RECENTLY DE-CLASSIFIED INTEL FROM CHALLENGER H.Q.-

Paying Attention and Mastering Focus, and the recently added “…and all RIGHT NOW” has been determined to be an ALPHA LEVEL skill-set for all field agents. The ability to instantly “Read a Room” is one of the most important teachable skills that an Agent of Improv can possess. Self-Awareness and a keen eye for your surroundings can be life or death in the field. Keeping your mind firmly in the “NOW” is essential. There is no script to follow in IMPROV or in LIFE, so we rely on the unfolding plot that is happening right in front of us. PAY ATTENTION to it.

The term “Pay Attention” is NOT to be mistaken for the phrase that has been screamed at you repeatedly during CHALLENGER BOOT CAMP.  This “Pay Attention” is an extension of this quote given to Supreme Mission Commander Johnson by a legendary, Choir-teaching, Field Operative…

“We have all heard and used the common expression ‘pay attention’ but in fact, attention is not a payment, it is a gift.  Teaching students to give this gift to their own lives may in the end be the teacher’s greatest legacy, and the most important thing that students learn in rehearsal and performance, regardless of whether or not they continue to perform as adults.”

-WALTER BITNER

We have not been able to determine who Walter Bitner is, but he has served his country well, and we are grateful for that service.  For the purposes of your CHALLENGING IMPROV training, Paying Attention and Mastering Focus is Looking, Listening, and Assessing threat potential in ALL circumstances… or ANY potential… not JUST “Threat,” …but you know what I mean. These are your Superpowers, Cadets.  Knowing WHERE, WHEN, and HOW to look and listen and “read your room” is essential to the successful completion of ANY mission!

DEEP COVER, ASSET CONDITIONING and FIELD SITREP-

All Agents will acquire these particular skills…

• Listening not just to words, but also tone, and especially INTENT

• Seeing EVERYTHING in your environment, including specific details and what is NOT there

• Understand and FEEL the forces coming from all other Assets… register the intensity, volume, rate, and all subtleties of expression

• Be able to switch seamlessly between a SOFT focus encompassing entire field and razor sharp, HARD focus on singular assets or events

• Agents should be able to demonstrate observations through repeating given lines and commenting in a NON-COMMENTING manner about their environment

BASIC TRAINING FOR ALL FIELD OPERATIVES –

All Cadets will be trained in accordance with the following protocols…

• Warming up will be mandatory.  Circle and line games will be played with intensity and FOCUS.  The goal will always be to switch quickly from Soft to Hard focus, building to maximum Reflex Excitability

• MICHAEL CHEKHOV’S STICK WORK (Start with Soft and Hard Focus drills… holding out a hand and focusing on THAT distance, then dropping the hand, but holding the focus where the hand was.  This creates a “SOFT” focus that encompasses the entire field of vision equally.  Switch to a “HARD” focus on ONE Cadet across the circle, then switch back in order to see the entire periphery equally.  It takes time, but can be MASTERED.  Soft Sticks should be acquired from Martial Arts distributors.  Cadets start with individual sticks to MASTER flipping a stick in a half turn with both hands and with switching hands, using SOFT focus.  Using the knees on flip and catch is essential.  Eventually build to tossing the stick to a partner with only the half turn, then tossing a stick around a circle, then tossing multiple sticks at the same time, then multiple sticks while moving through a room.  It can be done, but do get “SOFT” sticks.  More detailed information on Chekhov’s stick work can be found in)

• All daily activities and drills will be approached with “Head on a Swivel” INTENT to acquire every ounce of intel OFFERED by all agents, assets and handlers, as well as the physical environment including all physical and invisible props

• Attention and Focus drills will require constant “Side-Coaching” from Mission Commanders.  Suggestions will include, but not be limited to… “See the Details,” “Make sure the other players know what you are seeing and hearing,” “Take nothing for granted… Everything MATTERS!” 

BLACK BAG ACQUISITIONS FOR DOG AND PONY SHOWS –

These are specific MISSION SIMULATIONS for ATTENTION, FOCUS and staying in the NOW…

• CIRCLE WARM-UPS (Throwing “invisible” objects across room, Who Started the Motion, Zip Zap Zop, Name and Action Memorization Games, etc.

• CONCENTRATION GAMES (Game-show games with multiple objects on a tray under a cloth are excellent awareness and focus builders.  With Cadet’s backs turned, place 5 small, Safehouse objects on a tray and cover it with a cloth, turn the Cadets, reveal the objects for just ONE second before covering again.  Cadets need to write down what they saw.  Keep a tally.  Add objects one at a time and repeat process up to 11 or 12 objects… always for only a second before re-covering)

• ALL PERFORMANCE GAMES (All standard Improv games can be played with an increased focus on FOCUS and ATTENTION, but MISSION COMMANDERS can also insert subtle props and even Cadets into a scene to heighten needed awareness)

• ASSET LIMITING GAMES (Eliminating either talking or moving will increase a Cadet’s other senses.  Pantomime games and statue games can be highly effective)

• BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS and all variations (Any game that requires a Cadet to OBSERVE and replay actions or lines)

MISSION WRAP UP – 

The goal is always to make “PAYING ATTENTION” the GIFT that it is intended to be.  PAYING ATTENTION and FOCUS should be PLAY, rather than WORK!  

That is all for PAYING ATTENTION AND MASTERING FOCUS…

“BRAVO ZULU!” 

PAYING ATTENTION and MASTERING FOCUS really are SUPERPOWERS, and they CAN be used in ANY situation in WORK and LIFE.

There was a sign at CHALLENGER HQ that read “Everything that is said and done must matter.”  In order for everything to MATTER, everything needs to be observed.  We take a lot of lingo and banter from the Military “vocabulary,” but the basic concepts behind “Head on a Swivel” and “Sitrep,” are rock solid for ALL situations, not just the battlefield.  Training yourself to REALLY read a room can make your reactions to others, and your immediate environment so much more ACCURATE, and that can have HUGE benefits to any professional and social interaction.  Taking an increased interest in your immediate environment can also serve to get you out of your head and more firmly grounded in your NOW… always a good thing. Other than the notion of “Decorum,” is there really any benefit to NOT noticing things?

CENSORSHIP comes into play often with this in the form of lines like “Mind your own business” and “Johnny… don’t stare.”  I say, “STARE!”  Stare at everything… take it in, so you can use it.  And as for minding your own business… I think Bob Marley said it best with “Mankind should have been my business!…”  Or maybe that was Jacob Marley.  I always get my Dickens and Reggae mixed up.