Boosting The Brain With Improv

Stomping Ground Theater’s Kickstarter campaign has raised more than $18,000.

By Miguel PerezJanuary 2, 2018 9:30 am, , , ,

From KERA:

Agree with everything. That’s the first rule of improv. Someone says the sky is purple? Sure. Aliens are invading? Why not! Whatever comes your way, you roll with it.

Eight strangers gather in one of the classrooms at the YMCA in Park Cities on a Saturday afternoon to learn how to do just that — through improv.

They’re here for a beginners class run by the new Stomping Ground Comedy Theatre. The room is quiet. A middle-aged couple whispers to each other. A man in his early thirties checks his phone. Then, Sherry Etzel marches in.

Her charisma lights up the room. She’s already well-versed in sketch comedy and improv, but she’s hoping today’s class will help her in new ways.

Four years ago, her mother was diagnosed with Lewy Body dementia. Deposits of protein build up in the brain and affect memory and cognition.

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