His weapon was a blender. The getaway vehicle? A tricycle. His mission: to keep dust from settling.
Definitely not a scenario Bob Smith would ever face in his job as manager of an engineering test group at Scientific Atlanta in Lawrenceville. Yet Smith —- who was playing "Rebel Without a Clue" in an advanced improv course at Dad's Garage Theatre Company —- says it's just the kind of game that has helped him become sharper in the workplace. He is one of a growing number of people who study improv in part because it helps them learn to think on their feet, listen more carefully to co-workers and work better in a team.
"I run several meetings a week," Smith said. "I think I've probably gotten better at not bulldozing through people's input, and recognizing the value in what people have to say."
At Dad's, revenue from individual and group improv classes is up 72 percent from two years ago, according to marketing director Linnea Frye. General Electric, The North Highland Company and Turner Broadcasting System are among corporations that have had private classes at Dad's for their employees under a program that began last year, Frye said. TBS and North Highland included classes as part of their corporate support for the small nonprofit theater in Inman Park.
Dad's also is planning an intensive improv course specifically for attorneys sometime in February.
Meanwhile, Emily Russell, managing director of Whole World Theatre in Midtown, teaches improv classes at Emory University's business school. Members of her nonprofit improv troupe also have taught corporate classes for BellSouth, Home Depot and Coca-Cola, she said.
"In the last three years, our corporate workshops have gone through the roof —- probably tripled," Russell said. "There's such an interest in improv; I think partly from all the improv shows that are on TV. The tools we use in improv definitely extend beyond the stage."
Interest in workplace-related improv courses has grown in other parts of the country, too. Second City, the famous Chicago improv troupe, has had to increase its public workshops this year on improving presentation skills. There's even a Chicago-based company, Business Improvisations, that connects professional improv actors and instructors with corporations wanting improv classes.
Smith, the Scientific Atlanta manager, takes classes at Dad's on his own time, driving from his home in Norcross for Monday night sessions that run from 9 to 11. Settled in his career and with a son in college and a daughter who's a high school senior, Smith isn't about to chuck it all for a life on the stage. He takes improv for fun and for how it benefits him as a manager.
"When you're doing improv, everything slows down. It's like being in a freefall. It's all about listening and paying attention," he said. "I didn't start taking classes to help me at work, but it turns out it really helps."
During one recent class, instructor Dan Triandiflou had all five students —- all men —- play a game in which only one person could be walking at one time, and only one could be clapping. One student would start walking, but as soon as someone else began walking, the first walker would have to stop. The same with clapping.
"The idea is to always be aware of your environment, and moving and making sounds, and then separating them," said Triandiflou, a member of Dad's ensemble of actors. "It's about being aware of what's onstage and outside your own head."
When the students improvise a scene, it doesn't work to simply say "no" to another actor's suggestion, Triandiflou explained. If someone says he's George Washington, it just confuses the audience if you say he's actually George Bush. Agree with the other improvisor and add something to the scene, Triandiflou said.
In other words, say "yes, and ..." said Kevin Spears, a classmate of Smith's and a project manager for a Christian nonprofit, the Fund for Theological Education. "I try to use that approach at work. Don't deny what someone says, add to it."
Spears said he has learned storytelling techniques that help him frame, and better understand, his work projects.
"You learn surprising things in improv. It looks like it's just about being funny, and you expect people to say improv made them much funnier and a better public speaker. I was hilarious and a great public speaker before I ever started," Spears said with a laugh.