My Take (Shawn Whitman) - "Just Be Yourself...or Someone Else."

Interviews .  Parties.  First Dates.  Someone always tell you, “Just be yourself.”  Being yourself all the time is boring.  Sometimes, you want to be someone else.

I love playing characters in improv scenes.  I've been a kid, a jock, an old lady, a talking dog, a princess and the sinister owner of a tobacco/pizza conglomerate, all in the same show.  Walking in some other made-up person’s shoes teaches you a lot about yourself.  Would I ever want to make everyone addicted to pizza?  You’re damn right I would.  But would I ever want to kick over someone’s beautifully crafted sand castle moments before the International Sandcastle Championship?  Nope.  But I’ve played that jerk on stage and learned that I have the power to either support people or knock them down and I like supporting people.  (But, knocking them down during an improv scene can empower your scene partner to start off with a low status, shift to high status and win the hearts of the audience!  That's what I call support!)

The next time you don’t want to be yourself, take note of your feelings and thoughts and create a character.  Maybe you’ll glad you were yourself instead