Josh Patten

improvnonsense:

I get in trouble for saying that because I deliberately say it in a jerk manner. KNOW EVERYTHING. When someone says “I didn’t know the movie my partner was mentioning” I’ll sometimes say “Well, you don’t HAVE to know it but it would be easier if you knew it.”

And then people are like “Why do I have to like Star Wars?”

And I say “Who said anything about Star Wars?”

“All these improv nerd boys love Star Wars and can’t stop mentioning it. I hate that HAVE to know it.”

I know. It’s annoying.

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For improv coaches out there, I find it’s helpful, when a potentially misunderstood pop culture thing is referenced in a scene, to politely ask what it is and have it briefly explained rather than berating somebody for not knowing what something is.  Lesson learned, knowledged retained, moving on. It’s fun to learn and be curious, everyone.

I have not always responded this way to Will raising this issue.

Specific examples: Inception stuff used to come up a bunch, and The Matrix pops up every now and again (especially bullet-time action sequences). personally, I think everybody should know that in 2004 steroidy Barry Bonds had a .609 on-base percentage, because that’s just insane. .609!