid teens, there was something missing.  They're not professional they're not perfect, but it wasn't that, I couldn't work out what it was, and then Something Happened!

This guy came on the side of the stage with a mic, and started talking to the audience about the next session, and then a group of people walked on stage varying from a very little kid, mostly children, teenagers, and a few adults, and they started to tap dance.  But with spirit, and fun, and freedom.  I can't explain the contrast but something special was happening in the way they were learning from each other, dancing with Grant Swift, dancing against Grant Swift, and dancing with us.

Where the previous groups were stiff and "on stage" these tap dancers had freedom.  I don't want to be too judgemental but it has the sprit of Improv, or what you see in most snowboarders, but few skiers.  A freedom of movement.

It was truly a miracle of community, and the word wasn't teaching, it was something else.  Maybe tap is easier than other dance, but most of the other dancers seemed confined, most of the tap dancer's weren't confined and you could see the joy and rhythm in their whole body.

And I am a dance expert because I watched almost all of So You Think You Can Dance 3 !

Improv Characterisation and Stalking

And first day back at Impro Melbourne for the Character Class.

Good to be back to relearn all the Impro skills and a few more, this term being Character.  We practised crossing the line on to stage and stepping in the character.  Realising that the audience will as much watch a good character as a good plot, so if we get into the character we're well on the way.

Our homework is pick a favourite character on TV and really study them.  The other one is to spot a character we see, in the city, on the tram, out and about, and notice them.  So if you see someone staring at you for a bit too long, around Melbourne this week, you'll know it's me or one of my classmates! 

Flow not Fun!

Hey I just realised something the other day.
It's not Fun that I'm seeking but Flow.
Flow being the thing that Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi talks about in his book Flow.

It's the "In the Zone" "Mind like water" kind of thing.

Hell, I'm an introvert, I don't do "Fun" I get an inner satisfaction with "Flow".

No wonder I hate golf.  I always thought it's supposed to be fun, but it ain't! At best, it's Flow.

All my things are about Flow, I now realise that.  Tennis, Cycling, Chess, Reading on the Internet. Go Karting, what a buzz that is, but it's Flow for me, not fun, I drive round the track muttering to myself and telling myself I'm Alain Prost "The Professor of the Track".  That says it all, nice and steady, wait for the person in front of you to make a mistake.  The same with tennis.  I hate doubles, unless I'm playing with a partner where we can really get to the net in unison.  That's rare.  I'll stick to the self muttering singles game.  All my sports are solitary things.  Flow.

It's the Flow I'm aiming for and not the Fun that I thought was missing.  Fun is about saying, "Whoopee I enjoyed that."  No way!  I'll stick to "Mmmmmm that was nice!"

So, more Flow in my life.

 

Improv and The Meaning of Life

Psssst!  Wanna know the meaning of life and the secret to human nature?
Then read this book, Improvisation and The Theatre. (Just read a few reviews and they'll confirm what I'm saying).
It not just  about Impro and the theatre.  It's about life, order, learning, what's attractive in people, how we play out in life.  It's the worst book cover I've ever seen, but it's a great book.
The book is a great pointer to why some people are compelling on camera, and in real life for that matter.  It's all a game.

I've just started Improv again with ImproMelbourne and Patti Stiles, attending a Narrative Class.
Great fun, working out how to build stories in real time.  And of course all the other bits of Improv.

And if you want to burn an evening up, go search "Whose Line is it Anyway" on YouTube!

Getting Things Done in 2006

I'm just having a look at my 2005 New Year's Resolutions, and almost everyone of them ended up as the opposite, which is largely how I intended them.
More Chocolate in 2005! was an attempt to give up chocolate by eating more.  And it worked.  I ate so much chocolate in the early months of 2005 that I think I've become allergic to chocolate by the end of 2005, so now I don't eat any or drink it.  Fantastic Tony, well done! Other 2005 resolutions;

2005 Resolutions
1. More Chocolate
2. Longer meetings!
3. More chocolate!!
4. Less food More Food!
5. More Cycling/Windsurfing
6. More holidays
7. More Blogging
8. More Improv
9. More time with Annie

I've blogged less, done no Improv, forgot about longer meetings, eaten the same amount of food as I always eat, cycled a bit, not windsurfed at all (but that wasn't a literal resolution), not been on holiday, and we now have a pool of babysitters, so Annie and I do spend more time together.  So all in all, my resolutions have mostly come true and how I wanted and expected them.

And so to 2006.  Getting Things Done.  Yes, partly following the book, and it's something I want to help more people with this year.  I think how we manage our lives, especially with information overload, is a big thing, and even if I can't get it right for myself (Ha Ha!) I can help others, who can then help me.

2006 Resolutions
1. GTD.  Work, Home, Network, Money,
2. Health.  I think this can be solved in one event.  Drink more water!
3. Cycle/Windsurf.  When it's windy windsurf, when it's not windy, cycle.  This applies to life.
4. Family.  I'd like to help teach Georgie to read, this year.  And more sport with Jay.
5. Tablet.  Take notes in meetings on my Tablet, with MindManager (and maybe learn OneNote).
6. Fun.  Go-Kart, Beach, Improv, Football, Ski/Snowboard, Annie.
7. MP3. Listen to more, maybe create more.

Oh, and one more thing.
8. $15Million!

p.s I've used Performancing, a Firefox add-on to create my first 2006 Typepad weblog entry.

