Drugs and Improv

[Omega]

I read "Live From New York," recently, a compilation of quotes from cast members over the years detailing the history of SNL "in their own words." The drug usage was so rampant back then, and I'm not exactly sure how it is now, but I know that it definitely transcended into the scene alot more then as well. I mean, drugs are around the scene here but I have never felt pressured or overwhelmed by here in the city. I'm not exactly straight edge either mind you, but I was wondering what everyone's take is on doing drugs AND THEN improvising.

I've done a few shows high, not recently, and they were fun for sure, but I could never do a show on coke or I think my head would explode. I heard Andy Dick used to do shows on all kinds of different stuff just to see how it affected his play, do people see that as a valid argument for approaching the stage intoxicated? I'm not trying to vilify or promote anything with this thread, I was just interested what you all thought about it. The book got me thinking.

[Telfer]

Well I think that book was probably dealing with drugs in the context of sketch performance too. There may have been improvising, but probably more because the person was too high to stick to the script.

Altering your perspective without the approval of your teammates can be a slap in the face. You're forcing them to deal with you in a potentially unreachable/less communicative state. Your performance might still be as empathetic or even more empathetic to your teammates, but you're taking a hugely self-indulgent risk.

I'm fine with people having a beer, beer and a half before shows. I've done it a dozen or so times now and I don't feel guilty about it or anything. If people smoke pot I don't care as long as it's barely effecting their game. But I have since decided to stop having that beer because of how self-indulgent it makes me feel. Just a personal choice. For me it stems from making the occasional bad move on stage and not being sure if it's because I indulged myself too much. I'd prefer the control because it's something you can manage more realistically. I <i>totally</i> don't care about other people on my team having a beer though, and maybe when I feel like I've rounded some kind of personal improv corner I'll let myself have a beer again.

If you're hardcore about improving your abilities and growing as a performer, I think it's a terrible idea. I don't think you can really retain or respond to notes or personal goals if your brain is lubricated, at the very least you're going to stunt your growth.

If you're comfortable about your abilities and you need to get out of your head, experimentation on a moderate level is cool. But if you were my teammate, and I rated my annoyance with you after you tanked a show, I'd give a sober person a far lower score than an intoxicated person. You can really kill group chemistry by retreating into a little pharmaceutical holiday.

[Hicks]

It's an interesting debate for me because Dirty Water is a definitely a show where substance use is a central aspect of the show. Well drinking lots of beer. There have certainly been shows that we have done where we come off stage and realize yeah we just polished off that whole case and we only did 35 minutes. Maybe it's just us but the drinking doesn't have as much effect on us. Granted that's the nature of the show and I would have a much harder time doing a Harold or another multi-scene structure. Also at least for us we are all drinking together so you don't get that one drunk off by themselves. Now doing a show wicked baked. I could imagine that would be rough and not good.

[Daddy]

Also, Hicks, assuming that you had a meal ahead of time, you're probably not going to get drunk in the 35 minutes on-stage. If you drank that much, say, an hour before the show, that's a different story.

[Run]

I say do whatever makes you funny. No one has a right to preach one way or the other. It's your health. If your improv sucks because of it ... well, that's your problem. I will say this as my personal opinion ... the "fat white stoner improv guy" ... well, that schtick is way oversaturated and quite frankly overrated. And you know EXACTLY the dudes I'm talking about.

[Telfer]

I think drinking <i>as a total group</i> is kind of a non-issue, especially if it's part of the point of the show. It definitely eliminates the selfish part of it. You're all just having fun the same way.

I'm not trying to preach, but having been on teams where people were like "fuck it I will do whatever I want, whatever makes me funny", I will say I often wanted to strangle that person. I doubt I was ever alone in that feeling.

[Tony]

That book is also about the 70's. How many of us have been to a coke party lately? And if so, how sad was it on a scale of 1 to 10? Drugs lack the glamour they had at one point. Drugs can still be fun, but they are not like owning an iPod or a Jetta, or some other yuppie attachement anymore.

