Tag: duoprov

  • Spotlight On: Anomaly

    Spotlight On: Anomaly

    Anomaly is a longstanding improv duo from Oklahoma City comprised of Shane McClure and Sue Ellen Reiman. The duo will make their Countdown Improv Festival debut in 2022, and will perform in the HCC Studio Theatre in the 7:15 p.m. block on Saturday night. In this spotlight interview, McClure and Reiman discuss their longevity as a duo, memories from Anomaly shows over the years, and the two dominant seasons in Oklahoma City.

    We’re so excited to have Anomaly performing with us at Countdown this year! Tell us a little bit about what audiences can expect from your show when you take the stage on Saturday night.

    Anomaly: We usually play three different scenes based on a line of dialogue suggested by the audience.

    The two of you have incredible longevity as a duo, having performed together for over 30 years. How has playing and building that trust together for that long informed where you are today as a duo?

    Anomaly: We have known each other and wisecracked together since before college in the ‘70s. We’ve performed Shakespeare. original plays  and children’s theatre and toured across Oklahoma. So, as far as references and allusions we use and the inferences we make, we could almost be the same person — however, Shane has definite irascible qualities that play off against Sue Ellen’s sarcastic wit.

    What are a couple of your favorite memories from Anomaly shows over the years?

    Anomaly: An early show put Shane as a frustrated son in a nearly impassable room with a hoarder mother.

    The two of you perform with OKC Improv in Oklahoma City. What makes Oklahoma City special and what would you tell a first-time visitor to check out there?

    Anomaly: Oklahoma is great, it has two seasons: The ice knife winds and the hot mouth of hell. This capitol city hosts many boneheaded politicians, but has an array of new parks, bike paths, museums, as well as performing arts thanks to a reasonable mayor and city council.

    Other than the festival (naturally!), what are you most excited to do/see in Tampa while you’re here?

    Anomaly: On Sunday we plan to go to the Dali Museum and have tickets to the Tampa Bay Rays game!

  • 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: 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: Sharon & Karen

    Spotlight On: Sharon & Karen

    Sharon & Karen is an improv duo from Washington, D.C., featuring Stacey Axler and Heather Marie Vitale. The two will make their Countdown Improv Festival debut in the 6:35 PM show block on Sunday night of the 2020 festival. In this spotlight interview, Axler and Vitale discuss their performance style, the characters they most often play, and why D.C. is an incredible place to do improv.

    We’re really excited that you’re making your festival debut this year! Can you tell our readers a bit about your show format, and what they can expect to see on Sunday night? 

    Heather Marie Vitale: We are so excited to be part of this festival! Our format tends to vary by show as we will let the fun guide us, but you can always expect a Sharon & Karen show to be very silly, very honest, and I will probably get really weird.

    Stacey Axler: Our format is very fluid, but I hope what they see is a show which goes in some unexpected places!

    We’re fascinated by the ways in which improv duos evaluate their own shows. What, to you, constitutes a “good” Sharon & Karen show? What are you ideally looking to achieve on stage? 

    HMV: We love the feeling of walking off stage and knowing in our guts that everything clicked, that we gave it our all, that we listened hard and supported one another, and that we loved the hell out of each other for every single second.

    SA: I think we love our shows the most in which we feel like we really listened to and supported each other. When we let ourselves get and feel impacted by our words and actions. Nothing we say is wasted or thrown away. We achieve a realness in our dialogue and actions, no matter how wacky the topic may seem.

    You’ve got great chemistry on stage. How would you say that your individual styles of play complement each other? In what ways are the two of you very different improvisers?

    HMV: I think that Stacey and I get one another on and off stage; she’s my improv soulmate. We know how to balance our characters’ quirks and dynamics and really make the other person look amazing. I think that when we play on other teams, I tend to be the more grounded one and Stacey tends to have wild characters. On Sharon & Karen, I think that gets switched (at least for part of the show). I love that about us because it means that we’re constantly challenging each other to explore new characters and push our own artistic boundaries.

