Tag: 2021 Countdown Improv Festival

  • Spotlight On: I’m With Her

    Spotlight On: I’m With Her

    Bill Binder and Merrie Greenfield perform together as the Phoenix-based duo I’m With Her. They will make their Countdown Improv Festival debut online on Wednesday, October 20 during the first night of this year’s festival. In this spotlight interview, Binder and Greenfield discuss their most memorable shows together, how an online I’m With Her show differs from an in-person one, and why festival producers are uniformly gluttons for punishment.

    We’re so happy to have both of you performing with us this year! Can you say a little bit about your format? What can audiences expect to see on Wednesday night?

    Bill Binder: I love our format. Before we start scenes we share directly to the audience from our character’s points of view

    Merrie Greenfield: Often divergent. Like we often are offstage. We interrupt each other. Again, like offstage, 

    BB: sometimes in the middle of a thought. By the end, we’ve both told the story.  

    MG: WeirDass’ format is definitely an inspiration. It usually winds up being about discovering something about another person you know well.

    BB: Or sometimes, about ourselves.

    MG: Aw, that sounds so very special episode-y. I’ll add if there isn’t a fake moustache at some point, I’ve wasted everyone’s time.

    Of all the shows that I’m With Her has performed, what’s been the most memorable one for you?

    MG: We did a show at a church converted into a gym, then converted into a performance space for the night.  There were so many weird, large signs with rules & misspelled, handwritten inspirational quotes posted, secret entrances and whatnot.  We didn’t really discuss it, but we knew the space itself was so absurd, we had to use it as is.  So we leaned into it.  Reading the signs out loud (typos and all) and justifying them, using the back passages to come running out of the audience or a totally different location. Since we’d both come from traditional theater, an entrance through the audience wasn’t mindblowing.  But a comic we know had a mini-meltdown when that happened. He hilariously said he almost walked out because of it, before his curtain call  There was also a different show with a (pre-approved) stage kiss that ended with Bill crawling up a wall to avoid it.  I landed nowhere near his lips, I remember that.  

    BB: I also loved our very first show over at ImprovMania in Chandler because it was a spontaneous replacement show and we were playing by the figurative seat of our pants, but we knew each other’s playstyle well enough to have a ball.

    MG: I don’t always remember our shows afterwards, but I’ve always enjoyed them, which is fortunate.  

    The two of you have done enough online improv shows together at this point to have gathered some data. How does an online I’m With Her show differ from an in-person one? Are there any interesting trends that you’ve noticed?

    BB: Oh, I’m LOVING some of the freedom of online shows. One thing that was great onstage (as Merrie mentioned) was really playing with the physical space, but our show is really centered on learning about each other, and giving the audience up close access to our faces when we’re affected by each other feels super-intimate with audiences.

    MG: I think they’re more intimate online, but we really try to translate some of the same energy in terms of using the space. And I LOVE how easy it is to incorporate props and costumes, because I love lo-fi dumb stuff. We wound up randomly being chosen for a long Ghostfest lottery slot. And it was one of my most favorite IWH shows, maybe ever. Bill went uber-grounded, a Wendy’s employee trying to take my order, and somehow I became Wendy herself, only I was basically recruiting souls for my demonic ends. Like ya do. We were able to use the medium to our benefit, control our own lighting and costumes/camera angles. And I’ve noticed sometimes being in your own home has led to some more relaxed and creative moments, as well as removing commute issues from some of our folx. No offense to those who miss it, but I sorta love creating independent of whether or not you’re getting laughs. I’ve been grateful we’ve had an option that not only keeps everyone safe, but makes it possible for us to work with folx/watch shows from prohibitively far away places. We had an amazing student attend our classes on her lunch breaks in England. What an incredible bonus from a terrible circumstance.