[FlyinElvi]

I will not drink before I perform. Even one beer makes me feel self-conscious that I'm making a particular move because I'm intoxicated. But I'm a chick with not a high tolerance. Still, unless drinking/being high/whatever is part of the show or part of a group experimentation with performing while drunk/high/whatever, I think performing while inebriated is sloppy and in bad form.

They did two takes of the famous "Indianapolis" story in Jaws. One, the actor was actually drunk, and one, he was not, because while actually drunk, he couldn't hit all of the beats in his monologue sufficiently. That is, he was a worse performer. No, it wasn't improv, but it speaks to his ability to perform while on something.

[Telfer]

Yeah, I would never ever consider drinking before performing from a script. I don't know if it inherently makes you worse, but your ability to hit a mark is totally screwed.

[Omega]

I hadn't even really thought about beer as a "drug" but it is an intoxicant. I have a beer or two before shows regularly, but I have never really felt like my game was negatively afftected by it. Most vets I talk to say it "loosens" them up before a show, and I have to agree with that on my part. I'm not drunk, or even tipsy, but it's like that scene in Shawshank where they sit on the roof and have some cold, shitty beer... you just feel more like a man. Free, I dunno, all that shit.

Beer and weed for me are different because I feel slower, I hate smoking before shows because I can tell that's gonna be a slippery slope, but beer is a group thing and relaxing. Coke has the opposite affect, and I'm not addicted or anything but I do know the affects. Doing shows with people when I know they've just done a rail in the bathroom can be a bit unnerving because I can see their brain working so much faster than it needs to just to be in the moment. It's all your own perogative, if you can handle it whatever.

DARE.

[Dayna]

Some people who think they have a high tolerance and aren't affected, don't and are. Could you be one of those people?

I get people having a beer or two before a show, but on some level even that can bother me at times. Especially if they walk out on stage and not only don't have a clue what I just said, but they don't pay attention to what they just said. But I suppose the same could be said for someone who was sober.

If you have to do drugs to take the edge off, maybe you need to ask yourself why you have that edge in the first place.

I'm so glad this isn't the 70s. I probably would have been frightened off. No one has ever pressured me to do anything. I think that was a myth created by Nancy Reagan. Why would someone want to give away their drugs for free if you aren't interested?

[bill binkley]

Interesting question. I know I can't perform on the weed ... talk about being in your head ... I spend that extra nanosecond or two thinking about what I just did, judging--sometimes even worse: prejudging--instead of being completely in the moment. Bad news.

On that note, though, whatever works for you works for you; but if you're screwing up the timing of the show, or cheapening out for laughs because you're baked/high/drunk/whatever, then you're clearly the asshole, and you're insulting your teammates. If you're straight and you screw it up, at least you can't blame it on the drugs. Those excuses get old really quickly.

[Hendo]

I was taught long ago (by a former Annoyance teacher Lisa Lewis, imagine that) not only that I shouldn't use drugs or drink before a show, but that I should watch my caffeine intake and I should make sure I don't eat a heavy meal more than a couple of hours before a show. Because all of those things can change your concentration and energy, and not for the better.

[FlyinElvi]

Improv should ask of its performers the same level of concentration and craft as scripted acting. There are differences between the output of the two, of course.

[Schoolyj]

I've gone through phases where I've consistently smoked before shows - sometimes being quite high - and other phases where I'm totally sober. I see advantages to both.

The trouble with getting high before shows all the time is the same problem you run into with getting high all the time period. Eventually, you aren't very focussed; your vocabulary shrinks; your verbal acuity slows down; and your emotional range flattens.

Extending the thought: In improv as in life. Being high is not a per se offense to the people you are in relationship with, but if being high turns you into a chooch, then you should deal with that.

[EdO]

The best drug to improv by is Ritalin.

Seriously.

