A truly Chicago tale, The Improv Play follows three aspiring improvisers as they seek success and validation on local comedy stages after a fellow troupe member leaves to join the cast of Saturday Night Live. Incorporating improvisation, stand-up and sketch comedy with scripted material to create a raucous, cutting and honest exploration of performance, talent and ambition, The Improv Play shines a light on the thousands of performers filling out the fringe of the comedy scene.

View photos from the show

What did you think about the show? Share your comments here.

As Sour Mash Productions was getting ready to dive into the Incubator, Rebecca, co-creator of A Natural Progression of Our Prolonged Stay asked me if I was interested in working on the movement and choreography for the project.

“Wait, what? Aren’t we doing a staged reading?”
Yes, indeed we are. A staged reading of a play about Russian spies, with scripted and executed choreographic sequences.

After a few short weeks of furious work, we have discovered that there are a few worlds in which this story lives (for a synopsis, see our last blog post entitled Initial Synopsis). First, we have suburbia, where Thanksgiving is accompanied by smooth Brazilian lounge music and parents get dressed-up for the PTA meetings. Second, there is the world of Pam and Vince’s past, Soviet Russia. Finally, there is the world of memory and imagination, where moments can get broken down, examined, or exploded. This last realm is where movement has really come to serve this play, helping remove the audience from realism and the interrogation room, and throwing them into a character’s mind. We dive into Hannah’s memories, into Hank’s fantastical imagination of the world of spies, and into Vince and Pam’s remembrances of life in Russia.

On day two of rehearsal, we threw the actors into “spy training,” starting in Macy’s and ending outside of Millennium Park. One assignment was to follow an individual for 5 minutes, determining who they were and where they were going. It was intense and the stakes were high. After an hour, we re-convened in the rehearsal room at the [Chicago Cultural Center] and boiled down these experiences into specific movements. Each actor developed their own set of gestures, guided by the themes of suburbia, spy movies, and actions they performed in the training.

Once the gestures were set we developed them, adding in different music genres and allowing that music to affect the quality of the gesture. We tried them at varying levels of intensity and speed, 2% - 200%, and the actors conversed with each other using only the vocabulary of their gestures as language. Soon, we had a line of actors marching forward like a Russian army to the theme from Mission Impossible, performing over-the-top gestures out of suburban and spy contexts. It was absurd and interesting, silly and complex, and so clearly had come out of the minds of the characters of the play, and the actors in the room.

I hope you are able to join us on May 21st for the reading of our work-in-progress. Be prepared for reality to bust open, for memories to slow down and get picked apart, and for the past to invade the present.

Rinska Carrasco-Prestinary graduated from Columbia College‘s Directing program and is proud to be a part of Gray Talent, Collaboraction, Teatro Vista and a new voice at 2nd story. She’s done quite a bit of work around Chicago, top favorites include, In Arabia We’d All Be Kings where she was nominated for a Jeff, as Supporting Actress and won for Ensemble, she’s also played Shaquille O’Neal in Shaquille O’Neal and Christian Laettner Discuss written by Pulitzer Prize nominee Kristoffer Diaz. In Silk Road‘s production of Scorched, she played Young Nawal and Za Guide. In Kimberly Senior‘s production of Waiting for Lefty she played Edna. Most recently she closed Fish Men presented by Teatro Vista and Goodman Theatre, in which she was Casting Coordinator and Assistant Director. Rinska sends love to all her family, friends and to all the secret agents. You bring cool to cool-aid. Follow my work on Twitter!

Yadira Correa is a native of Puerto Rico, but has been living in Illinois for the majority of her life. Most of her work was cultivated with Teatro Luna (Chicago’s All Latina Theater Company), some of that work includes Lunatica(s), Jarred, and Machos. In addition, she has worked with an array of Chicago theaters such as Collaboraction, Halcyon Theatre, About Face Theatre, Ignition Fest 2010 at Victory Gardens, Urban Theater Company y eso sigue. She attended summer school at the School at Steppenwolf 2010 and is blessed to be working and playing with such talented people. 