    SA: Working with Heather Marie is such a joy.  She is very patient on stage, I think that is integral to the improv we do because we don’t rush to find the funny thing, we wait and see what happens. I feel like I tend to take us “off the rails.” Heather Marie has never, not once, said “no” to anything I have said to her onstage, even with some ideas being rather nonsensical. I feel like when I see Heather Marie making larger improv moves in Sharon and Karen, I tend to dial back and focus on her contributions to each scene. When we talk on stage in character, the root of the conversation feels a lot like we are having a conversation, just us, on a normal day. I think we both try to root our characters into some normalcy. 

    You’re both great at character work. What sorts of characters do each of you often find yourselves playing, and why do you think you gravitate to those characters?

    HMV: My go to characters always seem to be kids or teenagers (somehow prom is involved?), bro-y dudes, women who have been jilted, and gremlins. When I do a Sharon & Karen show, I will have at least one insane character who starts at an 8 and will have burned down the entire scene by the end of it.   

    SA: I think I play a lot of characters close to myself and my own personality, but people who have a big decision to make. I feel gravitated to do that on stage because in real life I am very indecisive. It is nice to make a decision on stage.

    DC is a stealthily great improv town. How would you characterize the dominant Washington, DC improv style? How has the scene there grown and changed in the time that you’ve been performing there?

    HMV: DC is an incredible place to do improv because it’s all about the love of the art form and the performance. So many of us have serious day jobs, so comedy is an incredible outlet. The scene is overall really supportive and focused on being as inclusive as possible. I’ve been involved with improv in DC for about 5.5 years, and in that time it’s exploded. I don’t think DC really has a style, per se, because people come here from all around the world with their own ways of playing, but I’d say we’re generally focused on relationships and building out characters and game from there.

    SA: There are a lot of different improv styles in DC. DC is a very creative place and I think the community at large is ready and willing to try new things and new formats and to experiment. The scene has grown tremendously over the years with more teams and projects being formed every day. It is a joy to see and to be a part of such a vibrant community. I learn so much from peers and teammates. 

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

    HMV: Dr. Anthony Fauci or Henry Winkler (two personal heroes).

    SA: I really don’t know, too indecisive!

  • Spotlight On: Crossed Wires

    Spotlight On: Crossed Wires

    Crossed Wires is an improv duo featuring Amanda Rogers and Steve Wyeth. Based out of Madison, Wisconsin, Crossed Wires will be performing in tbe 6 o’clock block on Saturday night of the 2020 Countdown Improv Festival. In this spotlight interview, Rogers and Wyeth talk about their show format, the genesis of their duo, and the top post-show hangout spots in Madison.

    We are so excited that Crossed Wires is back for the second year in a row! For the benefit of people who haven’t seen you perform, can you describe your show for us? What can audiences expect to see this year?

    Steve Wyeth: Fortunately, it looks like we’re able to use the Atlas stage to do the show, so you’ll be getting the full effect. We basically perform a short movie, with tons of action, montages, and even music! It’s a wild ride!

    Amanda Rogers: Expect a show that is like going to a movie theater to see a movie, but the movie theater is stuck in a tornado.

    The “ABC Title” show format has been an Atlas Improv Co. favorite for years. How have the two of you taken that format and made it your own? What distinguishes a Crossed Wires ABC Title show from other takes on the format? 

    SW: It tends to be a lot faster paced, for better or worse. Also, because we always intended to take it on the road, we provide our own sound track. The biggest difference however, is we bring a really — I don’t want to say goofy — but goofy energy to the format.

    AR: Our version of ABC Title takes out the beginning elimination round and streamlines it in a way that allows us to blend our stories a bit. 

    What are some of your favorite and least-favorite movie genres to perform, and why?

    SW: I like action and horror best, for this format. They allow us to do big, wild stuff. Crossed Wires is at its best when we can hit the gas. Least favorite? Rom Com. It just doesn’t move that fast, which I don’t mind in some cases, but I think it’s better suited to an ensemble. What I’d love to try sometime is a musical!

    AR: Favorite Genre: Light-hearted horror because… I like to play murder, for fun? Hate: Rom-Coms… Ugh, feelings…

    You both perform as part of a larger ensemble at Atlas Improv Co. in Madison, Wisconsin. What inspired the two of you to start working together as a duo? How do your performance styles complement each other?

