There’s an old story that gets trotted out at every George family function about “Anna singing in her beautiful voice.” Picture this: I’m two years old, at church, belting out hymns with the confidence of a diva but the lyrical accuracy of a toddler. I turned to my mom and

Failure is a part of life. Not one that I generally strive for, of course. I fail all the time in my life. Usually it is small things: make a mistake at work, burn some chicken, forget to pick the kids up from school (ok, that one is not a

Within the walls of the National Comedy Theatre lurks “The Thing”. “The Thing” has one sole desire – to be the center of attention and to make every scene about itself. If you’re smart, you won’t talk about “the thing”. “The Thing” will usually present itself as an activity that

I genuinely do not know the person I would be if I never started taking improv classes. My entire life I’ve been a very anxious person. Though I try my very best to mask it, it has always been a struggle since I was very young. In 2014 I stumbled

Since I started doing improv when I was a freshman in high school, there was always a group within the company or group that I knew I wanted to perform with. As a younger performer, you look up to these people and want to get to a level that allows

I got into San Diego improv about 40 years ago. Things were a little different in the 80s.  If you Googled “improv” back then, you would have been doing something strange… The internet didn’t exist, nor Whose Line Is It Anyways.  There was no improv scene here, no regular troupes

Years ago, I decided to transition from graphic design to a new career (a fresh choice). I decided to become a voice talent — an industry I have enjoyed for over ten years. Now, I often get people asking me how to get started in voiceover. An acquaintance who was

A day in the life of managing NCT is like grabbing a slice of ultra, mega, ultimate, extreme, everything pizza—there is no telling which toppings I’ll get. It’s dust and grit, grease and paint, spreadsheets and meetings, creation and elimination, fixing lights and cleaning the toilet, ticketing systems and class registrations,

The Book of Lists reports public speaking to be the top fear of Americans. This is followed closely in order by: heights, insects, financial problems, deep water, sickness and finally death (barely edging out fear of flying).What is it about public speaking that scares so many people? And how can

In 1642, Parliament ordered the closing of all London theaters due to a combination of civil war and strict Puritanism (it’s always the Puritans, am I right?). They didn’t reopen for another 18 years until Charles II ordered the restoration of theater at the beginning of his reign.  I’m very

If you have ever struggled with anxiety or depression, one of the most effective treatments is exposure therapy – purposely putting yourself in a feared situation to slowly decrease your fear. Improv is the ultimate exposure therapy. I can think of no better way to improve your mental health than

This picture was from our Improv Level 3 Showcase in December 2017 during a game called Blind Freeze Tag, which is one of my favorites. I pantomimed a basketball dribble at the time, and my castmate played the mom who paid attention to her phone instead of me. Hence, my

I have always loved comedy.  As a teenager I would stay up late at night to watch David Letterman and Saturday Night Live.  I lost an entire year of English secretly listening to stand-up comedy on cassette in the back of my English class. Sam Kinison was hilarious and there

I showed up late to my first improv show I saw at the NCT. I was 16 and dropped off by my mother since it was an unofficial group theatre trip and someone else was bringing me back home. I remember feeling that the theatre was small, hidden, and packed