    Keeping on the topic of online improv a little longer: Any Zoom improv horror stories you’d like to share with us? Everybody’s got one, and some of us have many of them…

    MG: I’ve been really lucky! Aside from freezing because “my internet connection is unstable” once or twice, the only snafu was a very, very sweet group of seniors who made accidental cameos in a festival performance slot. (This was with another team.) We incorporated it, but it was a repeat cameo, and trying to let them know they were in our show was a bit of a challenge, considering our scene’s location had fuckall to do with Zoom. Oh, and because I do costume changes, someone once called my character back. When I didn’t appear, they said “I have the feeling they might be doing something elaborate right now and aren’t ready to come back in yet.” I died. Because *accurate.*  My fake moustache was falling off during a show and a random Twitch user who’d stumbled upon us wrote in the chat, “Bruh, lol.” He called me “bruh!” BEST REVIEW EVAR.

    BB: I think most of my horror stories come behind the scenes rather than in front of the camera. We’ve been doing this for about a year and a half and we’re just beginning to scrape the surface. I know the audience has a different relationship with us watching this way. They see us onscreen and they expect a bit more of a television visual vocabulary than a stage vocabulary, so I freak out when I’m not putting the spit and polish on the shows to make them fun for the audience. But on camera, I still lose myself in the character. The Alt+Vs and Alt+As and all the other little shortcuts are starting to become second nature. 

    Bill, you’re teaching an online workshop for us on Saturday, October 23, called “The Math of Improv.” Can you tell us a little bit about it and where you came up with the concept? How can embracing the math of improv benefit the right-brained improviser? 

    BB: Oh, so much! All art is filled with beautiful patterns and symmetries that make them beautiful. The part of our brain that thinks in that way is also the super-judgy parts of our brain and it keeps us from having fun when we first dip our toes into improv. It’s a great idea for teachers to ask that part of the brain to sit down for a while so our creativity can blossom. But when we’re confident in our art, and we don’t let our analytical side come out to play, we’re only half there. I love seeing the shapes and parallels in our show from the inside. It gives us such a huge playground to make something bigger than the sum of its parts.

    Finally, you’re both involved with the absolutely wonderful Phoenix Improv Festival. We gotta ask: Why is producing an improv festival so hard, and why do all of us keep doing it?

    BB: Because improv is the most beautiful thing in the world, and most of the world doesn’t know it yet. We can do our weekly shows at our venues and we’ll build a great fun audience, but a lot of people would never think to enter our doors and see the joy. But a festival? People want to see something magic and we can share that with them, and we get to do it with people all over the world who we love being with. It wears my body to dust, but I always get to see one person see the best improv for the first time. Worth it.

    MG: Glutton. For. Punishment. There is a palpable warm and fuzzy feeling during it, though. And we’re so grateful for the festivals you two put on.

  • Spotlight On: The Haiku Lady

    Spotlight On: The Haiku Lady

    Victoria Dym is an improviser based in Tampa, Fla. She will debut her solo improv show, The Haiku Lady, on Thursday, October 21 at the 2021 Countdown Improv Festival. In this spotlight interview, Dym discusses the genesis of the Haiku Lady character, the process of workshopping her first solo show, and her hopes for the future of improv comedy in Tampa

    The Haiku Lady made her debut at last year’s Very Normal Festival as a series of hilarious interstitial bits. What inspired you to expand it into a full-length solo show? What can audiences expect to see when you take the stage on Thursday night?

    Victoria Dym: The short answer: I love the Haiku Lady, and so did many that saw her bits during the Festival came to love her, as well. She is a champion of the absurd and the small-syllabled. The Haiku Lady lives moment to moment, observation by observation, truly an improvisational existence. She is the artist in all of us trying to make it in a capitalistic society, during a pandemic. She deserves to be heard!  And Thursday night she will be heard. There will be at least five characters, at least seven on-the-spot Haikus, and hopefully, at least five big laughs from the audience. If you know anything about haiku, you know the significance of 5-7-5, and structure.

    This is your first solo improv show! What has the process of putting it together been like?

    VD: It’s been Hell. The rehearsal schedule is unbearable. Honestly, it was terrifying at first. I do not know where I acquired this adage about improv that I use when I teach, but something like “All you have in improv is the floor and your scene partner.” And now, in solo improv, all I have is the floor! But at the same time it is terrifying, it is freeing. Solo improv is the penultimate creative form, much like writing but without the editing. I also took online classes from Anthony Francis, the master at solo musical improv, and Jessica Lynn Johnson at Soaring Solo, out of L.A.; I also watched solo theater and one-woman shows online, specifically The Hollywood Fringe Festival.