Sean Ewert‘s Chicago theater credits include work with: Chicago Mammals, TUTA, 20% Theatre, Von Orthal Puppets, Chicago Jewish, Torso, Healthworks, About Face, Chicago Opera Vanguard, Mom & Dad Productions, Ghostlight Chicago, Northbrook Theatre for Young Audiences, Ravenous Productions, Collaboraction and Oracle. Sean has studied at Stella Adler’s Acting Conservatory West, Studio Theatre – D.C. and has a degree in the theater from the University of Northern Colorado. He has worked regionally with Studio Theatre in Washington, D.C. and Little Theatre of the Rockies in Greeley, CO.

Ilana Faust has been away from the theater scene, raising her two year old and obtaining her Pilates Certification, but she is excited to be back to work/play with this amazing group of people. Ms. Faust is a junior ensemble member with Teatro Vista where she appeared as Magdelena in their production of Tanya Saracho’s Our Lady of the Underpass and Migdalia Cruz’s Another Part of the House. Ms. Faust holds a BA in Performance from the University of Illinois at Chicago were she appeared in The Seagull and Balm in Gilead, directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member Yasen Peyankov. She performed in Teatro Luna‘s Machos, an interview-based, ensemble-created show that received two Jeff Awards for Best New Work and Best Ensemble. Other Chicago credits include The Sins of Sor Juana at the Goodman Theatre, Sketchbook 2011 and 2009, Anna in Chekhov’s A Life in the Country at Greasy Joan & Co., The Bear at Soul Theatre, Lunatic(a)s by Teatro Luna (performing understudy), Yerma at Halcyon Theatre. Ms. Faust is originally from Argentina.

Joe McCauley is an ensemble member at Eclipse Theatre where he last appeared in the critically acclaimed production of After the Fall. Other Eclipse shows include Resurrection Blues, The Rimers of Eldrich and Tally & Son. Other Chicago theater credits: Signal Ensemble (Motion), The Artistic Home (Days to Come and Juno and the Paycock), City Lit (Twelfth Night), The Annoyance Theatre (Stations), Collaboraction and Theater Wit.

Fiona Robert is excited to be working with Sour Mash Productions and DCA Theater on this exciting new project! She was recently seen in fml: how Carson McCullers saved my life and in the First Look production of Oblivion at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Other Chicago credits include: Peter and the Wolf (Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Lookingglass Theatre); The Long Red Road (Goodman Theatre) directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman; and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Circle Theatre). She is a senior at The Chicago Academy for the Arts High School.

Heather Townsend is delighted to be a part of A Natural Progression of Our Prolonged Stay. She has worked with numerous companies in Chicago, including Northlight, Remy Bumppo, Apple Tree, Dog and Pony, BoHo, Fox Valley Rep, Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, City Lit, Theater Wit, Pegasus, Stage Left, Circle, Next, Caffeine, Chicago Opera Vanguard and Porchlight, where she is an Artistic Associate.

Alex Weisman is thrilled to be working with Rebecca Stevens again, having collaborated at Northwestern University five years ago. Chicago credits: Mary, A Christmas Carol (Goodman); Madness of George III (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Peter Pan (Lookingglass); Putting it Together (Porchlight); The Houdini Box (Chicago Children’s Theatre); and The History Boys (TimeLine - Associate Artist) for which he received an Equity Jeff Award for Supporting Actor in a Play. Upcoming Film Credits include Scrooge & Marley and Black Box, written and directed by Stephen Cone.

Below you see Jamie Bragg, with Rebecca Sohn on behalf of The Annoyance Theatre, Matt Elwell on behalf of ComedySportz, and Bill Arnett on behalf of iO Improv.

The presenters described their career paths and starts and then offered some advice if you’re interested in pursuing improv. First, before signing up for a class, they recommended attending shows at each of the main training centers to see which flavor of improv you like best and can see yourself doing. They likened the different centers in town to types of music - blues, country, jazz, rock & roll—so it’s important to find the place whose atmosphere you most enjoy, THEN try a class. They also frequently referred to Viola Spolin’s books as great resources.

