The AJC covers the arrival of Dad’s Garage Theatre’s new artistic director:
On Jan. 2, Kevin Gillese sat at the Toronto airport all day, sidelined by the bad weather and waiting for a plane to Atlanta. The minute he touched down at Hartsfield-Jackson he went straight to Dad’s Garage to do an improv show. The 10:30 p.m. performance, he says, perked him up like a hot shower.
This is how the Edmonton, Alberta, native spent his first “day” on the job as the new artistic director of Dad’s Garage Theatre. Gillese’s energy, his stage-lust, his “just-one-of-the-guys” approach to life and work are part of why he was picked to run the 15-year-old Inman Park comedy group, which has built a national name brand through a combination of gonzo theatrics, smart management and legitimate artistry.
A 29-year-old with a scruffy beard and jeans-and-T-shirt wardrobe, Gillese (pronounced “guh-LEECE”) caught the improvisational theater bug as a teen, performed in a Dad’s improv tournament at 19, left college to pursue his craft and came up through the ranks of Edmonton’s Rapid Fire Theatre, an improv group where he was artistic director from 2008-2009…
Click here to read the rest of the article at the AJC’s website.
Kevin Gillese brings energy to Dad’s Garage
BLACK BOX IMPROV FESTIVAL 2009
September 11th-20th, 2009 – DramaTech Theatre presents the Sixth Annual Black Box Improv Festival, celebrating 21 years of improv comedy at GA Tech with Atlanta’s largest improv comedy festival. This event brings together Atlanta’s sprawling improv community along with some of the country’s best nationally touring acts to entertain audiences and educate the next generation of improvisational comedians and actors. This year’s festival features 18 shows, 50 performances and over 200 comedians! blackboximprov.com
The Man Behind JaCKPie
Jim Karwisch has been improvising for over 16 years. He was trained by Charna Halpern, T.J. Jagodowski, Bob Dassi, and Miles Stroth at IO in Chicago (Formerly the Improv Olympic). Before getting into Improvisation, Jim toured the US as an actor and director at Valdosta State University he earned his bachelors degree in Theatre with an emphasis in Playwrighting and Directing. He performs most Saturday Nights at the Relapse Theatre in Midtown and coaches the touring team Einstein meets Elvis and house team Babies mit Bearden. Jim is one half of the original JaCKPie Duo and the Artistic Director for the JaCKPie Theatre Workshop. Jim recently completed an e-mail interview with me.
BBIF 2008: Razowsky and Clifford
Watch the first half of RAZOWSKY AND CLIFFORD’s performance at the Black Box Improv Festival on 9/27/2008. Razowsky & Clifford is a two-person improv show that has become one of LA’s “must see” performances. David Razowsky and Carrie Clifford relish in the purist form of improv—starting with nothing. Well, almost nothing, an audience member decides where to place two chairs for the first scene and they’re off and running. The random placement of those two chairs dictates the entire performance, and becomes the spring board for a variety of characters and relationships.
New Director at Dad’s
Dan Triandiflou is the Director of Improvisation at Dad’s Garage Theatre and an actor throughout the Southeast. He is a union actor who has performed in over thirty professional plays and nearly a dozen independent and studio films. He plays Joe Chess in the soon to be released Who Do You Love?, directed by Jerry Zaks and distributed by Lion’s Gate. Dan recently let me conduct an e-mail interview with him.
Matthew: How did you first discover improv and how did you first get involved with Dad’s Garage?
BBIF 2008: FuseBox Theatre
Watch Nashville’s FUSE BOX THEATRE perform at the Black Box Improv Festival on 9/26/2008. FuseBox Theatre is a non-profit, multimedia improv and sketch comedy company. They were founded in January 2008 by veterans of the Nashville improv scene with the intention of expanding the community for improv, sketch comedy, and live theatre in Nashville and beyond. They also maintain FuseBoxTheatre.com, a community resource for improv articles, interviews, videos, and more. In fact, this video was produced by Fuse Box Theatre. Thanks FuseBox!
BBIF 2008: Dirk and Blaine
Watch the first half of AN EVENING WITH DIRK AND BLAINE’s performance at the Black Box Improv Festival on 9/26/2008. Dirk Manly and Blaine Bustier — Movie Mega-Superstars of Stage, Screen, Television (and sometimes Radio), return to Atlanta reprising two of their most beloved roles – those of improvisers “Tim Orr” and “Stephen Kearin”. Together, “Tim” and “Stephen” will create scenes based on audience suggestions. San Francisco-based musician David Norfleet is on keyboard.
BBIF 2008: Drum Machine
Watch Minneapolis’s Jill Bernard performing DRUM MACHINE at the Black Box Improv Festival (the annual improv comedy festival I produce) on 9/27/2008. Drum Machine is a one-person unscripted structure featuring scenes, monologues and songs accompanied by the mad beats of the Zoom-Rhythmtrak 123 which Bernard calls, “Nature’s finest drum machine.” Typically the show opens with an improvised sing-along, and then explores a historical period suggested by the audience. From a punk persona launch pad, Bernard switches back and forth between characters with stunning virtuosity.
Laughing Matters to Tommy
Tommy Futch is the President of Laughing Matters, an interactive entertainment company. In addition to improvisational comedy, Laughing Matters’ repertoire includes team-building, murder mysteries, game shows, scavenger hunts and school performances. Tommy’s life changed dramatically in 1971 when he was injured in a car collision near Adel, Georgia. Futch was paralyzed from the waist down. Everything he knew about life was altered or no longer applied. For the next 10 years, he dabbled in school, work and self-fulfillment. In 1985, Futch took a comedy course and discovered his passion — improv comedy. He and a dozen partners soon formed Laughing Matters, an improv comedy troupe. As years passed and partners moved on, Futch became President and expanded the company’s mission. I recently had the pleasure of doing an e-mail interview with Tommy.
Atlanta’s Godfather of Improv
Robert Lowe is the author of Improvisation, Inc.: Harnessing Spontaneity to Engage People and Groups, (Jossey-Bass Pfeiffer, 2000). This book is the pioneering work in the use of Improvisational Theatre techniques for organizational development and business and professional communication. Robert is known as the Godfather of Improvisational Comedy in Atlanta. He founded “The Lightside City Players” in 1983, “Comedy Atlanta” in 1985, and “The Next City Comedy Theatre” in 1988. In 1989 Robert had a significant influence in the founding of Georgia Tech’s “Let’s Try This” Improv Comedy movement. For nearly 20 years he has brought Improv technique, fun, and exploration to business and organizations of every size and form. His work is known in more than 20 countries, and it has been noted that either Robert, or his students, and now students of his students, have had an influence on almost every venue of Improv comedy in the Atlanta region. I recently had the pleasure of doing an interview with Robert.
IMPROV VENUES
