Someone told me that Susan Messing said "Anything you need to know in improv is in your partners eyes." That about says it all.
Eye contact is a huge source of communication. Anything I need to communicate I can do through a glance. If I want to let Ben know I have nothing in this weirdo flame thrower game I easily can with a "Ben Help" look. Eye contact is so subtle also. When my Harold team Owl Farm started we were doing awful openings. They were honestly the worst things in the world. After a while, and Farrell hammering eye contact into our heads, they got much better. Its a way of communicating "hey guys! lets get on the same page here and stop throwing in random garbage."
I started re-watching some Seinfeld episodes recently. In one episode Kramer was refusing to meet with the cable guy because he had been burned by the cable company in the past. After being abused the cable guy gave up and gave a monologue to Kramer's door apologizing for the way the cable company had treated him in the past. After the speech Kramer opened the door and without saying a word, just using his eyes and body language, forgave him for all the abuse. It was such a funny moment, built up with the happenings of the episode, brought to an near pinnacle with the cable guy's speech and then knocked out of the park with Kramer's look of forgiveness.
Here's the link to watch yourself if interested. Its 6 mins.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhWavua-1FI&feature=related
Eye contact is easy to forget. In the beginning you have to remind yourself to do it constantly. After a while you rely on it. It becomes the impetus for everything. Sometimes all the improv jargon (improv has jargon. Isn't that weird.) and notes get me in my head and I need to remind myself to just look at my partner(s) and react. They're already giving me everything I need to know.
Josh