Rebecca led an exercise called “Mr. Know-it-All” - in which all performers linked arms. This game doesn’t take much instruction and gets straight to the doing. The audience gets to ask a question to the multi-headed “Mr. Know-it-All” who answers by having each performer speak one word at a time. Rebecca explained that this gets performers used to a few important concepts of improv - 1) taking action/speaking, 2) giving up power/control during the performance, and 3) staying focused, alert, and in the moment to respond quickly (in this case, to the word right before yours).

Next, Matt led an exercise called “Freeze Tag” which starts with an audience suggestion for a location. Two performers who respond to each other in this location. Each person is meant to take the “yes, and” approach to any character trait or circumstance that is implied about them by the other person. By giving the performers this “point of concentration,” they can believe the continually evolving circumstances are true and build out additional ideas from there. During the exchange, any additional performers nearby can call out “Freeze!” -  at which point the performers freeze, tap one of them and take his/her exact position, and re-start the scene with an entirely new topic/circumstance with which the other performer must now react and correspond.

Bill Arnett led an exercise which also involved 2 performers at a time. One performer begins the conversation and before the second person responds, they must first make a vocal noise - some sort of emotional response before they begin verbally answering. You can learn a great deal about a person from their audible responses - and they give the performer a starting place for communication.

If you want to learn about more improv games and the lingo, check out the Improv Encyclopedia! And to hear more from Chicago improv professionals, check out a documentary called Whether the Weather and access the full interviews.

Be sure to catch each of our featured local improv teachers & performers around town…
Rebecca Sohn performs:
Tuesdays – 9:30pm - at The Annoyance – In a World
Wednesdays – 8pm - at The iO – Virgin Daquiri
Sundays - 8pm - at The Annoyance – Solo show – Live Bex Show
and teaches at The Annoyance Theatre which offers classes & shows throughout the week!

Matt Elwell and company are busy offering shows & classes at ComedySportz as well!

You can see Bill Arnett perform:
Sundays - 10:30pm at iO - 3033
Mondays - 8:30pm at iO - The Armando Diaz Experience
or, take his Level 4 or 4B class—OR check out his blog for even more insider perspective and advice on the improv scene.

Remember, it’s the last weekend to catch the world premiere of The Improv Play! Be sure to get your tickets!

Fifteen year-old Hannah Clark’s world has just been pulled out from under her. When her parents, Natalie and Vince, are detained by the FBI, Hannah discovers that, beneath the veneer of her typical suburban life, her parents are really Russian spies. Making Hannah’s discovery all the more astonishing is the fact that she never even knew her parents were foreigners. And now Hannah has to figure out what of her idyllic childhood—the perfect Azalea garden, the Saturday morning soccer games, the warm, devoted parents—was a carefully choreographed illusion, and what was actually real.

But both Natalie and Vince remain in FBI custody, so Hannah can only talk to her parents one-on-one and in fifteen-minute intervals. And each parent tells a very different story of how the family started. So who is Hannah to trust? And can she really believe anything either of them says? Seeing as they’ve deceived her for fifteen years?

As Hannah tries to re-construct her story, she’s left to fill in the gaps with her imagination—one that has been unmistakably shaped by the depiction of Cold War-era spies in popular culture.

But in the midst of Hannah’s efforts, the FBI realizes neither Natalie nor Vince ever came into contact with any classified material—a revelation that blindsides and enrages Natalie, causing her to forsake her husband and daughter to return to Russia.
But what come will of Hannah’s relationship with her father? And will she ever discover the truth of her past? Or will her imagination have to suffice?

Why Gotham City? What turned you on to the project?
I was completely on board from the moment I was presented with this project. A story-based dance show with a cast of thirty and a six weekend run was simultaneously daunting and yet incredibly exciting. I saw a chance to present the audience with something different than your typical dance concert which normally consists of isolated rep pieces. I always feel that story-based shows are able to bring the audience in a little more because the audience is presented with characters they will grow to love and hate as well as a series of events, battles and encounters that are all intertwined. The audience can really understand what the action is leading them through and they become invested in the story, which can make for a more full experience. 

