Improv in NY, introduction.

This was going to be 1 entry, now its going to be at least 3. So, one of my top favorite hobbies in New York City is improv. I have taken classes at the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) theater and have seen shows at UCB, Magnet, and Batsu (by Faceoff unlimited). First about improv itself, Chicago probably has the biggest improv scene in the country and many improvisers in NY, both professional and amateur, hail from Chicago. The big theaters in Chicago are SecondCity and IO. In NY, the biggest one is UCB, followed by Magnet and the PIT. I will briefly say that doing improv changes your life, and I strongly recommend that anyone that has the chance to try it. It improves communication skills, public speaking, thinking on your feet, and even decision making. Anything you use in a scene, you can use in real life. One of the worst excuses I heard from people for not trying improv is that they don't think they will be "funny enough". You don't have to be "funny enough", you just have to learn to do improv. The important thing in improv is not being funny, its being well rounded, having as much life experience as possible, and embracing it. I will write about different theaters in New York in my next few entries.

Moving to New York City

Having previously blogged while studying abroad in Japan, I never found a good topic to blog on again. After years of mostly living on suburban Long Island, I finally moved to New York City. It is my hope to show New York City through my eyes in this blog, that I have faith will be at least as successful as my Japan blog.

Now, moving to NYC at the break of winter was more of an adjustment than I expected. The first thing I quickly realized that when you live in an area where you can get anywhere by car (Long Island), you never have to deal with the weather. In NYC, you generally use public transportation, specifically the subway. The subway tends to be really hot, which is a real pain when its really cold outside. It also means that my immune system was stretched like never before. Moving to NY I thought I would take advantage of everything the city has to offer, but now find myself getting home as soon as I can to avoid getting a cold and risk getting sick.

The other thing I quickly realized about the city is that its loud, even inside the apartment there is some background noise, day and night. It was amazing for me to come back to Long Island and realize how quiet its here. Large space in an apartment is a luxury, the water in the shower never seems to be hot enough. Traffic is a real pain in the ass.

I don't regret making the move, but this will take more work than I thought.