[Tony]

Extending the thought: In improv as in life. Being high is not a per se offense to the people you are in relationship with, but if being high turns you into a chooch, then you should deal with that.

Whenever this topic comes up, my answer is "depends."

That being said, when I am in a relationship with someone on stage, I expect them to be at the height of their awareness.

I don't give a fuck if my friends smoke weed. If I still smoked cigarettes, I would still smoke it myself. However if that same friend smoked a bowl before an improv show in which being stoned was not "part of the show," I would take it as an offense.

Also, a show that requires players to be high is probably shitty unless you are also high. Drunk people can be funny even to sober people.

People on coke are all assholes.

[lackadaisy]

I was taught long ago (by a former Annoyance teacher Lisa Lewis, imagine that) not only that I shouldn't use drugs or drink before a show, but that I should watch my caffeine intake and I should make sure I don't eat a heavy meal more than a couple of hours before a show. Because all of those things can change your concentration and energy, and not for the better.

(Not just to pick on Hendo, I just want to use his quote.)

Of course everything we do to our bodies effects our concentration and energy: food, drink, drugs, sleep, sunlight, whether you rode a bike to the show or a bus, or worked out today, have a cold, had sex recently or not, whatever and more.

Point is, whether it's improv or theatre or sport or work, we each find our own personal combinations of the above that make us comfortable and capable and perform to our utmost. It's when it starts being something you do with disregard to your teammates or to the show that you've crossed the line. We all have bad shows, to say they only happen when you smoke or snort beforehand is a ridiculous reduction, but if those things did hurt your performance (and you know) then don't do them again. If they helped, then by all means, indulge. Try it out, enjoy yourself, but remember the show and your team.

Personally, I drink frequently and probably more than most people would think responsible before shows. I find it helpful. It helps loosen me up and rid me of my internal censor. Danger is that if I have a bit too much and don't keep focused, I'll lean back and become a watcher. But that happens rarely enough that I'm content with the overall result. Maybe one day my sober self will reach a point where it doesn't require the sauce to open up. I'll be fine with that.

And as much as I enjoy smoking, it takes me to a place where I feel entirely disconnected; I have a great time, but I know I'm not on the same wavelength as those around me. So I don't do it, or save it practice.

[Justin]

Interesting. I do all sketch and even though we want our audience to be drunk and we try to achieve a party atmosphere, we do not drink before shows. Telfer said it - your timing gets screwed up. And comedy is about taking advantage of well timed situations that you might actually miss if presented while tipsy or even just buzzed. It's like driving. Sure you could do it and you are probably good at it, but what happens if you have to swerve to avoid hittin a kid? Don't get me started on weed - it's great for idea generation but terrible for (my) performance. I can't even finish sentences.

How do musicians do it? My buddy is a bass player and he gets sooo drunk and stoned before he plays every gig. The whole band does.

Justin
www.schadenfreude.net

[Shotts]

People on coke are all assholes.
Man, you're going to love Los Angeles.

[bill binkley]

How do musicians do it? My buddy is a bass player and he gets sooo drunk and stoned before he plays every gig. The whole band does.

Justin
www.schadenfreude.net (http://www.schadenfreude.net)

From my days in bands, I can say that when you've got everything down pat, you don't even really have to be there to perform sometimes. I used to smoke regularly before a lot of shows, and hearing tapes later I realized that those shows were as good, if not better, than more sober shows. Now, we were not an improvisational band in any way, so that's why it worked for me. But still--I feel the same way about scripted material now. If I've got it down, it doesn't matter if I've been drinking or smoking (to a point, of course).

[kremidas]

Diferent people have diferent brain chemistries and psychological states and therefore drugs effect different people differently. It depends on the person, or the group.

Has anybody heard of the infamous black chair show at iO? About 8 years ago a harold team did a an entire show on shrooms, and rumor has it that it was awe inspiring.

Also, Del used to say that you can drink a beer before a show, but never only one, and never 3. One isn't enough to loosen you up, 3 is too many. This is according to Rachael Mason, anyway.