How would you describe the cast?
This cast is incredibly talented and exceptionally diverse. Our hip-hop dancers range from a young new breakdancer to seasoned hip-hoppers who have danced with Beyonce or in music videos. Our contemporary dancers include the amazingly talented Chloe Crade, who comes to us fresh out of Juilliard and well on her way to a top ballet company, dancing alongside the established Paul Christiano, who could fill a book with his dance resume and experience. The energy of this cast is amazing and contagious. 

What’s it like working with so many different dancers with different backgrounds? 
It’s been really exciting as a choreographer. The story called for hard-core krump-ish hip-hop, capoeira, straight-edged jazz, a crazy clown-like version of contemporary and, of course, pieces that were a fusion of everything in between. It’s been nice to be able to showcase what each of these dancers bring to the table.
 
What’s it like working with Chicago Dance Crash as a whole and heading up their 10th anniversary signature production?
I started as a guest artist with Dance Crash in ‘07 through to a company member for many years, so it has been amazing to have the opportunity to put myself on the other side of the process. Dance Crash has always had my heart because it doesn’t limit itself to one style, one type of show, or one category of audience member. Crash has put an incredible amount of energy into this production, from the conception of the story through the length of the rehearsal period and even through the budget provided for tech, costumes and talent…Crash is going all in on this one. It’s been an honor to head this production up and we are hoping to kick off the next ten years with a really exciting and memorable show.   

What can the audience expect when they see it?
There is something for everyone in this production. Story-based shows and hip-hop-influenced choreography as well as athleticism always have appeal to any audience member because they are a large part of our current pop culture entertainment. For the more traditional audience member we have ballet, modern, jazz, and various fusions of all of the above. On top of that, we’ve layered in intense characters, relationships, and a story that comments on society, betrayal, and power. Oh, and expect battles, clown masks, minimal clothing, gas, insane city folk, lots of action and dancers working hard for the money! You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll be afraid of clowns. 

What do you think of when you think of the actual Gotham City (the place not the show)?
To me, Gotham City as a location brings to mind a dark, dirty, dangerous, and fast-paced world where you never know what you’ll find at the turn of a corner or the end of a dark alley. It smells like a sewer or a dank subway, it feels menacing, and it creates an environment where you never can be sure who is running the city from one moment to the next. What makes this setting perfect for a production is that it is well-known and universally perceived this way, so the audience is already going to enter the theater on board with an understanding of the feel of the world they are about to be immersed in. 

Are we gonna see Batman flying around fighting crime?
Definitely not! We really went a different route with this one. We didn’t want to simply reenact a Batman movie from the series or try to create exact copies of specific characters. True Batman fans will catch a ton of references through everything from character names to the powers they have. We definitely reference Batman through plot action and technical aspects to convey to the audience when his character is present or controlling something from out of sight. Aside from that and the fact that the action takes place in Gotham City, we really provide you with something different. The story doesn’t follow just one or two characters. We have eight main characters and thirty dancers total so the story is in the action of these characters in the city rather than on a Batman. 

What’s your creative process like for this show? Where do you start? What questions do you ask yourself? What interesting challenges and/or happy surprises have you discovered in the creative process so far?
When I signed on to choreograph this show, I simply began by studying the book of characters and action for the production. In a story-based show like this, a certain opening piece may foreshadow events in a later piece, a particular action in Act 1 needs to pay off in the middle of Act 2, or a character we introduce in Act 1 has to come off a certain way so that the audience is shocked when that character does something contrary in Act 2. A lot of time and thought had to go into simply grasping the script and characters completely from the inside out so that the big picture was in my head before each of the pieces could be tackled. Probably the biggest choreographic challenge was this need to accomplish certain tasks in each piece in order to fulfill the story. When choreographing a stand alone piece for a normal rep show, the choreographer usually has a fairly blank slate to work with. They can take the piece where it organically goes in rehearsal or they can decide on a message or feeling and just work with that theme. With Gotham City, in any given piece there may be a fight between two characters, a pickpocketing episode, a character conveying discovery of a superpower, a “meanwhile” acting scene in a jail cell, or an evil plot that has to be unveiled in a minute and a half. Whenever I was about to tackle a new scene or piece, I would focus both on what I wanted to achieve aesthetically as well as what I needed to accomplish. I really worked on using these two aspects to heighten each other rather than to work in spite of each other. 

