Zip, Zap, Zop

Does this sound like you?


Washington is a white-marble town. The buildings are proud but staid, except when they're shabby. It's a working place filled with workers who talk a lot about how hard they work. They jog, and then they finish marathons. They check that off the list. They have important neighbors, but not so important as the neighbors in the next neighborhood over. At parties they say, "Nice to meet you, we should connect. Let me put you in my BlackBerry."


Relax for crying out loud. Stop taking yourself so seriously and have some real fun. And take an improv class. Never thought of yourself as funny? Well, you are! According to my good buddy Shawn Westfall, an improv teacher and funny fellow and goofy lookin' guy pictured above, "improv is very easy. You're already a gifted improviser. It's what you do from birth to death." Improv isn't about being a comedian and throwing down the one-liners. It's about letting go of your inhibitions and conquering your fears to reveal your true self, which is really funny . . . in a really good way.

If you're interested in taking an improv class, read this article in the Washington Post, which features Shawn, to find out more about improv in DC. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011100711.html?sub=AR. Shawn teaches at DC Improv and you can contact him directly at shawn.westfall@gmail.com to sign up for one of his classes.


Shawn's bio: http://www.dcimprov.com/college/shawnbio.htm

"When a comedian is being funny about something, he's being quite deadly serious about something, too."