[Hendo]

We're supposed to be playing at the top of our intelligence. Studies show that pot and alcohol reduce response time. It's just plain facts. Drinking may "loosen you up," but it also slows you down. And it may remove your inner censor, but if you're REALLY following Del's rules, you don't go with your first impulse or even your second; you go with your third.

And while I'll give it up to Del for lots of things, I don't really think we should be taking advice about drugs, alcohol or smoking from a man who was killed by these vices, should we?

[kremidas]

emphaysema (sp?) killed Del Close. Silly man.

Some people might need to be slowed down. Drugs also increase the flow of dopamine, which can calm that nagging voice of judgement. Some people might need that,too. Everybody is different, quit making silly generalizations. What works for you might not work for others. Silly.

[Hendo]

emphysema caused by smoking pot and cigarettes. And God knows how many years the smack took off.

Silly.

[Omega]

emphysema caused by smoking pot and cigarettes. And God knows how many years the smack took off.

Silly.

The topic of Del is an interesting one. Since his views were so very skewed by the many, many drugs he had already put into his system when the idea of Long Form really started to get steam. I mean, I never knew Del, but I can logically assume that years of doing drugs would affect your day to day views on different things. Maybe doing drugs off stage is ok, since you will have more perspective about them when you have to play that drug on stage?

Like that shrooms show, I bet it was awe inspiring, but could they have done the same show based on the experience of doing shrooms? I do drugs sometimes just to see how I am affected as a person, not all drugs... don't come stabbing me with needles... but that way when I am talking about them, or having to act like someone on them, I can do it and have it be relative to an audience who may have tried them as well. Bringing that to every scene, regardless of context, seems somewhat masturbatory and counter productive if you are having to do scenes where you play both "high" and "not high."

[EdO]

An SSRI like Zoloft, in combination with Ritalin or Adderal is a nice drug cocktail for the performing arts. Zoloft blocks some of the reuptake of seretonin, which can chill you right out if you're stressed. Ritalin and Adderal stimulate the central nervous system. The combination is nearly euphoric, very relaxed and energetic, and sharp as a knife. Of course, you have to take the SSRI for a few weeks before you start feeling the effects.

This combo mixed with alcohol is bad news. You've had all your inhibitions decreased, your filters elimintated, and now you're in a highly excited state. But you're taking in a depressant, so highly excited turns to highly agitated in an instant. Then you go completely psycho. Do this recipe though, if you're gearing up to confront your enemies. Bring bail money.

Drinking alone makes you drunk. Did you guys know that? BORING. I usually like to rip it up with some amphetamines first.

Pot's not even a drug. It's a plant that likes to be inside the human brain so it can finally shed it's roots and dance, which is all it ever wanted to do in the first place.

[EdO]

... don't come stabbing me with needles... .

Great...

There goes my weekend.

[Omega]

Great...

There goes my weekend.

Sorry to disappoint. Maybe we can re-schedule?

[brannigan deluxe]

as a another run of the mill fat-ass no-talent white male improvisor with a long-standing penchant for various dea schedule one narcotics, i (suprisingly) go out of my way to be un-high for rehearsals and shows. mainly due to the (potential) barrier between yourself and your scene partner. However, It is my opinion that i have no right to tell you how to prepare for the show, or how to perform in it, for that matter, unless I was the one directing said show.

you should still be able to play off of someone who's altered, regardless. I don't see why your preconception of what the scene would have been if they were sober should negate what they actually did offer to the scene, in the moment, altered or not. sober people fuck shit up all the time, too.

that being said, everybody needs to do more acid
(or DOB, DOC, DOI, Psilocybin, 2C-I, DMT, Peyote, MDMA, etc, etc...)
ego death is something that i think most people should be nudged towards

[Dyr=]

I think drugs and improv should be done together, in practice. If I do a show messed up, it will be called the Mushroom show, the Blowshow or the stoned show.This is kinda what groups do with drinking on stage (dirtywater, Bassprov). Why not get blitzed and do some scenes with friends. you can play improv anywhere anytime. Drugs make certain areas of the brain more or less active, why not see how that effects your play. experiment but in the comfort of a practice not a show.