    Last year, the Haiku Lady was in the running for a plum sponsorship by none other than Subaru. Are you courting any other major car manufacturers this time around?

    VD: Without giving too much away, the word “courting” is relevant. Since The Haiku Lady loves cliffhangers, suffice it to say, her journey on the Countdown stage continues almost immediately after her Very Normal appearance, so we will see. And this is real, The Haiku Lady’s show falls in the middle of The Annual October Haiku Challenge this year. Coincidence? I think not.

    We produce this festival in Tampa (a city in which we do not live!) year after year because of our love for the improv community here. It’s been a challenging year for the Tampa improv community with the closure of The Box. As the pandemic begins to wane (we hope!), what do you hope for its future, both in the near and long term?

    VD: Dear Aunt Gertrude’s last performance was on March 7th 2020 at the Box. Subsequently, the theatrical community darkened as a whole during the pandemic. The Box did not survive, however, nor did most of the teams. Many players have moved on to Chicago and other cities where improv theaters are being reborn. In the near term, Erica Maity, an import from the Portland improv scene, has started a jam, Synchronized Swim, twice a month, at a new space, the MAR, in St Pete. What really is needed in Tampa to bring back and sustain an improv scene here for the long term is a venue that offers, classes and drop-ins and the chance to showcase improv as an art form.

    You co-founded the Metanoia Retreat for Writers, Well-Being and Right Whales. What is it? What other projects are you working on?

    VD: The Metanoia Retreat for Writers is a moment to reset, to celebrate our ever-changing interior landscapes and our relationship to the Earth. Metanoia is the journey of changing one’s mind, heart, self or way of life. Participants in this retreat will find community, awareness, conversation, the ocean, amazing cuisine, laughter and inspiration for their writing. For current submission guidelines email metanoiaretreat@gmail.com or visit: https://www.facebook.com/MetanoiaRetreat.

    In terms of other projects, I have been cast as the Park Ranger, in Wordier Than Thou’s Read No More, a literary scare, 10/29 & 10/30. For tickets: https://www.wordierthanthou.com/shop/readnomore2021
    In November, watch online as I read with other Tampa notables  for The Writers Harvest to benefit those who are food insecure via the Metropolitan Ministries.To donate and watch: https://hillsborougharts.org/events/the-tampa-writers-harvest/

    Finally, who does the Haiku Lady think should be inducted into the Countdown Improv Festival Hall of Fame?

    VD: First year, it was someone’s father, and last year it was another someone’s daughter. Maybe, this year, a mother? Don’t know is my answer. That is why you must attend Saturday’s performances to find out, silly!!!

  • Spotlight On: Michael J. Astrauskas

    Spotlight On: Michael J. Astrauskas

    Michael J. Astrauskas is an improviser based in the San Francisco Bay area. He will make his Countdown Improv Festival debut this year on Wednesday, October 20, on Twitch, alongside Geraldine Carolan and Alex Lee as the trio Leaves of Three. In this spotlight interview, Astrauskas discusses the optimal balance between headiness and silliness in an improv scene, the glories of Camp Improv Utopia, and some other famous people named “Michael J.”

    We’re overjoyed to have Leaves of Three with us this year! Can you tell us a little bit about your show? What can audiences expect to see on Wednesday night?

    Michael J. Astrauskas: Leaves of Three explores a world that’s like ours, with a single difference inspired by combining multiple suggestions from the audience. You’ll see the everyday lives and unusual days of people in this world, as we explore deeper and deeper how it would be the same and different. This format developed organically after the team already existing, from working with multiple coaches, particularly Michael Haycock and Craig Gaspian, and we’re fond of it. It honours the audience suggestions in a unique way, and leads to a lot of fun for us to play with.

    The three of you are all very intelligent players, but your shows also have this great, playful spirit to them. Is there an optimal balance to you between headiness and silliness? How do you keep your shows smart while also keeping them loose?

