Lean in

Last night my improv teacher tried to make two people kiss. 

The suggestion provided to the two improvisers at the beginning of the scene was a relationship between two people - ex-spouses. The scene evolved that they were at a bus stop, where we discover that each had been taking the bus back and forth day after day hoping to run into the other. Turns out they still love each other. 

The dude improviser in the scene is a jokester type, always playing the ham. As they sit there at the bus stop, he is saying with words that he still loves her but his body language is still that of a circus MC. This inconsistency is irking the teacher who wants us to work on creating intimacy on stage and is very into coaching the scenes, sometimes line by line, movement by movement. (Earlier in the evening she had coached me to physically push another guy to show how frustrated I was.)

"The audience wants you to make the scary choice. In this scene, the audience wants to see you take that leap. You need to kiss." 

Their eyes get huge. Their faces read: This is not what I signed up for. 

"Take her hand lovingly," the teacher instructs. 

Dude takes her hand but in more of a buddy-buddy way and he's kind of swinging her arm around and looking goofy.

"No. Do it lovingly. Hold her hand still and caress it." 

He takes her hand and holds it in his, but looks away.

"Look at her. Don't look away. Hold her hand and tell her you still love her."

He looks at her. We in the audience are squirming in our seats. Every one of us is holding our breath. 

Then there is a moment where his face relaxes from his normal "I'm a funny guy" expression and he looks at her with striking tenderness. 

"OK lean in and kiss her. Closed mouth."

They sit there frozen, staring at each other. Neither moves. 

"Come on. Lean in. Closed mouth kiss."

Very very slowly they start to lean towards each other. They get closer...and closer....and closer...

And then dude snaps back into funny guy mode and breaks away, laughing nervously.  

"OK fine. End scene." The teacher releases them and we move on. But we are all a little bit changed.