[Omega]

smoking weed makes you a better improviser.

prove me wrong, anyone?

[Omega]

This was and wasn't a bit. Some people need to try weed once in their lived I think so they can sit on a couch and just say "potato chip" and enjoy themselves.

[Telfer]

Yes, please do. On a couch. In an apartment.

[stonelake]

I did a show high once. Admittedly, it was a show I didn't know I would be in. It was extremely unpleasant. I was uncontrolled and worthless. I damaged the show.

I have enough trouble focusing when I'm straight. However, if you are high as a kite and you are a solid improv-er, more power to you and you're welcome in my world. It just doesn't work for me.

I used to be fairly straight-edge, it turns out that I like the occasional departure from sobriety, and I certainly don't begrudge it of anyone else. But I try to bring my all to team work, and if something is in the way of that, I am cheating my compadres. Whether that's beer, pot, crank, stress, illness, or just plain asshole.

[Omega]

It's a really fine line we walk with our fellow players when we know they are doing drugs. Weed is one thing, but if someone you are playing with is fine doing a show on coke I think it's very noble for a fellow player to say "you're fine on stage, but do you NEED to be doing this to yourself." Sure, maybe they aren't fucking up your show when they are coked, but they are fucking up themselves and maybe it's time more people actively made the choice to stop these kinds of decisions. I know it's not rampent, but I have seen it and not said anything and it's not always led to the best results. I dunno, I guess it's a double standard I hold for weed and beer, but the harder stuff I know can really fuck your life up. The side effects of weed and beer just pretty much make you lazy and forgetful. I had a great last line for this post, but I forgot it. :)

[Shey]

Pot's not even a drug. It's a plant that likes to be inside the human brain so it can finally shed it's roots and dance, which is all it ever wanted to do in the first place.

That is the cutest statement I've ever read about pot. I am stealing it. No one I say it to will every know.

Shey :p

[Arnie]

Is it just me or does this thread have a higher than average number of typos?

[baldo]

i used to get high all the time before shows. i was also drinking a few beers before every show. i saw little difference in my performance, other than during weaslicious, when we were haaaaammmmered. however, it was, as telfer said, a slap in the face to my fellow performers. most people get lit without letting the whole group know. i did it, and it sucks.
also, as to performing high and, "hey it enhances the experience and creativity".
Clapton said of his days on drugs and booze (keep in mind he had a problem), "You never got my best."
one to blow on...

[carebear]

I hate performing with people who are visibly drunk or high. I also hate watching visibly drunk people improvise. Neither are any fun.

But I don't think having a drink or two before a show is an issue, unless that drink or two changes how you play.

Carrie
=)

[cyncast]

I agree.

I don't like performing with people that are drunken assholes on stage, nobody does unless of course you are a drunken asshole.

I don't like watching drunken assholes perform either unless I am a drunk asshole.

I don't think that you should have to do any sort of drug to get off on stage.

I also don't think you need to do every drug to know how to portray them on stage.

Do I have a drink before a show?
Yes if I feel like 1.

Have a ever performed drunk?
no. actually I don't think I have.
with a few in me, yes and I don't remember liking the product of that so I avoid it.

Do I get high before a show?
No. I turn into a stupid idiot who doesn't speak when I smoke pot. My precious brain matter shuts down.

Do I care what you do before a show?
No. Unless it directly effects me. In a scene or In life.

Friends don't let friends be assholes. If you know someone has a problem with any sort of substance abuse whether it effects their play or not, do something. Don't just talk about.

Dont be an asshole. EVER.

[EdO]

I think you should get drunk before every show.