    MJA: In short, if we’re having fun the audience is (hopefully) having fun. I think all three of us started improv coming from a very heady place, and are constantly working on being more impulsive and tapping into our true emotions, without disconnecting from the “smart.” I don’t know if this makes sense, but the optimal balance is the crossover of top of your intelligence and impulse.

    You, Geraldine, and Alex are all veterans of Camp Improv Utopia. (We are too! Camp is great!) How has camp affected and influenced your work and your chemistry together? What keeps you coming back to camp year after year?

    MJA: Some of us met outside Camp, but we got to know each other through our love of Camp, and one day in our 3-way group chat Geraldine suggested we create a team. Camp has definitely helped our chemistry because we’ve taken some of the same classes, and love many of the same teachers, like Brian James O’Connell and Carla & Craig Cackowski. It’s a whole weekend of playing with other adults who want to have fun, as well. Camp is definitely my happy place where the truest me comes out, and I think it is for Geraldine and Alex as well. It’s nice to bring this feeling back to non-Camp life.

    What are some things that you personally like and find gratifying about online performance? Are there ways in which you’ve found it to be even more fulfilling than in-person improv?

    MJA: There’s a lot to like about online performances. I don’t need to travel and find parking in San Francisco — or cross the Bay Bridge to Oakland! — and can be ready shortly before call time. I love that my audience, or even my team, can be in different cities and countries. I’ve found that literal last-second promotion actually helps get an audience (or players for a jam). I’ve also gotten used to not hearing an audience when online, which means I’m better at trusting myself that things are going well.

    You’re based in the San Francisco area, which is one place where the two of us have never taught or performed. (Someday!) Is there a particular improv style or philosophy that predominates among Bay Area performers? How would you characterize the SF improv scene? 

    MJA: Like a lot of places, there’s an emphasis on improv being comedy, but the shows any of us remember are the ones that touch us, change us, or make us think. Some schools put more emphasis on the full spectrum of emotions than others, but I’ve noticed that characters are most believable — and therefore most engaging — as well as easiest to play, when the performance is coming from some real place, which may or may not lead to laughter.

    All theatres I’ve been to are welcoming in classes and at shows. After all, the performers and staff want you to have fun and want to have fun themselves.

    If you even want to teach here, let me know and I’ll see what I can do!

    Finally, please rank, in order of preference, the following famous “Michael Js”: Michael J. Fox, Michael J. Pollard, Michael J. Nelson (of MST3K), Michael Jai White, and Michael J. Dupey (founder of the craft store “Michaels”).

    MJA: Michael J. Fox, Michael J. Dupey, Michael J. Nelson, Michael Jai White, Michael J. Pollard.

  • Spotlight On: Solovela

    Spotlight On: Solovela

    Diane Jorge is an improviser currently based in Plantation, Fla. She will make her Countdown Improv Festival debut this year at the HCC Mainstage Theatre on Saturday, October 23 with her solo show Solovela. In this spotlight interview, Jorge discusses the genesis of her show, how it plays with some of the most common telenovela tropes, and whether there’s a rivalry between Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

    We’re really, really excited to have you in the festival this year! Can you describe your show for us? What can audiences expect?

    Diane Jorge: Thanks for accepting Solovela into the festival! I’m really, really excited too! Solovela is an improvised solo telenovela. I get quick input from the audience, and I portray all the characters in a narrative that will give the audience passion, desire, love, revenge, betrayal, twists and turns. Tone Tata will be playing along, amping up the scenes with amazing music. There’s also lots of self-inflicted slapping, and I don’t go easy on myself. If anyone can bring me a bag of ice or frozen peas after the show, that would be great! Oh, and props, I won’t say more than that, but it’s really over the top and fun. Also, great cardio, I’ve lost 5 pounds since doing this show regularly. Thanks Solovela!

    For those of us unfamiliar with the genre, can you explain what a typical telenovela looks like? What are some of the standard tropes of the format. and what are some ways that you’ve found in your show to play with and riff on those tropes?

    DJ: Oh, where do I even begin? Telenovelas are very popular in Latin America. There’s so many different types of telenovelas: traditional poor naive girl meets rich man, teen-driven telenovelas, ones that take place on a ranch, supernatural ones, mystery ones, narco novelas, etc. but no space telenovelas?! I guess slap fights would be hard to do in zero G.

