TED2019
Anthony Veneziale: "Stumbling towards intimacy": An improvised TED Talk
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In a hilarious, completely improvised talk, improv master Anthony Veneziale takes to the TED stage for a truly one-of-a-kind performance. Armed with an audience-suggested topic ("stumbling towards intimacy") and a deck of slides he's never seen before, Veneziale crafts a meditation on the intersection of love, language and ... avocados?
Anthony Veneziale - Improvisor, facilitator, teacher
Anthony Veneziale is a leader in the field of improvisation and teaching, with over 25 years of improv performances around the globe. Full bio
Anthony Veneziale is a leader in the field of improvisation and teaching, with over 25 years of improv performances around the globe. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
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[This is an improvised talk (and intro)
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based on a suggested topic
from the audience.
from the audience.
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The speaker doesn't know
the content of the slides.]
the content of the slides.]
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Moderator: Our next speaker --
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(Laughter)
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is an --
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incredibly --
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(Laughter)
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Is an incredibly experienced linguist
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working at a lab at MIT
with a small group of researchers,
with a small group of researchers,
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and through studying our language
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and the way that we communicate
with other people,
with other people,
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he has stumbled upon
the secret of human intimacy.
the secret of human intimacy.
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Here to give us his perspective,
please welcome to the stage,
please welcome to the stage,
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Anthony Veneziale.
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(Applause)
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(Laughter)
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Anthony Veneziale: You might think
I know what you're going through.
I know what you're going through.
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You might be looking at me
here on the red dot,
here on the red dot,
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or you might be looking
at me on the screen.
at me on the screen.
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There's a one sixth of a second delay.
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Did I catch myself? I did.
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I could see myself before I turned,
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and that small delay
creates a little bit of a divide.
creates a little bit of a divide.
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(Laughter)
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And a divide is exactly what happens
with human language,
with human language,
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and the processing of that language.
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I of course am working
out of a small lab at MIT.
out of a small lab at MIT.
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(Laughter)
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And we are scraping
for every insight that we can get.
for every insight that we can get.
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(Laughter)
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This is not often associated
with a computational challenge,
with a computational challenge,
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but in this case,
we found that persistence of vision
we found that persistence of vision
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and auditory intake
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actually have more in common
than we ever realized,
than we ever realized,
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and we can see it in this first slide.
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(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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Immediately your processing goes to,
"Is that a hard-boiled egg?"
"Is that a hard-boiled egg?"
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(Laughter)
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"Is that perhaps the structural
integrity of the egg
integrity of the egg
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being able to sustain
the weight of what seems to be a rock?
the weight of what seems to be a rock?
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Aha, is it in fact a real rock?"
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We go to questions
when we see visual information.
when we see visual information.
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But when we hear information,
this is what happens.
this is what happens.
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(Laughter)
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The floodgates in our mind
open much like the streets of Shanghai.
open much like the streets of Shanghai.
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(Applause)
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So many pieces of information to process,
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so many ideas, concepts, feelings
and, of course, vulnerabilities
and, of course, vulnerabilities
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that we don't often wish to share.
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And so we hide,
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and we hide behind what we like to call
the floodgate of intimacy.
the floodgate of intimacy.
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(Laughter)
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And what might that floodgate be holding?
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What is the dike upon which it is built?
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Well, first off --
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(Laughter)
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we found that it's different
for six different genotypes.
for six different genotypes.
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(Applause)
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And, of course, we can start
categorizing these genotypes
categorizing these genotypes
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into a neuronormative experience
and a neurodiverse experience.
and a neurodiverse experience.
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(Laughter)
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On the right-hand side of the screen,
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you're seeing spikes
for the neurodiverse thinking.
for the neurodiverse thinking.
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Now, there are generally
only two emotional states
only two emotional states
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that a neurodiverse brain can tabulate
and keep count of at any given time,
and keep count of at any given time,
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thereby eliminating the possibility
for them to be emotionally, sometimes,
for them to be emotionally, sometimes,
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attuned to the present situation.
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But on the left-hand side,
you can see the neuronormative brain,
you can see the neuronormative brain,
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which can often handle
about five different pieces
about five different pieces
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of emotional cognitive information
at any given time.
at any given time.
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These are the slight variances
that you are seeing
that you are seeing
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in the 75, 90 and 60 percentile,
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and then of course
that dramatic difference
that dramatic difference
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of the 25, 40 and 35 percentile.
