“I like Spam because . . .&uot;

It was the phrase uttered repeatedly by different people who jumped into the middle of a nine person circle.

&uot;You can use it for stucco,&uot; one shouted out.

&uot;It comes in a can,&uot; another said.

In response, the circle of people, ranging in age from their 30s to their 70s, would reply with a loud &uot;yes.&uot;

The group was taking a workshop class on improvisational comedy from the Brave New Workshop, a Minneapolis-based improv comedy group.

Friday, the Brave New Workshop, put on two shows at the Albert Lea Community Theatre. Albert Lea is one stop on a tour of out-state Minnesota,in which they are polishing their material for an upcoming production called &uot;Minnesota: It’s not just for Lutherans anymore.&uot;

Friday afternoon’s improv class gave the group the tools comics use to hone their improv skills.

Mostly though, it was a lesson in loosing inhibition.

&uot;The whole thing was outside of my comfort zone,&uot; Steve Schwartz, who took part in the class Friday, said.

Schwartz said imagination is a must for improv.

&uot;In these sorts of situations, the creativity must come from within yourself,&uot; he said.

The Brave New Workshop is one of the oldest improvisational theaters in the country.

Its founder, Dudley Riggs, a former trapeze artist, called improv &uot;theater without a net.&uot;

It’s also accessible theater.

&uot;Anyone can actually learn and excel in it,&uot; Caleb McEwen, Artistic Director for the Brave New Workshop, said. &uot;A lot of our performers don’t come from a theater background.&uot;

Dr. Jim Robinson, who taught the Albert Lea group Friday, came to the Brave New Workshop without any acting experience, but excelled with the improvisation so much that he began working in the productions.

His day job is as a psychology teacher at the College of St. Catherine’s in St. Paul.

&uot;It was a lot like a psychology class,&uot; Schwartz laughed.

Brave New Workshop has an improv school that runs almost constantly, according to McEwen.

He said that many Minnesota companies hire the Brave New Workshop to put on these improvisation workshops to help create &uot;better speakers and an ability for a group to work quickly, on its feet and under pressure.&uot;

He said improv not only helps companies, McEwen said, it can also help shy people to become more outgoing, and help people to break bad habits.

&uot;People usually judge or edit themselves before they say or do anything,&uot; he said. The training tries to reverse that. &uot;We try to get rid of those inhibitions.&uot;

Improv also gets to a more subconscious level.

&uot;It’s so personal,&uot; he said. &uot;It gets people to act more honestly because they are spouting out the first things that pop into their head.&uot;

For Buddy Ricker, an Owatonna man who drove down for the class, it was a professional lesson.

For the last year he has worked with friends on an improv theater called Spontaneous Productions.

&uot;I wanted to learn how these guys do it,&uot; he said.

Ricker said since starting in improv he’s learned to love the freedom of it.

&uot;You forget the silliness of it,&uot; he said. &uot;Any situation you are in is real, and that can make for some great comedy.&uot;

(Contact Peter Cox at peter.cox @albertleatribune.com or 379-3439)