    If you’ve never seen a telenovela, first of all, definitely check out the video series Telenovelas are Hell from Funny or Die. The episodes are on YouTube. This is a series of videos that dissects the most iconic of telenovelas. It’s a very funny, Cliff Notes version of a telenovela. But this is how I see it: Imagine a daytime soap and multiply the melodrama by at least 1,000. The basic elements of a telenovela are melodrama and romance. Within that, there’s so many other elements that telenovelas are known for: long lost family, love triangles, star-crossed lovers, rags to riches stories, evil-ass villains, paranormal elements (psychics, ghosts), someone in the hospital with amnesia, incredible slap fights, praying to the Virgin Mary, leaving babies at orphanages with nuns and SO MUCH MORE. Let me put it to you this way: I have a two-page list of tropes that my friend Diana put together. If I list them all, this would make for a VERY long read.

    In terms of the elements I play and riff on, I really love the over-the-top acting and the melodrama. I love playing big characters. I love to turn everyday situations into the worst thing that could ever happen.  So, yes, I will be crying over spilled milk. I also like to defy stereotypes as well. For instance, there is a lot of machismo in telenovelas I saw growing up, and that is something I definitely flip on its head.

    What do you like most about genre-based improv? What do you find challenging about it?

    DJ: What I love about genre-based improv is the ability to really play with the elements of the genre and make them my own. I have so much fun playing with the telenovela genre. I don’t find this genre restrictive at all. Almost anything goes in telenovelas and I revel in that! I am a proud Latina and daughter of Cuban immigrants. I love that I get to share this piece of Latin culture with all sorts of audiences.

    I picked the telenovela genre specifically because these shows are such a part of my life. I have fond memories of sitting down in the living room after dinner to watch novelas with my grandmother and my mom. Every time I do Solovela, it takes me back to that living room with mami y abuela. In retrospect, I probably should have not been watching these as a child, but hey, I learned a lot of important life lessons. Like, always be on the lookout for a long lost twin, and how awesome hair looks blowing in the wind. Also, I am really familiar with the format since I work for a Spanish-language TV network during the day. So novelas are [kind of] my job also.

    I have three specific challenges with this specific genre. The first one is choosing what elements I will play with. Like I mentioned, there are so many!  Another challenge with the telenovela genre is that I want to have a balance of bringing in the tropes, but also modernizing them. I don’t want to just bring in the stereotypes without considering how far we’ve come when it comes to gender roles, what modern relationships look like, etc. We’re not perfect, but I think we’ve come a long way from when I was a kid. Finally, I have to pace myself. I am changing characters, I’m running around, I’m over the top. I always want to leave it all on the stage, but I gotta make sure I’m doing that at the end, not in the beginning of the piece.

    How did you first take the plunge into solo performance? And have you found that your solo improv work has influenced your ensemble work, or vice versa?

    DJ: Short answer: It took a long time for me to take the plunge, and it took a village for me to do it.

    Long answer: When I first took improv classes at Just the Funny (JTF) in Miami almost 13 years ago, LD Madera was actually my first improv teacher. I got to see the very beginning of what later became Together/By Myself (performing Saturday night of the festival on the main stage at 6:25 pm, by the way). I was wowed by his solo performances, and it always stayed in the back of my mind. I also saw tons of excellent solo shows during the Del Close Marathon many years ago. In fact, I saw TJ Mannix do his solo piece, and I was in awe of his show and his talent. So, when there was an opportunity to take a workshop with TJ Mannix at the Palm Beach Improv Festival (PBIF), I absolutely jumped on it. He helped me develop what we know as Solovela today. So one day, I signed up for a show at JTF called The Rumble, which gives two teams 20 minutes each to win the audience over. The winner goes on to defend the title the following week. It was so special because I got to perform vs. Together/By Myself in the first Solo Showdown of The Rumble. So, thanks to JTF, LD, TJ Mannix, Anthony Francis, Marisa Cutaia, and anyone that worked on PBIF in 2019!  