With so much action and so many bodies on stage, it was really helpful to dissect each piece of music by listening to it over and over and mapping it out like sheet music so that I could visualize what groups were entering, battling, or dancing at what points in the music and how long they had before they would have to move for the next dancer or scene. I was lucky enough to have a hand in helping pick out the music. Once the selected songs were edited into a rough version of Act 1 and 2, I remember listening to the whole soundtrack straight through in a dark room with headphones on, visualizing the action and just thinking, “Holy crap, this show is gonna be amazing.” It’s really a great soundtrack. We’ve got DMX, Muse, Little Dragon, Afrojack, RJD2, Ludacris and classical in the same show, just to name a few. Not only a variety of musical styles, as the variety of dance styles would demand, but also songs that really forward exactly what we are trying to say story-wise.

Photos by Dan Merlo

Stay tuned for more peeks at Khecari’s upcoming downtown performance!

[Note: The character of Bones is described in the script as “a tragically inappropriate, gleefully self-obsessed character.”]

The World According to Bones: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Big Pecs: A Manifesto on Kissing and Talking with Tongue: And also Dix! ( + Improv)

In between bouts of my 3x a week Krav Maga classes, and my part time job at Snarf’s Sandwiches, lies the realm of my true passion. To say Improv is life and the rest is just details would do injustice to both Improv and my favorite 7th grade t-shirts. If I owned a T-shirt company (which I do, visit my kickstarter or my blog) the T-shirt would say ‘Improv is life and I love and hate that all at the same time.’ Improv is the life source, my bright light where my smoke monster is spawned. Without making up stupid stories and making people laugh, my existence would be that of the frog on the lily pad, jumping for no reason but to jump (much thanks to my life coach for that).

Ever since James Dellastritto kept flicking my ear on the bus and I said he should ‘watch out or ill give him an earful of #$!#,’ and everybody on the bus laughed, I became addicted to those breath expulsions/reactions. If I’m not making you laugh in a conversation, I’m failing. Why take things so seriously? I’ll stop laughing when I’m killed by a bunch of pirates on board the HMS Pinafore (my most likely death scenario). There is nothing quite like the feeling of pausing for a laugh. Or flipping a joke around from what you would expect. “Stop shaving that baby,” he said to the man cleaning an imaginary chalkboard. Get it?! It’s funny that a baby would be shaving considering I can’t even grow facial hair.

I also hate Improv more than anything. Who the F cares what I have to say to a priest about toothpaste in a submarine? I don’t. And F you audience for making me talk about that. I say F because my mom will most likely read this. Believe me, if I’m going to survive this pirate attack, you best believe I be cursing like a sailor. I’ve never known people like Chicago Improvisers. Generous, hilarious, warm, and welcoming, while simultaneously cut-throat, depressed, spiteful, critical, steam-rolling people-haters. Go to an Improv party, and try to get a joke into a conversation, and you’ll see.

In any case, I wish my Improv friends just had a crap-ton of money and we just lived in an Improv commune and constantly watched each other’s shows, while throwing lavish $500 bills and fresh mangos in reward for every good joke. But until that happens, at least come to my late-night-Improv-sketch-drinking-game-show called, Joke Daniels and a 40 year Barrel of Bourbon and Laughs. And remember: In the Game of Bones, you either win or you die. Or just live an existence where you work at Snarfs.

Being in The Improv Play by Randall Colburn is terrifying. Let me explain: I play Jefferson, a young Chicago actor who is doing deep, artistically rewarding work and slowly yet steadily moving up in the dramatic theatre world. Jefferson in conversation relates that “If I’m onstage, I’m a success.” He truly believes in the magic of Theatre.

I wish I were a lot more like him. Jefferson is in his mid-20’s and fairly successful. Beau Forbes just turned 30 and has only been partially successful. So I empathize a lot more with the central character of the show, Ben, who is 33 and wondering if it’s all been for naught. Having just recently been hired for a good job with a huge corporation, I also strongly empathize with the character of Stan, who has just been offered a great, high paying job for a big company. Thankfully I have not been forced into a situation where I would have to choose between my dreams and moving to the suburbs.

