Pete and his partner, Travis started a cross country journey to San Diego and happened to find founder Amy Lisewski was looking at that time for roommates.
Is there anything more “Yes! And…” then a new life beginning, in a new city, with a brand new home? Well luckily for Pete his roommate owned an improv theatre and he dove right into our community!
As a student and current work study participant, Pete has found his improv family here at Finest City Improv.
His life has changed most distinctively in the fact that he has found himself off the side lines and in the moment. Learn more about him in his video below!
In His Words
I’m a level four student here at Finest City Improv and a work-study participant as well. I’ve lived a lot of my life on the sidelines, being scared to participate or getting that first hurdle of difficulty and finding myself jetting the other way. I didn’t the opportunity to really dive in to something that I love but scares the hell out of me. The good thing about being afraid is that there is a solution, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, and it comes with learning to get back up one more time and to practice and practice one more time, that it’s okay to be silly and that it’s okay to make mistakes and to redefine what a mistake actually is, which is just a perspective shift.
At the end of each term, we go around in a circle and we get to compliment and celebrate each person that’s in our class, and which is something that I look forward to other areas of my life because we get to hear what the world thinks of us from a positive perspective, which isn’t a common thing, at least not in my life. So what I’ve learned from that experience is that naturally, the gifts that we all are born with and the talents and the love that we have for coming together, a connection, we automatically start to share those. And then the people in our class bring those out in us and let us know that, “Yeah, you’re a part of this group. We love you and we can’t wait to continue expanding and getting closer.” So it makes sense because I get to be seen. People see me, they acknowledge me and they celebrate me and that keeps me coming back. I’ll be here through all the levels and then we’ll see what happens after that.
I get to learn to relax, to not worry about what the audience thinks, and to just have fun, which is the number one concept of improv, is to have fun, to bring fun into your life and connection with people who you never would have met had you not done improv. So it’s really helping me develop compassion for my fellow humans, and most importantly for myself.
My improv motto is keep coming back, because anything in life worth obtaining requires practice and practice and practice. Not even perfect practice. Just get back up onto the horse and try again and try again. And, in improv, everyone’s got your back. No one’s going to let you fall, or if you do fall, you’re going to get a hand up, or 20. So keep coming back. It is a life-changing experience.
Learn how improv can help in your life and try a free class!
This article is part of the Community Spotlight Series highlighting our amazing students, teachers, and performers.
Are you an FCI student or graduate that has a great story to share? We’d love to feature you! Let us know.