Marcus Weiss: Expressing & Connecting

Marcus Weiss is an actor who's had an extensive career in theater, TV, film, and radio. You may have seen him in Blue Man Group, Le Reve, Hedwig & the Angry Inch, and Second City Improv & Comedy, to name a few. He's also a teaching artist for the Disney Musicals in Schools Program at the Smith Center for Performing Arts, and a performance coach with a Mastermind called “Express and Connect.” In this episode, we talk about how growing up in Switzerland shaped his outlook on seeking "busyness," how formal training (he got his BA in drama from Dartmouth and a Masters in Acting at Temple University) gave him more tools for expression, which allows him more freedom. We also discuss how the "Yes, and..." principle of Improv can be applied to your business or life outside of comedy, why mindset (or heartset, as he likes to call it) has become so meaningful, and the importance of getting out of your head and creating a path that feels good from the neck down. Connect with Marcus: IG: @themarcusweissexperience  Facebook: The Marcus Weiss Experience and Marcus Jacob Weiss Twitter: @swissmarcus Mastermind: "Express & Connect" -- Connect with me on your favorite platform: https://pods.link/aardvarkgirl or on Clubhouse @aardvarkgirl -- 01:36 I have no sort of inherent, vague, foggy fears about communication or about expressing myself or about connecting with other people.  03:18 There are those who consider being out of your comfort zone to be like a negative thing. And then there's those, and you can sort of train yourself, who consider coming out of your comfort zone to be an exciting thing. Like, Ooh! I am out of my comfort zone! I'm going to be growing! I'm going to be learning something! 06:00 I suppose the way that I look at training is, I just have more tools of expression. For me, more training and more knowledge creates more freedom, because it gives me more room. It gives me more toys to play with. 09:36 Improv has that foundation of a “Yes, and” mindset, which means that things that you see, things that you experience, people that you meet, conversations, situations, there's always a “YES! I'm going to embrace that. AND I'm going to add to it.” In other words, I'm going to take what's happening, and I'm going to incorporate it. I'm going to welcome it. And I'm going to change what my idea was. YES! I'm going to be expanded by that. AND we're going to create something together that didn't exist before. So it's a technical thing, but it's also a mindset. 12:08 Being flexible and saying yes to the possibilities of any situation can be really important. 14:00 When things don’t meet what our expectations, we don't feel good. Things that ultimately don't feel good, don't make us happy, and therefore, don't make those around us happy. And we're ultimately not making the world a better place or a more uplifted place. 16:13 Things take work, but there's a lot that we can do in terms of how we sort of look at the world.  17:04 There was a certain philosophical, cultural, and political context that I grew up in (in Switzerland) that I perceived as very different when I came to the States. When I came back, I remember specifically that there was this, like, muscular, almost aggressive pursuit of like achievement, and happiness, and fulfillment. 19:36 What's important? I think whatever makes us feel alive. But some of us grab onto this notion of growing, and then we attach measurements to it, and that's where that sort of judgment comes in, like I gotta do more. 20:55 We're busy. But I think we have to be aware of the really underneath of that. What would you feel like if you stopped for an hour? Or an afternoon? Or a day or a week? 22:04 I think everybody wants to feel that we’re enough. It all starts with what you're saying to yourself, right? Feelings ultimately have to do with the story that you're telling yourself, and the way that you interpret situations.  24:54 90% of what I did up to the slowdown went away, because I was