Sticking true to your artistic beliefs for no pay sounds noble and romantic, but what happens when you have an aging family member to care for? What then?  There are thousands upon thousands of young actors out there who are pouring their hearts into their work, and there are thousands more who are graduating from school and joining the ranks every year. And .0001% of them will become big stars. Many of these young actors are from good schools, have interned at great companies, are extremely talented, and will never go anywhere due to the vagaries of chance.

The casual person thinks acting is a glamorous profession, filled with parties and easy going, but nothing could be further from the truth. Acting is a brutal profession, with the lowest success rate for any professional career in America. So the question becomes, when do you give up and go for something simpler?

Therein lay the problem for the artist: You cannot give up, you cannot surrender, because you have no choice. You cannot stop doing this low-reward and brutal profession because you love making art SO MUCH. You cannot give up making art for money or for love or anything else. Nothing matters to the artist except creation. If you cannot step out on that stage and perform you have nothing to live for. You go on doggedly pursuing your profession in spite of all common sense and reason because it is the only thing that matters to you in the world.

But then you get old. You fall in love. You start making good money at work despite absolutely not giving a damn. You wonder what it would be like to have children; could you find fulfillment with a family? These questions start to pile up as the years start to pile up and you still aren’t making a living wage at this thing that you love.  When should give up on dreams? Never. What would one have to live for? But when should your dreams change? That depends on the person and the circumstances of their life.

Great opportunities don’t come around very often, artistic or not, and it’s very hard to say no to them if you aren’t making a living by staying true to your passion. Who knows if you’ll find satisfaction in your life in another field? There is no right answer on when to give up or change your dreams. Man cannot live without dreams. But that doesn’t mean you should stick by one when it isn’t working. There is always another dream out there. And yet I cannot give up on mine, because I am an artist and I cannot stop being one. Whether this is brave or foolhardy remains to be seen.

Annie Calhoun welcomes everyone and introduces the company and explains the form of the performance.

Here’s Annie’s reflection on their showcase:

Putting our new form up [Monday] night was a blast. It was process driven work and we now have tried and tested a new form called “Strawberry Rhubarb” where we do part one in an ‘undressed’ sort of way, and part two in a ‘dressed’ look!

Annie reads audience suggestions.

The audience was very kind and gave fun written suggestions to get our characters going. We posted ten suggestions on a poster board and drew from them to create our personalities.

Running with the suggestions, Noah and Ted create characters in real-time while the audience watches their ideas come to life.

After about 20 minutes, we “dressed” the stage ourselves and brought out our musician!

The curtains were pulled back to reveal a variety of costume items, and a table and screen were added to the stage.

We had a fun time portraying characters passing through an art gallery in a small town where the head artist (Noah) liked to stay somewhat anonymous and did all his paintings by smashing insects and smearing them on blank canvas (or my character’s arm!).

Rebecca, TJ, & Noah, fully clad in audience-chosen costumes, perform the part 2.

We really enjoyed the experience and look forward to building on our form. 

Next, Almost ATLANTA performs this Friday night the 27th at The Athenaeum Theatre on Lincoln/Southport/Wellington in Chicago Improv Festival (CIF)!  Come on out and join us!

The Improv Play has hit me hard with one truth: what a fallacy the distinction between actor and improvisor can be. A great improvisor is a great actor (I can say this with complete confidence), though great actors may not be great improvisors (I can also say this with great confidence). I would like to add at this moment in the blog that I have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about. What I do know is that my entire year has been a surprise introduction and love-affair with improv, and I could not have asked for a better production, The Improv Play, to come smack in the middle of that journey.

I do not think of myself as an improvisor. I am afraid to call myself an improvisor for fear of not living up to the expectation (i.e. being hilarious, being full of pop-culture references, being incredibly ambitious and entrepreneurial, being able to hold my liquor, etc). I improvised at University, on our tiny and selective team, ‘Blind Mirth.’ We mostly did ComedySportz-type of games, never touching on the more complicated and advanced improvisation like long-form or Harolds. I never thought of myself as particularly good at improv, and was more interested in identifying myself as an ‘actor’ than an ‘improvisor.’ I took a very haughty view of theatre and acting by sending myself to Paris after University where I studied physical theatre (whatever that means) at L’Ecole Jacques Lecoq, working primarily in movement, mask, mime and clown. After I moved to Chicago, my agent encouraged me to pursue improv, because, frankly, in Chicago improv experience is worth more weight in comedic gold than clowning.

