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

Matthew: How did you first discover improv?

Jim: If you want to know when I discovered long-form improv, which is what I currently perform, it was when I was traveling through Chicago on tour with Repertory Theatre of America back in 1999. A friend of a fellow performer asked if I wanted to join them for a comedy show. It turned out to be at Improv Olympic on a Monday night when their very best alumni were performing. I saw T.J. Jagodowski, Miles Stroth, Bob Dassie, Stephanie Weir, Susan Messing and about 6 others that I don’t remember now. It blew my mind completely open and I decided that night that I would move to Chicago and study there as soon as possible. As for when I first discovered improv existed, that goes back to my freshman year of high school. My friends and I started doing improv shows in the form of radio – we would sit around an old tape deck in one of their parent’s attic. That led me to doing some short-form improv in high school and improv for actors in college. I even tried to get an improv troupe together at the collegiate level, but unfortunately I never got that to happen around my theatre performance schedule. When I toured with Missoula Children’s Theatre we did a lot of 2 person improv in our workshops for the kids and I think all of this led to my overwhelming passion for long-form improv.

Matthew: What inspired you to start JaCKPie here in Atlanta?


Jim: My original dream was to become a college professor of theatre. Then when I moved back to Atlanta from Chicago and started working with Chris Pierce on our two man show it became clear that if I really worked hard at it, I could create my own “college” of improv right here. At first, the idea was just to create another improv house similar to those in other major cities, but after getting it started, I realized that JaCKPie would be similar to those other houses in form, but not really in function. JaCKPie focuses intently on community and support of our members and uses improv as the connective tissue between us all. Once I found that people really did want to work in a pocket utopia of trust and support, I knew that my dream of being a college professor was going to have to become a dream of running JaCKPie and making myself available to the hungry minds of Atlanta improvisers.

Matthew: Are there any improv related achievements you are particularly proud of?

Jim: I am proud every time a student succeeds the first time in a scene. I am also proud when a student fails for the first time and realizes that he is going to be supported and accepted and made to look brilliant no matter what he does. I enjoy the whole thing. Every part of teaching. Even the tough parts are fun… getting past a block, dealing with an issue, rounding tough learning curves… I love it all. Maybe my favorite thing about teaching is watching people get more confident and believe in themselves… that is a pretty awesome moment ever time it happens.


Matthew: Since you’ve been teaching improv for quite some time now, what do you feel like you still have to learn from it?

Jim: I am constantly learning more and more about improv because I am learning more and more about life and how to work with people. Because improv/theatre is a mirror to life I will be learning new things about it until my heart stops beating. The most important new things I learn about improv I learn from my students. Think of them as the teacher’s teachers and you will always have a source of new perspective.

Matthew: What would you consider the most essential skill necessary for good improv?

Jim: In my opinion the most necessary skill to develop in improv is Trust. Also Listening is huge. I think that a lack of Trust is what leads to a lack of Listening and so I’d put Trust down as the most essential.

Matthew: What is the most challenging part of running JaCKPie?

The number of hours in a given day. I have so much that I want to do to support the Atlanta Improv Community, Relapse Theatre and growing the shows and classes at JaCKPie that I could really use another 40 hours a week easy. Heck, if you are taking orders go ahead and make it an even 80.

Matthew: What single task do you find most challenging?

Jim: Probably the most challenging thing is working with those who have trust issues. Getting them to trust is not always easy. It is rewarding when it is accomplished, but heartbreaking when it is not.

Matthew: Please describe the most vivid dream you’ve ever had.

Jim: My most vivid dream ever is a recurring one where I have the ability to move things with my mind and to fly short distances. I am often in a college classroom or in my childhood home. The detail work my brain does in these dreams is amazing. I wish I could identify what I’m eating on those nights before I have this recurring dreams… I’d eat it once a week!

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.

Video courtesy of FuseBox Theatre in Nashville, TN. Thanks Fuse Box!

Matthew: How did you first discover improv and how did you first get involved with Dad’s Garage?

Dan: I first saw improv and played a little in college, but I didn’t really get involved until I moved to Atlanta and did a stage play called The Unseen Hand at Dad’s Garage Theatre. I took a class with Joseph Limbaugh and then began workshopping on and off at Dad’s for a few years. I performed with some other groups, but eventually I became a regular at Dad’s. I continued to perform in scripted plays and wrote for their sketch show, I always stayed in contact with the improv ensemble, even though I only watched improv most of the time. Eventually, they asked me to participate in more improv shows.

Matthew: How did the Doug Dank Project get started?