[Ozone]

I think the one common sentiment here is that because longform is a team effort, you owe it to the group to be at your best. For some people that means altering your chemistry, whether prescribed or not. People should only be judged on their behavior, and drugs or booze can't be an excuse for dickishness.

Especially for normal, full-price shows, you should be as agile and coherent as ever. Late night shows, Dirty Water, Drug Test -- perhaps the audience expectation is reversed.

I used to think only assholes did coke. It's not for me, but I know plenty of non-assholes that do just fine with it. Assholes just tend to do it more often, and lots more of it, so their asshole flags fly high. Plus it can power up some drunk assholes who would have otherwise passed out long ago. Coke exposes assholes.

[Erdaron]

My position is that neither alcohol nor drugs really open up any abilities you don't already have while sober. Sure, it may make it easier in some cases, but most of the time being high only gives you an illusion of being better off in any respect.

The mind is tremendously powerful. It doesn't need external chemical help. If your experience is that you need something to get you started, I would posit that you don't properly prepare for shows. Maybe you need more time, or different warmups, or meditation.

Every bastard can shoot up. Only a trained craftsman knows how to get the job done right using his own abilities. That's the difference.

That said, the only physical condition I found that actually consistently seems to have benefited my level of performance is acute hunger.

[ladym]

My question is...
how do people find drugs these days?

I couldn't get a tab of acid if I WANTED to...
this is a real shame.
all through high school and college,
I swear... I could find acid... no problem, X... yeah!

nowadays...
do people even do drugs anymore?
I mean besides smokin weed.
I am under the assumption that everyone is too poor to have a real coke habit...
and I've NEVER been at a party where people were trippin their balls off.
I'm actually shocked that this community is as staright laced as it is...

I guess what I'm really saying is...
how can I get some acid?
do people do blotters anymore?

[brannigan deluxe]

acid's been a lot harder to find since this guy got caught:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard

but, from what I've heard (complete rumors and heresay from somewhat uncitable and possibly unreliable sources), some old chemists from the way back are back to their old tricks lately. whether or not that'll trickle down to this particular community is beyond me.

but, it's out there, it's just really, really hard to find these days - just be careful, as a lot of people these days plop research chemicals and the like onto blotter and sell it as acid - usually nothing life-threatening, as it's hard to fit enough of any psycoactive substance on a single tab of blotter that would kill you - just deceptive.

but who knows

[Edison]

acid's been a lot harder to find since this guy got caught:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Leonard_Pickard

but, from what I've heard (complete rumors and heresay from somewhat uncitable and possibly unreliable sources), some old chemists from the way back are back to their old tricks lately. whether or not that'll trickle down to this particular community is beyond me.

but, it's out there, it's just really, really hard to find these days - just be careful, as a lot of people these days plop research chemicals and the like onto blotter and sell it as acid - usually nothing life-threatening, as it's hard to fit enough of any psycoactive substance on a single tab of blotter that would kill you - just deceptive.

but who knows

Shame about Pickard.
Seriously, the pharmaceutical companies in America make tens of billions each year, manufacturing government-sanctioned drugs every day, that pose grave health risks to it's users. LSD has never killed anyone, nor has it's use been linked to any physical illness.
It's moral racketeering.

In either case, I haven't done anything like that in more than a few years. I do like psychotropics, I haven't done X (..yet). I've never really been a drinker, and aside from a little weed or a lot of coffee, I don't mess with my state too much these days. Life is just great without it.
If anything, I should stop with the cigs.

Do substances affect my improv? definitely.
I was at IO one night about 5 years ago, and a friend and fellow improvisor pulled me on stage with him for the Jam. We were both wasted, but he was obviously more capable than I. I felt like I could barely follow. I got paranoid and started to sweat. Afterwards, we had a smoke out back and I confessed that I had never done the Jam before, let alone wasted.
He laughed a hearty laugh and gave me a high-five.


That improvisors' name? Dan Antonucci.

And now you know the rest

..of the story.