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(Laughter)
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But of course, what is the neural network
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that is helping to bridge and build
these different discrepancies?
these different discrepancies?
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(Laughter)
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Fear.
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(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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And as we all know,
fear resides in the amygdala,
fear resides in the amygdala,
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and it is a very natural response,
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and it is very closely linked
with visual perception.
with visual perception.
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It is not as closely linked
with verbal perception,
with verbal perception,
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so our fear receptors
often will be going off
often will be going off
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in advance of any of our cognitive usage
around verbal and words
around verbal and words
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and cues of language.
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So as we see these fear moments,
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we of course are taken aback.
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We stumble in a certain direction,
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generally away from the intimacy.
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(Laughter)
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Now of course, there's a difference
between the male perception
between the male perception
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and the female perception
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and of trans and those who are in between,
all of those as well,
all of those as well,
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and outside of the gender spectrum.
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(Laughter)
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But fear is the central
underlying underpinning
underlying underpinning
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of all of our response systems.
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Fight-or-flight is one of the earliest,
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some say reptilian,
response to our environment.
response to our environment.
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How can we disengage or unhook ourselves
from the horns of the amygdala?
from the horns of the amygdala?
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(Laughter)
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Well, I'd like to tell you
the secret right now.
the secret right now.
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(Applause)
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This is all making
much, much too much sense.
much, much too much sense.
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(Laughter)
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The secret lies
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in turning our backs to one another,
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and I know that that sounds
absolutely like the opposite
absolutely like the opposite
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of what you were expecting,
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but when in a relationship
you turn your back to your partner
you turn your back to your partner
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and place your back upon their back --
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(Laughter)
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you eliminate visual cues.
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(Laughter)
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(Applause)
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You are more readily available
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to failing first,
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and failing first --
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(Laughter)
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far outweighs the lengths we go to
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to appeal to others,
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to our partners and to ourselves.
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We spend billions and billions of dollars
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on clothing, on makeup,
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on the latest trend of glasses,
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but what we don't spend money and time on
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is connecting with each other
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in a way that is truthful
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and honest
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and stripped of those visual receptors.
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(Applause)
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(Laughter)
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It sounds hard, doesn't it?
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(Laughter)
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But we want to be aggressive about this.
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We don't want to just sit on the couch.
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As a historian said earlier today,
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it's important to get up
and circumvent sometimes that couch.
and circumvent sometimes that couch.
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And how can we do it?
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Well yes, ice is a big part of it.
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Insights, compassion and empathy:
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I, C, E.
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(Applause)
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And when we start using this ice method,
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well, the possibilities become
much bigger than us.
much bigger than us.
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In fact, they become smaller than you.
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On a molecular level,
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I believe that that insight
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is the unifying theme
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for every talk you have seen so far at TED
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and will continue as we of course embark
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on this journey here on this tiny planet,
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on the ledge, on the precipice,
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as we are seeing, yes,
death is inevitable.
death is inevitable.
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(Laughter)
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Will it meet all of us at the same time,
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I think, is the variable we are inquiring.
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(Laughter)
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I think that timeline gets a bit longer
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when we use ice
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and when we rest our backs
upon one another
upon one another
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and build together,
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leaving behind the fear
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and working towards --
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(Laughter)
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they'll edit this part out --
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(Laughter)
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a ripened experience of love,
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compassion,
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intimacy based on a truth
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that you are sharing from your mind's eye
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and the heart that we all can touch,
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tactilely feel,
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have maybe potentially a mushy experience
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that we don't just throw out
because it is browned,
because it is browned,
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but let us slice in half
the experience we have gathered,
the experience we have gathered,
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let us seed what the heart, the core,
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the seed of that idea in each of us is,
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and let us share it back to back.
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Thank you very much.
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(Applause)
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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Anthony Veneziale - Improvisor, facilitator, teacherAnthony Veneziale is a leader in the field of improvisation and teaching, with over 25 years of improv performances around the globe.
Why you should listen
Anthony Veneziale cofounded Speechless with Sammy Wegent and Scott Lifton, using improv thinking to help people be themselves and be heard. He has used improv techniques for endeavors with Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton, In The Heights, The Electric Company), Daveed Diggs (The Freeze) and on numerous networks like HBO, TBS, MTV, Nickelodeon and PBS. Veneziale co-founded "Freestyle Love Supreme," an improvised, hip hop, live musical performance with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Thomas Kail, which will appear on Broadway in the fall of 2019.
Anthony Veneziale | Speaker | TED.com