Dan: René Dellefont, a fellow Dad’s ensemble member, really wanted to do something different and Matt Stanton, another amazing improviser, had a space at Push Push Theater (Decatur) available on Wednesday nights. René gathered together Amber Nash, George Faughnan, Christian Danley, Matt Stanton, and myself to put together this new show. Rene was really the driving force behind it, but everyone in the group has contributed to the show’s style and appeal. We’re heading towards a third year anniversary and Dank is still a truly unique show in the Atlanta improv scene.

Matthew: Are there any improv related achievements you are particularly proud of?

Dan: “Danksgiving” in November; the guest storyteller at The Doug Dank Project gets to donate the ticket sales of the show to the charity of their choice. Also, directing Invasion: Christmas Carol at Dad’s this past year. Simply being asked to join the ensemble at Dad’s and The Doug Dank Project were exciting achievements. Each of the two man shows I have done with Matt Stanton, Tim Stoltenberg, and Lucky Yates are also stand out moments.

Matthew: What would you consider the most essential skill necessary for good improv?

Dan: Listening.

Matthew: Dad’s Garage is known for their innovative improv formats. Can you share any keys to developing these formats?

Dan: A wide variety of people and ideas in our ensemble, plus solid support from our staff. We are always willing to explore new formats.

Matthew: As the new Improv Director at Dad’s Garage, could you share anything about the direction you want to take the theatre?

Dan: I want Dad’s to grow…in the number of improvisers, the reach of our audience, and the scope of utilizing improv to create original theatrical work.

Matthew: Thanks again for taking the time to do this interview. Anything else you want to say?

Dan: I am robot. A sexy robot.

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!

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.

Video courtesy of FuseBox Theatre in Nashville, TN. Thanks Fuse Box!

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. Video courtesy of FuseBox Theatre in Nashville, TN. Thanks FuseBox!

Buy Jill Bernard’s Small Cute Book of Improv

Jill Bernard, a favorite on the improv festival circuit, shares her method of creating spontaneous characters, VAPAPO. This tiny book is an easy way to get more into the scene and less into your head with shortcuts to fuller, playful characters. This third edition features original essays on improv based on ten years of teaching. Only $5.

“A must read. This book might change your life.” — Joe Bill

“It speaks from the heart and to all the voices in your head.” — Mark Sutton

Matthew: How do you distinguish between the improv you do for the theatre and the improv you do for corporate businesses?

Tommy: It’s process versus product. For the theatre it’s all about experimenting, teetering on the edge of failure, challenging ourselves to explore, finding new ways to create. For corporate it’s about delivering the goods. It’s about guaranteeing your client/audience that they’ll have a good time and laugh for the entire show. Corporate clients do not want to leave scratching their heads wondering what the hell that was about. Make ‘em laugh, keep it clean, make the booker/meeting planner look good, give them more than they expected, use the audience as much as possible, dress well, don’t drink in front of the client, make ‘em laugh.

Matthew: What would you consider the most essential skill necessary for good improv?

Tommy: Individual control. Doesn’t matter if it’s theater or corporate, long form or short form, keep your ideas and participation in control. Nothing screws up a scene or a show like ‘idiot boy’ who injects the oddest things possible or intrudes on scenes where he’s not needed.

Matthew: Tell me about some of your most successful students.

Tommy: Amber Nash, Education Director at Dad’s Garage. Tim Stoltenberg, Improv Director at Dad’s Garage. Joe Kelly, former writer for SNL and now How I Met Your Mother. Nick Jameson, mega-voice talent and has appeared on Lost and 24 and has over 150 acting and voice credits on IMDB.COM. Gary Anthony Williams. Best musical improviser I’ve ever worked with. Had recurring role on Malcolm in the Middle. Currently on Boston Legal. My best friend.

I’m like Bobby Cox of the Braves. What makes a great coach? Great players. Every one of these folks walked into my door with a great deal of talent and potential. I was just lucky enough to work with them.

Matthew: How did you first discover improv?

Robert: I discovered Improv in San Diego, California in 1980. There was an ad in the San Diego equivalent of “Creative Loafing” that said something like, “Come dance to your hearts content in a smoke free atmosphere.” It had an address in a seedy part of San Diego and turned out to be an upstairs studio where Judith Essex Greer conducted “Dance Jam”, an Improv dance space of exceeding grace and creativity. The whole story is told in my book.

There were Improv players among the dancers who introduced me to Don Victor (trained at Second City and one time partner in Victor and [Whoopie] Goldberg), and Improv Comedy. I fell in love immediately and have never recovered.

Matthew: In what cities have you been involved in the local improv scene?

