falling down...

Monday night, I made up a missed Second City class with Grandpa Improv, my teacher from last term. During the class, he quoted Del Close. The line goes something like, "If you don't know what to do, fall; then figure out what to do on the way down." Then Thursday, in my regular class, Mama Improv said the same thing. (Though she added that Del possibly meant literally what she believes should be followed more figuratively.) Anyway, last night, JPL and I went to a show at iO. They were running quotes about Del on their big screen, and I shared this story with her. A few minutes later, a guy in the row behind us tapped me on the shoulder. It was my old friend, the Prince. I stood up to face him, and we all had a nice chat. If any of you have been to iO, you know that it's like five really long rows upstairs. Close to show time, I was the only one standing up. So after visiting a bit longer, I started to feel kind of in the way, or at least like all eyes were on me. So I said, "Ok, I feel a little awkward. I think I'll go sit now." If any of you have been to iO, you also may remember that the chairs upstairs are really tippy--as in, if you put any weight on the back of the seat, it folds up with a snap. So I headed back toward my chair, and I did something stupid. As I lowered myself down, I placed my hand on the back of the seat, planning to lean on it as I sat. So... my hand hits the seat, which immediately folds up, sending my arm shooting toward the floor as my ribs land sharply on the front of the seat. And this all made a really loud noise, so if they weren't before, everyone was definitely looking at me. It was fantastically embarassing, pretty funny, and quite painful. I laughed that "Oh, I feel stupid (and I'm alright)" laugh, and I got up. My sister mused that if I was feeling awkward before, I had surely topped myself.
And so, it turns out that I followed Del's advice. In a moment of uncertainty, I fell to the ground in a fantastic moment of failure, and I got up smiling. (I'm not sure I learned anything on the way down, though I bet I got a few laughs.) Of course this morning, I got up, felt my ribs, and did not smile. In fact, I groaned, as I have a pretty awesome bruise going... And my whole body may be leaning a little to the right...
It was kind of perfect, though... because we can't always choose the times we make an ass of ourselves, so it's really nice when it's at least a little poetic.