I've always had a history of going with the flow and, just like in improv, the best things in my life happened by course of a happy accident. I started off working part time for Kiss FM in Cleveland and decided to take an improv class to help me think on my feet and, possibly, turn me in to zany morning zoo type DJ. My first class led to my first performance at the now defunct Second City Cleveland and a desire to keep doing it no matter how bad I was! I would take every class and soak up every bit of info I could, eventually not caring about first-time callers and the top nine at nine.
Without Second City in Cleveland our improv and sketch community was like a post-apocalyptic war zone. Some teams still existed and performed at irregular times and locations, competing with a much more vibrant Stand-Up and Music scene. Worse, there was no direction or realistic hope of achieving anything, which you could argue is the same in Chicago save the Pat O’Briens or Jon Lutzes. The key difference is that Chicagoans appreciate improv for what is - a separate art form. The city rewards its performers with many stages to grow and fail on. With the hope of failing in front of like-minded people, I moved to Chicago.
I have been in Chicago for approximately 3 years. Half of that time has been spent traveling across the country for work. The other half has been spent soaking in as much improv as possible in the form of watching shows and taking classes. I play with the long-form teams The Belmont Transfer and The Giant Eagles. I have gone through the iO program, taken the first two levels of The Annoyance and intend to go through the conservatory at Second City. It all seems like a rite of passage for all Chicago performers to go through the "big three." ComedySportz seemed like an afterthought to me. I believed that short-form in general was for two kinds of improvisers: new improvisers who haven’t yet been exposed to long-form and great improvisers looking to challenge themselves. I have felt myself to be in the doughnut hole of these two ideas.
My mind changed one night while at a show at The Playground. Sandwiched in between two boring long-form shows, which Ive seen many more than I like to admit, was a hilarious short-form team. Afterwards, I was excited because it was such a refreshing change pace from the opener . While discussing my new itch to see short form I talked with a friend of mine, David, who said “Long Form is great and its art and its fun, but when you have great improvisers doing short-form it is very much an art form in its own right.”
I decided to go to a ComedySportz show. Wow, it was like watching a fully-packaged, professional show. From the lights, sounds, and video clips it felt like - "Yes! Short-form can be great!" While watching the performers, I was impressed by the speed in which everyone makes choices and can change instantly. Also, there’s an enviable freedom in just being able to be silly.
I’m taking a class at ComedySportz. I hope I learn to play like the players I saw, and look forward to taking fearless choice-making abilities back to my long form roots. I don’t see this as a change in religion or blaspheme against long form. I think this can all be complimentary, making me into an all-around better performer.
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