    SW: My recollection of how we got started is that we were having drinks after a show. It was a pretty light crew hanging, myself and Amanda, and maybe two other people. The discussion was on teams, generally. Atlas artistic director Dan Row had put an idea out there of Atlas members forming smaller teams, in order to better travel to festivals. Amanda was pretty new to the company at that time, though I already viewed her as a very strong performer; she mentioned that she wanted to try a two person narrative format, but wasn’t sure who to ask; I said I’d do it. I don’t think she a hundred percent believed me, at the time. But, we got started, and it was clear to me at our first practice that this was going to be something special. We both have big time energy that we bring to the stage; Amanda is full of wild ideas, and I have this “go for it” mentality, and we just really complement each other.

    AR: I really wanted to do a two person team for narrative and Steve offered to be in it. That was super cool. I feel like our improv styles are alike in a way that allows us to be on the same page easily, but are also flexible enough to go jump on the first idea. That makes our show seem like a runaway train. Just constantly moving forward. 

    We love Atlas and we love Madison, and we can’t wait to come back there and hang out with you guys soon. In the meantime, please rank the following post-show Atlas hangout options from best to worst, and please explain your rankings:

    • Star Bar
    • The Brass Ring
    • The Tornado Room
    • Francisco’s (note: the internet tells us that they might have gone out of business)
    • Drinking Grain Belts that had previously been chilling in Steve’s car
    • Going home and taking a shower
    • Essen Haus
    • SW: 1: Essen Haus, it is the place of friendship and joy! Do they have the best drinks? No. The best food? No. Is the polka band sometimes infuriating? Yes. But it has an undefinable magic.
    • 2: Grain Belts from my car. Other than Grain Belt being the best beer in existence, it usually means a chill night hanging at the space.
    • 3: Tornado Room, and an excellent steak. This would be higher on my list, but the chances of getting a table are so low; maybe one out of three times can we get in.
    • 4: Star Bar. It’s close, and it has character.
    • 5: Francisco’s, RIP. A longer walk, but pretty good tacos. Sadly, it is no more.
    • 6: The Brass Ring. It kind of has everything you want: good drink selection, serves food. But, it is merely adequate quality, and lacks character.
    • 7: Going home. I’m usually too wound up to get to sleep anyway, so I’d rather stay out and be with friends who have had a truly meaningful impact on my life. I might also have a drinking problem.
    • AR: #1 Essen HAUS- the place of friendship and love
    • #2 Tornado Room- those steak sammies are amazing
    • #3 Brass Ring- would be higher on the list if they didn’t close so damn early.
    • #4 drinking Grain Belt (love chilling at the space)
    • #5 going home and taking a shower
    • #6 Franciscos is dead and I’m not even mad
    • #7 Star bar- too loud/ if the outside is open it’s up to a # 5

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

    SW: Barack Obama. Remember him? I don’t remember any improv festivals getting forced online when he was president.

    AR: I think you guys should be in the Hall of Fame because I love you so much!

  • Spotlight On: Cuzzins

    Spotlight On: Cuzzins

    Cuzzins is an improv duo featuring David H. Hepburn and Alex Taylor. In their show, the two real-life cousins “therapize” audience members and help them solve their problems. Based out of Miami, Fla., Cuzzins will perform in the 9:05 PM show block on Friday, August 14 at the 2020 Countdown Improv Festival. In this spotlight interview, Hepburn and Taylor discuss their format, their work with the Black Improv Alliance, and their own chances for induction this year into the Countdown Improv Festival Hall of Fame.

    We’re so happy to have Cuzzins back for 2020! For the benefit of those who aren’t familiar with your work, please tell us a little bit about your show, and what audiences can expect to see at this year’s festival. 

    Alex Taylor: Cuzzins provides a therapeutic way to solving personal problems that everyone faces throughout the world. The caveat of our set is we are not going to tell you what to do, we will show you what we would do in your situation depicted through improv with a twist and at the end justify what you saw by applying it to your life  

    David H. Hepburn: Expect little to nothing except and including the collapse of all things known unfolding into an origami-esque fractal of the conspicuous subconscious streaming tickle tendrils tangentially fringing mellifluously upon the cortex keys of existential sublimity. Aka, expect to have fun. 

