Improv Comedy is my Most Prized Possession
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 declared, “I am singing in […]
Fear of Failure
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 small failure). However, fear of […]
The Thing
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 improvisers are doing, or as […]
Navigating through anxiety
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 upon a video compilation on […]
Ready for Prime Time
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 you to perform with them. […]
A quarter century of laughs
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 performing. I didn’t know what […]
Fresh Choice
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 very successful in the industry […]
The Business of Funny
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, scheduling and inventory, assuaging patrons […]
Stage Fright
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 that possibly be more frightening […]
Thoughts on Re-opening
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 much reminded of that historical […]
Exposure Therapy
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 by connecting with others, facing […]
Synergy in Improv
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 reaction. That month marked my […]
Ulterior Motives
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 was no need for English […]
Accidental Hard Work
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 with people. I don’t remember […]
Storytelling
I’ve been performing improv comedy for over 25 years and almost 20 at National Comedy Theatre. My other job…the one that pays the bill…is as a film critic/editor for independent film news outlet Film Threat. Simply put, my job is to watch movies and tell you whether you should see them or not, but rather […]
Taking the first step
I was 17 the first time I saw improv. Growing up a huge fan of Saturday Night Live in the late 80s and early 90s, I was exposed to comedy. But it wasn’t until I went to the Second City in Chicago during the late 90s that I saw comedy live. At the end of […]
My Summer Improv Camp Experience
I saw my first show at the National Comedy Theatre when I was fifteen. Before then my only understanding of improv came from an episode of “The Office”, where Michael Scott steamrolls every scene in his workshop, and the club at my high school that I was reluctant to join. I come from a family […]
Improv – Not Just for Twenty-Somethings
My first foray into improv was in my second year of college. Not yet 20, I was instantly enthralled with the genre. The group I joined was primarily men, most were older than me, and all were devastatingly funny. It was a little intimidating for a closet introvert to be thrust into a situation where […]