[Hicks]

I think the one common sentiment here is that because longform is a team effort, you owe it to the group to be at your best. For some people that means altering your chemistry, whether prescribed or not. People should only be judged on their behavior, and drugs or booze can't be an excuse for dickishness.

Especially for normal, full-price shows, you should be as agile and coherent as ever. Late night shows, Dirty Water, Drug Test -- perhaps the audience expectation is reversed.



The audience expectation is different in part because we are encouraging the audience to have a drink with us. Hell it's our freakin' advertising plug line. The idea is that you are at a bar with guys you probably know or are at least familiar with. And you would probably drink with these guys. It brings the audience right in on stage with us in a sense. The other thing that helps for our show at least is that we are ALL drinking together. It's not one guy drunk, another high and then 4 sober people. It's the whole group. Which helps. But to answer the previous question, the audience expects us and actually sometimes thinks it's kind of cool that we drink on stage. It's my favorite after show question, "were you guys actually drinking on stage?"

[chitiger]

I've been known to dabble in the drug culture (I went to college afterall). And I have to echo most people's statements in this post.

1. Different drugs affect different people differently

2. Drugs won't make your performance any better than if you were sober. This is because, with practice, you can always reach the same mental places without the use of drugs (though drugs help you realize these places exist).

3. If you are going to be drugged up for a show, make sure your stage partners know and are okay with this. Otherwise, sit in the corner and sober up.

4. I can't remember 4. I'm too high.

[Ozone]

I am flush with Dirty Water gear, as I won the raffle at Duquesnoy's fire benefit. I need to claim my tickets sometime soon.

[Juan]

Being high or drunk while doing improv sucks and does damage the show. The only people that can pull off doing a good show are musicians and alas it's not the same for improv.

[dewidiot]

I'm getting to the point where I hate being fucked up in general. In college it kind of defined who I was but now... I feel like it prevents me from getting shit done. Writing and performing sketch is super nerve wracking and I feel like I have to be on my A game or something always comes up. You just need so much of your mind and body. Even being overweight is starting to get in the way of sketch comedy/improv so now I'm watching that too. I want more energy but caffeine makes you feel assey later. Coke is not for work. We don't make that kind of money to use coke as a "performance enhancer". Drinking beers at writers meeting? That means fun but distracting bullshitting and pizza ordering. Tipsy at a show? That means I can't cover for a flubbed line or I may miss a new moment when one of our more improv leaning performs discovers something during the performance. I guess I feel like I need to be really healthy to do this shit right.

Doing this stuff is so fun in general it kind of replaced my need to get fucked up. Is that my anti-drug? Why do I feel so lame for saying that? Do people feel they need to train their bodies/minds to do this stuff? Is their meditation for comedians in some training temple? Oh the shame in knowing my mom would be proud...


Andrew

www.thewarheroes.com (http://www.thewarheroes.com)

[Edison]

Being high or drunk while doing improv sucks and does damage the show. The only people that can pull off doing a good show are musicians and alas it's not the same for improv.

And even that's arguable. It's a matter of ones values.

The Grateful Dead were known for playing while tripping, relying on 'group mind' to carry them through these elaborate transformative jams. Sometimes the magic would happen, sometimes it was a trainwreck.

In the Beatles Anthology series, the prevailing judgement in their own hindsight, was that pot and acid didn't hurt the song writing but did affect the playing. Certainly while recording in the studio.
Ringo said they'd seem fine, but that too often they'd have to re-record tracks because the takes sounded like shit when straight.

Really, it's up to fans and concert attendees whether or not they have an issue with it.
The only time I flinch is when someone is simply too fucked up to perform. It's unprofessional.

..Though, sometimes it creates some special moments.
Who would've liked to have seen Elvis having his giggling fit/melt-down while performing Are You Lonesome Tonight?
That's a goddamn classic.

And another famous musician's over-indulging before a show provided a particularly memorable evening for this guy;
Scott Halpin (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Halpin)