    In your show, you “therapize” audience members by offering humorous solutions to their personal problems. How did you hit upon this format? Have you ever had an audience member tell you something that made you go “Wow, I have no idea how to solve that one”? 

    AT: We kept workshopping ideas with Stephanie Rae (Black Improv Alliance) on what would be unique to our personalities. David and I have a unique view on the world and giving advice based on your viewpoint was and is exciting. Funny thing, is most of the problems that arise typically can be solved through murder and mayhem (just kidding). We’ve never had that issue of not knowing how to solve it because we are improvisers. The problem that has occurred is how to justify it based on the scene we did. 

    DH: The concept is the brainchild of the ingenious Stephanie Rae, founder and leader of the Black Improv Alliance. She has a facility for conceiving of innovations to improv forms. Coming up with fresh new spins is one of her signature gifts. Recognizing our palpable chemistry, she designed a form tailored to suit our sometimes-unorthodox brand of play. Part of what’s cool about our form is that it’s literally impossible to not have something for any and everything, and while we are certainly not professionals, not certified or accredited psychotherapists, we are gifted: we have been kissed by divinity. 

    The two of you are real-life cousins! How does that fact influence your on-stage dynamic? Did the two of you always know that you wanted to work together someday? 

    AT: Us being cousins in real-life helped us click faster. It made improv more enjoyable to me because I can be myself around him. It is/was a great place for us to reconnect because we did not know each other liked improv. Only when we found out that we were both into improv is where we decided we need to work together on this. That was 2-3 years ago. 

    DH: Being real life cousins gives me a freedom and a trust that was almost uniquely immediate and very specific to our performance DNA. There’s a dimension of fun, ease, and security linked to a prideful satisfaction of playing with family that would be hard to manufacture. I had no idea Alex was the least bit interested in performance at all in any way, shape, or form until he walked into an improv session and we were like, what up cuz!!! Haven’t seen you in years. 

    You’re both part of the Black Improv Alliance, which is doing great work both on and off the stage. In fact, your team photo on the website was taken during “Operation Black Joy,” in which you and the rest of the BIA delivered ice cream to families all over Miami. Can you tell us a little bit about how the BIA has grown and evolved since last year’s festival, and where you see it going in the months to come? 

    AT: The BIA has grown into an adult two-year old.  BIA started in 2018, just four of us. Since last year’s festival, we have participated in 3 improv festivals, we launched a website this year (blackimprovalliance.com). We have received more visibility through not just Miami, but the world. We are committed to increasing diversity in teaching and cast members in improv theaters across the world. The BIA is in the process of starting an improv academy dedicated to teaching improv to everyone and ensuring that improv is a safe space for anyone that wants to do it. I see BIA maintaining its footprint in Miami and the world for a unique look at improv from the unapologetically black perspective. Also, ensuring Miami is widely known as a great place to do improv for BIPOC improvisers. 

    DH: Yeah, I’ll cosign everything that my cousin said. To be clear this is Stephanie ‘s vision many years in the making coming to fruition, and it’s a privilege and an honor to be on board as her dreams are manifesting. What she’s been able to do with a small group in a short period of time is gob-smacking. The breadth and scope of her vision knows no bounds. BIA is the direct result of her ceaseless efforts, infinite imagination, and incomparable creativity, and her meteoric rise is merely in its nascent stages. It is humbling and all-inspiring to be along for the ride. 

    What are you most looking forward to about this year’s festival? What, if anything, are you not looking forward to? 

    AT: I am looking forward to seeing all the shows I missed last year, the box of goodies, and performing. I wish we were able to meet in person; the electricity of performing in front of that audience was amazing. My silver lining is, if the world was status quo, I probably would not have made it to Countdown this year. 

    DH: Honestly, I am looking forward to Justin & Kelly.  The way they greeted us last year left an indelible mark. They genuinely made me feel special. There was an earnestness to their expression of appreciation that elevated my contribution as a participating performer in my own eyes. Justin & Kelly are beguilingly humble and affably tangible titans. Unforgettable…and what more can anyone say about these hallelujah, inducing chinchilla soft T-Shirts! Glory to The God of Plush Luxuriousness. 

    I’m not looking forward to nervousness or the absence of physical presence. 

