Your first time:
Rory Berry

They are not wrong when they say you never forget your first time.

It was a night I will never forget. My biggest issue was I had to navigate all these feelings the entire day as I knew it was going to happen that evening!

When it was time, she looked at me and reached out her hand. A gentle squeeze of the hand as we locked eyes, a knowing smile on her face knowing this was about to rock my world and change my life forever.

No words were needed as we took those few steps forward onto the magical place. Moving without speaking, bodies flowing with adrenaline with what was about to happen, we kept walking. Hands disengaged as palms got sweaty, hearts racing.

For the next 90 minutes it was a blur of all the emotions and adrenaline as we moved in synergy and at times just a look or a gesture shifted the other party along.

As the final scene ended, I had completed my first ever improv show as part of the troupe. We turned to bow to the audience. Cheers, clapping, laughter had all been a part of the periphery of my hearing while in the moment. Suddenly they filled my senses and roared even louder. One last bow and we all scuttled off stage.

Backstage my fellow performers embraced me, cheered me on and she turned to me and said "I knew you would be great, and you were awesome!" Hearts could not be fuller, souls could not be happier in that moment.

My life changed that night, I fell in love with improv in a way and on a soul level that I did not think was possible. Improv changed my life while on that stage. It still shapes part of what I do to this very day.

It really is true, you never forget your first time.