    Solo improv work has definitely made me appreciate the ensemble work so much more. Since I’ve been doing solo work, I always have to remind myself that there’s going to be someone who will be building the scene with me. To paraphrase something I’ve heard from Tara DeFrancisco and Rance Rizzutto, I have to remember to bring a brick and not a cathedral. When it comes to improv, I’m definitely a pirate (based on Billy Merritt’s classification of improvisers as Pirates, Robots, or Ninjas). Argh matey, me don’t ‘ave t’ be a pirate all the time. Then again, solo work has challenged me when it comes to staying in character, which has helped me so much when I do ensemble shows now.

    In turn, the ensemble work reminds me of the importance of relationships between characters and how they feel about each other. When I do solo work, I want to make sure that the characters are grounded in emotion, even when I’m going over the top.

    You’re from the Fort Lauderdale area. Not being South Floridians ourselves, we’ve always wondered: Is there a rivalry between Fort Lauderdale and Miami? If not, how do we start one?

    DJ: I don’t know if there’s a rivalry per se. I am so conflicted because I was actually born and raised in Miami, but now live close to Ft. Lauderdale. In fact, I still go to Miami all the time to visit family and friends. I also perform down there a lot. Miami is sexy, sultry, and mentioned in rap and reggaeton songs. I’m sorry, but I haven’t heard Fort Lauderdale in a rap song.   

    A lot of people in Miami act like Ft. Lauderdale, and Broward county in general, is this far away land. Don’t start beef with Miami people, I just want them to come visit me in Broward once in a while. We have beaches and humidity too! 

    Finally, as you mentioned above, you work with our friend Tone Tata, whose father was inducted into the Countdown Improv Festival Hall of Fame in 2019 for some reason. (He won a raffle.) Do you have any guesses as to who will be inducted into the Countdown Improv Festival Hall of Fame this year?

    DJ: I love Tone Tata!! I know I call this a solo show, but he’s really another player in Solovela. He is a masterful musical director!  So I’m sure that his dad is totally Hall of Fame material. While I’m at it, attention everyone, I am in the running for the Countdown Improv Festival Hall of Fame 2021. I don’t know how this works, like who I’m supposed to bribe, but vote for me! 

  • Spotlight On: Cheeze&Crackerz

    Spotlight On: Cheeze&Crackerz

    Cheeze&Crackerz is an improv duo from Sarasota, Fla., featuring Suzanne Beaulieu and Valeria Sloan. The two will make their Countdown Improv Festival debut in the 8:20 PM show block on Thursday, October 21 at the HCC Mainstage Theatre. In this spotlight interview, Beaulieu and Sloan discuss the genesis of their duo, the mechanics of their format, and their preferred cheese-and-cracker pairings.

    We’re very excited to have Cheeze&Crackerz performing at this year’s festival! Can you tell us a little bit about your show and your format? What can audiences expect to see on Thursday night?

    Cheeze&Crackerz: Our live show is a modified Armando. We get a word suggestion from the audience and one of us does a short monolog inspired by the word. Then the first scene. Then we do a “Bergman”, a riff on an inspiration in the style of Ingmar Bergman; moody, pithy and sometimes surreal. A second monolog, a second scene. Topping the set off with a blistering critique our own set (in character, of course).

    Your show is really fun, and you both do a great job weaving big character choices in with resonant emotional moments. Can you talk a little bit about the strategies you’ve found to strike a balance between the two? What’s the secret to going big while also keeping it real?

    CC: Emotional instability comes naturally. Let’s just say neither of us is currently in therapy so we both have a lot of material to work with. We are both drawn to strong characters with a definite point of view. We pay attention to each other, the whole person, words, postures and expressions. We can keep it real because we know each other so well and underneath, it’s all grounded in a real relationship. It’s us together, having a good time!

    We love a good duo origin story. How did the two of you first start performing together? And how has your chemistry evolved since you’ve been working together?

    CC: We met in an improv class many years ago. The class was called “Act your Way into Being.” For some people it was a class to release emotional repression. For us, it was about having fun, playing games, flying our freak flags, not performance at all. We became good friends and, low and behold, so did our husbands. During Covid, we were both bored out of our minds and needed a creative outlet. So, Cheeze&Crackerz was born. We made a lot of videos and were jonesing to bring our energy to the live stage. Now, we can! Our chemistry has always been there and it’s really nothing we have to work on or think too hard about. 