Improv on the Beach - St Kilda

Update - Cancelled.  Johnnie and I are going for beer instead!

Johnnie Moore and I are running an Improv on the Beach session tomorrow, Monday 19th Dec, 6-00pm at St Kilda, the start of St Kilda pier.  Come along.
A few exercises like, one word stories, "yes and", to get you going.
It's a lot of fun.  Johnnie introduced me to Improv by signing me up for ImproMelbourne a few years.
One of the best things I've ever done.

Let me know by email if you can come (typepad at tgtips.com)
See you there tomorrow.
It's free!

Improv on the Beach, Melbourne Dec 19th

Johnnie Moore and I are organising an Improv on the Beach, on Monday 19th December, currently planned for Elwood Beach 6-00 to 8-00 pm.  Let me know if you're interested.

Johnnie introduced me to Improv by way of cajoling me (remotely from the UK) on to a workshop run by ImproMelbourne.
One of the best things I've ever done, and they still run workshops and shows.
If you want to read a book on Improv, then Keith Johnstone's Improvisation and the Theatre, is one of the best books I've ever read, and it's more about life than Improv or Theatre.

We'll be doing a few Improv activities, and making it up as we go along!!

Censorship the Alan Shearer way

My good friend Johnnie Moore has run into some flak (via Steal This Brand), about something Johnnie did or didn't say at the Our Social World conference.  I don't know because I wasn't there, but if people have misinterpreted what Johnnie said then it can only lead to one thing......Alan Shearer, the most boring man in the world.  Alan Shearer may be a backstabbing conniving Machiavellian Prince, but on the TV screen he's dull dull dull, and the kind of man whose public persona is to go home and creosote his fence after winning The Premiership (I kid you not). Why?  Because he's learnt to keep his mouth shut in public, and say nothing controversial or beyond his public 300 word vocabulary, and just like most other public figures (especially sportspeople  and politicians (but not  John Humphrys it would seem!)), to not have an opinion.

So Johnnie, after your experience with "Spider in a Jar" welcome to the world of Alan Shearer.
From now on Johnnie, please do not express an opinion in public, and certainly do not use flowery expressions that could be misinterpreted as psychopathic!!
Stick to blogging in your bedroom and do not venture on to stage to practise your in the moment Improv skills, because it will only end in tears and foolish people misinterpreting you.

You have to admire people like Dave Winer, who gets right up people's noses for expressing opinions in public and putting up with the flak.  That doesn't mean he's always right or goes about it in the right way, but when I read about Johnnie's experience I realise why every public figure will end up being like Alan Shearer (or Tony Blair, Johnnie Howard, George W Bush etc etc) on TV.

Seven Types of Plot/Joke

I was thinking some more about how limited Hollywood movies can be in terms of plot and what happens.  But then I remembered, there are only 7 basic plots!

1 - [wo]man vs. nature
  2 - [wo]man vs. man
  3 - [wo]man vs. the environment
  4 - [wo]man vs. machines/technology
  5 - [wo]man vs. the supernatural
  6 - [wo]man vs. self
  7 - [wo]man vs. god/religion

That's not strictly true, because what about all those crappy Disney B grade films following a dog/cat/bear/pony/kangaroo getting back to its owner!

I found some great answers and links to this question of how many plots there are, and some more 7s for plots, and 36 Dramatic Situations:
Google Answers
The Internet Public Library
The Straight Dope

At the bottom of the Google Answers are another 7;

1. Overcoming the monster -- defeating some force which threatens...
  e.g. most Hollywood movies; Star Wars, James Bond.

 

2. The Quest -- typically a group setoff in search of something and
  (usually) find it. e.g. Watership Down, Pilgrim's Progress.

 

3. Journey and Return -- the hero journeys away from home to somewhere
  different and finally comes back having experienced something and
  maybe changed for the better. e.g. Wizard of Oz, Gullivers Travels.

 

4. Comedy - not neccesarily a funny plot. Some kind of
  misunderstanding or ignorance is created that keeps parties apart
  which is resolved towards the end bringing them back together. e.g.
  Bridget Jones Diary, War and Peace.

 

5. Tragedy - Someone is tempted in some way, vanity, greed etc and
  becomes increasingly desperate or trapped by their actions until at a
  climax they usually die. Unless it's a Hollywood movie, when they
  escape to a happy ending. e.g. Devils' Advocate, Hamlet.

 

6. Rebirth - hero is captured or oppressed and seems to be in a state
  of living death until it seems all is lost when miraculously they are
  freed. e.g. Snow White.

 

7. Rags to Riches - self explanatory really. e.g. Cinderella &
  derivatives (all 27,000 of them)!!!

I remember hearing that there are only 7 joke types, but I haven't found it on the Web and so far I have 8 types of joke/comedy;

1. Misunderstanding
2. Misfortune/Cruelty/Slapstick
3. Wordplay
4. Status - Fall from status or rapid rise
5. Stupidity
6. Surreal/Tangential
7. Exaggeration
8. Sarcasm/Satire/Parody

And Scott Adams of Dilbert and The Joy of Work lists Six Dimensions of Humour with a picking a  "Two of Six" rule;

1. Cuteness
  2. Meanness
  3. Bizarreness
  4. Recognisability
  5. Naughtiness
  6. Cleverness

He suggests picking at least two of these dimensions, start with one of them and then layer in a second dimension.  It works for him, so it must be correct!
That's enough plot and humour for today, burning up my Monday public holiday.