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

    Us or Key and Peele. 

  • Spotlight On: The Project

    Spotlight On: The Project

    The Project is an improv duo featuring Chuy Zárate and Antonio Zárate. The father-son duo, based out of Austin, Texas, will perform in the 9:05 PM show block on Friday, August 14 at the 2020 Countdown Improv Festival. In this special video spotlight interview, the Zárates talk about the genesis of their duo, what’s great about the Austin improv scene, and their picks for the 2020 Countdown Improv Festival Hall of Fame.

    ***Click here to sign up for Chuy Zárate’s Countdown Improv Festival workshop, “Forget What You Know,” at 12:30 PM Eastern time on Saturday, August 15.***

  • Spotlight On: JewMama

    Spotlight On: JewMama

    JewMama is an improv duo comprised of Jeremy Lesifko-Bremer and Michelle Lesifko-Bremer. Based in Gainesvile, Florida, JewMama will be performing in the 7:50 PM show block on Friday night at the 2020 Countdown Improv Festival. In this spotlight interview from 2019, the Lesifko-Bremers discuss the genesis of their format, the pros and cons of improvising with your spouse, and where to get good vegan Polish food in Pittsburgh.

    Your format is so fun and kinetic! Can you describe your performance style for those who haven’t yet seen it, and tell us about the genesis of that format and how it has developed?

    Starting with a suggestion of a location, we build a world made up of three scenes. Each scene is populated by different characters, and our goal is for each set of characters to have a different, dramatic relationship. By the end of our set, we hope to “collide” the three scenes into a satisfying climax. The inspiration for this format came from our first duo coach, who challenged us to do a two-person Harold (for civilians, that’s an improv form that looks like an improvised play). We had so much fun doing it that we decided to adapt that form for our show. We’ve both acted and directed plays before, so we really like thinking about interesting stage pictures. That’s where the idea of using three different parts of the stage and physicalities to differentiate the scenes came from. Unexpected benefit: this form gives us plenty of opportunities to get physical and mess with each other, which are two of our favorite things to do.

    We love a good duo origin story. How did the two of you first start performing together as JewMama?

    We’d been taking classes together and performing on another team (shout out to our brothers and sisters in The Deep End!) and were asked to perform as a duo for a Valentines-themed show called CoupleProv at our old home theater, Steel City Improv Theater. We’d always joked that we’d call our duo JewMama, so we called our own bluff and JewMama was born.

    You’re married to each other! What are some pros and cons of having your duo partner also be your life partner?

    Pros: We know each other’s brains really well, so we have a kind of shorthand that makes it easier to predict where we’ll go once we start improvising. Also, since we promised to stick together til death do us part and all, it’s pretty easy to trust each other on stage. Finally, it’s funny to get super physical with each other and scandalize our audience, especially if we forget to tell them that we’re married. Cons: We know each other’s brains really well, which makes it really easy to mess with each other. Also, we’ve been known to yell at each other in the green room when one of us (ahem…Michelle…) isn’t happy with a choice the other made (…cough cough…Jeremy…).

    How do you both like to get ready for a show? Do you have any pre-show rituals?

    We have a power mantra that we yell at each other in the green room, which is a ritual that was gifted to us by one of our coaches. We can’t share the mantra, as that would sap its power, but it’s based on our mutual love for the TV show The West Wing. We also do some word association and energy building exercises. We like to get pumped.

    What makes small-group improv rewarding to you?

    You’re on stage the whole time, so you have to be super present and purposeful. Also, Michelle is bad at remembering stuff, so that adds an extra layer of drama. Sappy alert: We really love doing improv with our best friend.

    Finally, the two of you recently relocated to Gainesville from Pittsburgh. It’s our opinion that Pittsburgh is one of the best cities in the country for unique regional cuisine. What are your favorite Pittsburgh foodstuffs, and why are they great?

    Believe it or not, there’s a vegan Polish restaurant in Lawrenceville, our old neighborhood, called Apteka that is off. the. chain. Best pierogis in town are made with shredded mushrooms, not cheese or beef. Also: church lady fish fry game is on point. And we’ve been known to eat a pepperoni roll in our car while Christmas shopping. Don’t judge.