Today I received the most wonderful PM from a former student of mine, Amber Jam On Linde, telling me how grateful she was for my dedication to her and all of my other students. It really made my day, on a day when I needed a boost. So I decided to post something about (and to) somebody who had a profound impact on my life too. If you feel inclined to do the same, even just a brief thank-you note publicly or privately to somebody, please do. There are so many people I could write about, but heres the person Ive chosen for now. My life changed forever the day I met Brian Posen. I was 30 years old and living in Dayton, Ohio, and had just left my accounting career to take improvisation classes. I was commuting to Chicago on weekends to take the classes. The day I met Brian was day 1 of my Level B improvisation class at The Second City Training Center. (So, that would be my ninth week of improvisational training.) Brian was my Level B teacher, and he (along with my Level A teacher, Thomas Greene) was so inspiring that during Level B I moved to Chicago to make improvisation my life. (To understand what a big deal this was, you must understand that I was and still am a person who likes to plan EVERYthing. It is actually utterly shocking that I decided to make a life in improvisation.) Since that day, Brian and I have built and maintained a very close personal and artistic relationship, and most of what I have accomplished over the past 15 years can be directly traced to Brian. Today I still perform with him at least once a week and see him several times a week, and still seek his advice on many things professional and personal, and now count him among my closest friends. About 10 years ago, probably 5 years after I first met Brian, he was musical directing a new show and I was his assistant musical director. On one particular night, he could not make it to rehearsal, so I was supposed to run the rehearsal myself. This was a rehearsal where we were going to teach a group of 15 people brand-new music that Brian and I had just written. And these were people I barely knew. I was completely petrified and told Brian I didn’t think I could do it. Brian insisted on giving me a ride to rehearsal even though he could not attend. On the ride over he gave me a pep talk that would change my life. He told me that I was an excellent teacher and knew a lot about music, and especially knew all of this music very well since I’d written half of it myself. He said, go in there and be confident, and if you’re not confident, then ACT confident. He said, at the same time, be yourself – you have a great personality and you have a rare ability to be clear and direct while also not being a jerk. Still terrified, I went into that rehearsal and led a terrific rehearsal and taught freshly-composed 4-part harmonies to a group of 15 very talented singers whom I barely knew. That night I experienced a quantum leap in my progress as an artist and teacher, and that night catapulted me to greater and greater artistic successes over the next few years right up through today. And I am sure that there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of other artists who have been profoundly impacted by Brian’s work as a teacher and/or director and/or performer. Brian, I wish you an amazing SketchFest and I cannot wait to see you tonight. I owe it all to you, my friend.
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 16:43:51 +0000