Ambivalent, I auditioned for and began the Second City Conservatory. A month later I was cast in The Improv Play. Very quickly after we began working with Bill Arnett, and after meeting Rob Grabowski and Frances McKearn (who I politely refer to as the Fred and Ginger of improvisational comedy in The Improv Play), I quickly realized just how crap I was at improv and how for the first time in years I was being challenged to both not think and to think fast. I am still baffled by this. 

As an actor and a clown, a lot of my work comes from strong character prep and writing numbers that reflect a current obsession. For example, some recent clown numbers I created were a cowgirl number (birthed from a recent infatuation with Patsy Cline) and a French performance artist performing the original Vagina Monologues (coming from my newly discovered gross dislike for the Vagina Monologues).

That said, coming from a very character-driven, physical background, improv reveals itself to be more and more just another branch of the same tree. And learning how to revel in it and pursue it with ease and joy is making me a better actor. Heading into my fourth level of the Second City Conservatory I am learning the basics of acting in many ways; I am more focused on establishing the relationships on stage immediately, getting the ‘who, what, where’ out of the way early on, and then exploring why this moment in life for these people that we’re creating is exceptional (the want is then a natural product of all this). And isn’t that what really good theatre does? Looks at an exceptional moment in life when the lives of the characters were changed forever? Or something like that….I dunno. I kind of stole that from Michael Gellman. But I do think he’s right.

From all the amazing improvisors I have met, the improv I have seen, the people educating me about improv, and the rush of comedy I’ve been so privileged to pursue in these past 8 months, I find myself in familiar company; improvisors are harder on themselves than anyone else, cripplingly self-effacing, perpetually exhausted and often hard at work on the next ‘thing,’ like any good actor is. So, if I’ve learned anything from almost a year in improvisational comedy, it’s that I am a better actor because of this work, and I am more challenged in this world of comedy than I have been in years, so I must be on the right track. And I sure hope so, because dead baby jokes aren’t going to write themselves.

There’s a talent called improvisation. Some have this talent, and others don’t. Webster‘s defines the word “improvise” to mean, “to make, invent, or arrange offhand.” I would like to volunteer myself as one of those actors who isn’t great at improvisation. So naturally, I was cast in The Improv Play by Randall Colburn as the understudy for 5 female roles (all of which improvise). My professional shortcomings and insecurities aside, I jumped at the chance to be a part of this process. As a company member of InFusion Theatre Co., I was already excited about this show before we held our first audition. I knew I would relate to the material and that all of my friends would as well!

In fact, when I came to opening night and saw this play for the ______ time (I have seriously lost count), something dawned on me that hadn’t before. There is a lot of drinking in this show. Like, A TON. And that made me think, “god, are we supposed to assume that all of these characters are in varying stages of alcoholism?” but then I realized that yes, we do all drink this much. This provided me with a chilling moment of reflection and self-evaluation. Do I have a problem? Do all of my friends? Should I be having this talk with a group of strangers anonymously in the basement of a church? But it’s only when doing a show and the reason, I think I can pretty confidently say, is that we all just love what we do and we really love the people that we have the privilege to perform with night after night. There is a family element to a production—and theatre in general—that is, in a word, infectious. 

This play consistently provides me with an “Ah-ha!” moment. The wonderful thing about what Randall has done here is he’s given the audience the opportunity to see comedians as real people just trying to figure out what’s next. So often, comedians are portrayed as having extreme emotions and that’s why they’re funny. But when they’re not funny, they’re very dark. There is an element of that in this show, but we are also given the chance to see characters who are just trying to make it work and do what they love to do. The “lifers,” if you will. These people have jobs, everyday jobs, and then choose to spend their free time doing this kooky thing called improv. This cast really drives that point home; that for these characters, this is their “normal” and that doesn’t make them weird, eccentric or crazy, it just makes them entertainers. When watching this show, I find myself seeing flashes of my own life and experiences in the theatre. My personal experience on this show has been a bit of a rollercoaster at times (see: those 5 roles I mentioned earlier), but there’s no way I would give it up. Some might call me a glutton for punishment, but to those people I say, “Just buy me a beer and don’t talk about my life choices.” 