    How do the two of you like to get ready for shows? Do you have any pre-show rituals?

    CC: We enjoy a good breath mint before each show, for the benefit of our partner. Some interpretive dance followed by primal screaming and we’re good to go.

    You’re both based in the Sarasota area and have both been there for a while. What is special about the improv scene in Sarasota?

    CC: Florida Studio Theatre is a huge asset. Having a venue with high-quality classes really is invaluable. Add to that a town filled with talented, creative people who have taken advantage of all FST has to offer and you have a strong, vibrant improv community in Sarasota.

    Finally, could each of you give us your preferred real-life cheese and cracker pairing?

    CC: Suzanne makes a lovely Hawaiian Cheeze Ball with pineapple, which pairs wonderfully with Triscuits and the highball of your choice. Valeria seeks a robust, assertive Manchego, unafraid to sit atop a buttery club cracker with a thin slice of cherry fruit paste.

  • Spotlight on: Steve Horton

    Spotlight on: Steve Horton

    Steve Horton is an improviser and comedian from Chicago, Ill. He will make his Countdown Improv Festival debut on the Commodore Stage on Saturday, Oct. 23 with his show Improvised Phone Calls with Steve Horton. In this spotlight interview, Horton talks about the genesis of his show, the differences between standup and improv, and exactly how much it would take to rig Atlas Improv Co.’s competition show “The Cut.”

    We’re super excited to have you with us this year, Steve! Can you tell us about your show? How did you come up with the concept, and what can audiences expect?

    Steve Horton: Oh hey, yeah, thanks. I’m excited too. Well, I’ve been exploring solo improv more lately. It’s fun to not have to listen to anyone else go on and on about what they think is funny. It’s like, hey! We get it! Ostriches are funny or whatever! I don’t know, I just feel like if my scene partner wants to keep doing scene about ostriches, I mean, after a while it gets old. I guess I just want to do improv that’s not about ostriches for once. Did I answer your question?

    The show seems to rely on people actually picking up their phones, right? Do you have contingency plans if no one picks up, or if the calls all go to voicemail?

    SH: Do you think that’s the case because it’s called “Improvised Phone Calls?” Because up til this point, it hadn’t occurred to me that I could actually call people with real phones. I guess that could work though. I’ll consider it.

    Your show sort of feels a little bit like it straddles the border of improv and standup, which is fitting, since you’ve got lots of experience doing both. How does your improv influence your standup, and vice versa? What do you find fulfilling about each?

    SH: Well, when I do stand up, I get frustrated that I can’t do emotional character work. And when I do improv, I get frustrated that I can’t do my witty observations about all the different books and DVDs on minimalism. Why are there all these books and DVDs on it? Seems kinda ironic, huh? (Pause for laughs.) Anyway, I guess the two art forms influence each other. To be honest, I’m also influenced by my ventures in screenwriting and even some clown work I’ve done. Heck, one time I was booked to walk around in a giant taco costume and hand out coupons for a taco shop. My point is my show is truly one of a kind. Did I answer your question?

    Do you have any pre-show rituals? How do you like to prepare for a show?

    SH: I really want this show to be good, so I think I’ll isolate myself pre-show and write out every line of dialogue and pantomime I plan on doing. This is my pre-show ritual for shows I want to do well at.

    You performed with Atlas Improv Co. in Madison, Wisconsin for a long time. Be honest with us: How much money would it take to rig The Cut? $50 per judge? $100? Everything has its price, Steve.

    SH: Are you suggesting I only won The Cut in 2014 because I bribed the judges? Because that’s actually the truth. It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you’ve hired a private detective to dig up dirt on every judge. And this dirt? It was dirty. Now the more astute among us might think I’m an idiot for confusing bribery with extortion. But, well, whatever.

    Finally, who do you think will be inducted into the Countdown Improv Festival Hall of Fame this year?

    SH: I just hope both teams have fun.