Robert: I have only been “involved in a local scene” in San Diego and Atlanta. However, I have played in London, Stockholm, New York, Minneapolis, Nassau, Kawai, Charlotte, Athens, GA, and Savannah.

Matthew: What improv related awards have you received?

Robert: I have been blessed to have received “The James Dull Service Award.” Other awards have been more abstract and may reach a bit. I have been awarded a happy, healthy, light filled, graceful, and curious 19 year old son who begins college in Wales in September of 2008. He was the progenitor of the Improv Rule “Don’t drop the prop.” (He being the prop as a 12 year old in the James Dull Theatre at Georgia Tech.)

I have been awarded the delight of watching 1500 people sitting on the green in Piedmont Park, for a summer Improv performance, played with light and delight. I have been graced by the existence of a whole bunch of Improv encouraged by my cultivation. I have been awarded an hour with 25 five year olds playing prop montage for 25 minutes using a stick from a bush, and I have been awarded a thousand other Improv blessings beyond description.

I am a rose gardener. The Improv is a rose garden. I have been awarded a fine garden with which to be in association. (Winston Churchill was once accused of splitting an infinitive as he spoke. He replied that, “Such an accusation was something up with which I will not put.”) Improvisation is the highest order of organization. I have been awarded the truth of that fact.

Matthew: What inspired you to write Improvisation Inc.?

Robert: I was asked to write Improvisation, Inc.. A man from Kansas was in Savannah at a magician’s conference. A man from Atlanta was there as well. The man from Atlanta had nine Grammy Awards for his work using magic to teach nutrition to children. He was quick on his feet and passionate about his message. The man from Kansas used magic to teach thinking, and living well.

The man from Kansas liked the work of the man from Atlanta and asked him if he would like to collaborate on a book about using Improvisation as a creativity tool. The man from Atlanta said, “Oh, you don’t want to talk with me, you want to talk with Robert, in Atlanta.” They came to me and said, “Would you like to write your book?” I could but acquiesce. About four years later, Improvisation, Inc. was published.

I think that it is important to know the sources of information we have about this great art. The following are required reading if you wish to know the whole story. Some of these things are hard to find. So? Go and find them and read them anyway.

• Neva L. Boyd and Dagney Pederson, Folk Games of Denmark and Sweden, Chicago, H.T. FitzSimmons Company, 1915
• Pierre Louis Duchartre, The Italian Comedy, New York, Dover Publications, Inc., 1929
• William H. Bridge, Actor in the Making, Boston, Expression Company, 1936
• Neva L. Boyd, Handbook of Games, Chicago, H.T. FitzSimmons Company, 1945
• Viola Spolin, Improvisation for the Theater, Evanston, IL, Northwestern University Press, 1963
• Harry Partch, Genesis of a Music, an account of creative work, its roots, and its fulfillments. New York, NY: DaCapo Press, 1974
• Keith Johnstone, Impro, Improvisation and the Theatre, New York, Theatre Arts Books, 1979
• Daniel Belgrade, The Culture of Spontaneity: Improvisation and the Arts in Postwar America, The university of Chicago Press, 1998
• Stephen Nachmanovitch, Free Play: Improvisation in Life and Art, Penguin Putman, Inc., 1990
• Robert Lowe, Improvisation, Inc.: Harnessing Spontaneity to Engage People and Groups, Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2000.

A great history of the modern Improv is available in the following set of books.

• Jeffrey Sweet, Something Wonderful Right Away, Toronto, New Books, 1978
• Janet Coleman, The Compass, Alfred Knopf, New York, 1990
• Sheldon Patinkin, The Second City: Backstage at the World’s Greatest Comedy Theatre, Sourcebooks, Inc., Naperville, IL, 2000

Matthew: Thanks for your time. It’s been a pleasure.

Robert: Again, I am honored that you have asked about my story.
Not reflected here is the fact that there is a whole book in my head about 19 years at Georgia Tech. What a great gift they have all given to me. I have been to the very edges of the creative spirit with the players from this hard core technology school,

I have similar feelings about the Improv that I have about my son. I feel good about my own contribution. However, the real blessing is that I have been allowed to be present for my 28 years in the Improv, and I have been invited to this wonderful 19 year old event called “Let’s Try This,” at Georgia Tech, stretching from Eddie Maiz, through Zot, and Ed King, and Wes Schrader, and through a double dozen others who made me laugh, and laugh again, and on through Jeff Rick, Matthew Falkenberg, and maybe on to some others still.

The Improv is a gift from God in all his and her glory. The miracle is that we are capable of creating “something wonderful right away”. We actually reinvent our universe every day. From the Etruscans and the Atillinae, the question has been, “What new think can we do with this perfect moment?”