This show also tackles the notion of coming-of-age-a-little-too-late. Most coming-of-age stories are focused around kids in their late teens, early college years. No one tells you that you’ll continue to go through that process as you get older. It happens for us in theatre around our late 20’s, early 30’s. This is the time when most performers will settle down and start a family, leaving all of their comedic or theatrical aspirations behind. This is the time in your life when it’s time to get serious. Do I personally believe that there is ever an appropriate time to give up a dream? No, I don’t. That’s why it’s called a dream. I used to dream that I would be 5’11 someday, and even though I know that I will not suddenly get a growth spurt in my late 20’s I still hold onto that dream. Call me an idealist, but I think you should hold on to your dreams with every fiber of your being, whatever they may be. Be a packrat for your dreams; keep them forever, keep them on a shelf in the back of your linen closet.

To sum up: I love this cast. I love this crew. I love this director. I love this playwright. I love this play. I love this theatre company. I love this.

P.S. You will too.

One thing I’ve grown to appreciate is the level of skill it takes to create a world with just body and mind; no script, and no prior heads-up. I’ve always respected those from afar that can perform on the spot and, BE FUNNY!

When I started rehearsal with The Improv Play, I didn’t have so much a fear of doing improv because I knew a script would be provided, so showing my untrained side of improvising wasn’t a concern at the time. However, as rehearsal progressed, I found myself doing more improv than I did during my first crash course of Improv. Instead of being so self-conscious, I decided to just be a student and learn to play with others, even though most of my fellow actors are bigger than me, improvising-wise. In this process, I learned that my acting repertoire has strengthened from my willingness to exercise my untrained, on-the-spot acting. It’s like working with 2 hands instead of one!

Although acting and improv are different showmanships, what I am experiencing is when both are equally combined, you have an Artist who can produce a presentation like no other when body, soul and intuition are combined.

I play two roles in Randall Colburn’s The Improv Play. The first is Gwen, an improviser deliciously described as a “whirling manic-depressive dervish.” The second role I play offstage: I am the production dramaturg. I’ve been a part of the show from the very first conversations between the playwright and the director, and while the script is very much Randall’s, many of my ideas have shaped and colored the world. In short, for the past few months I’ve been immersed in the world of improv, and I will continue to immerse myself for months to come.

And yet, I’m not a professional improviser.

I am, in fact, a TERRIBLE improviser. An awkward, unfunny, avert-your-eyes-and-check-CTA-Bus-Tracker-for-the-next-bus-home improviser. I freeze, I second-guess myself, I over think and as a result break every rule in the improvisational form. Mercifully, I’ve been cast as a character who is almost as bad at improv as I am, and so the audience won’t be asked to suspend too much disbelief.

But the more time I spend improvising, and the longer I watch improvisers do what they do, the greater respect I have for the form. And it is fascinating to watch improvisers act, because they act really, really well.

Improvisation training gives a performer an entire toolset to create character and conflict ex nihilo, and it hones intuition on how to button a scene. It grants the ability to craft an entire performance in a rough – and rough and ready – draft. This approach is refreshing and challenging for someone who trained in traditional American character work and scene study. I’m grateful for that traditional theatre training, and such training enables me to enrich characters, but it can be a paralyzing place to begin.

Improvisers are brave, and improv is helping me be braver. And I hope I can carry that bravery with me in the show, as I speak the lines that are scripted and the lines that are not.

We’re trying to figure out Part Two…will it be more linear/plot-based? Or will it be more character-based? We’re improvising. No script. We think since the first part is more character-based, maybe the Part Two will be more event-based. This way we can continue to follow the seven different characters created by our ensemble instead of following one protagonist and the others playing second fiddle. An event-driven improv is where we set the story in a hospital for example, and then have a bunch of characters milling about so that the audience sees a number of perspectives and points of view.