#ChicaGoUK: Liz Peters

I tell you what, I'm getting pretty envious of all those folk heading off to Chicago this Summer. Luckily, one of them is me. Being envious of yourself is easily remedied.

Liz Peters is not me, though I am envious of her:

Tell us a bit about yourself..

My name is Liz Peters and I am in The Maydays. I trained as an actor at Mountview and have enjoyed working in lots of performance jobs in the UK and abroad on stage and screen. A few years ago I decided to focus more on comedy as it has always been my favourite. I knuckled down and wrote a sitcom, which was an epic feat at the time, so I took some improv classes to help get over writer’s block. What a discovery! It literally changed my life, my approach to working and the way I spend my time. Now, as well as The Maydays, I write and perform in shows like Newsrevue and create sketches and songs about things I find funny – which are invariably rude or quite dark.

What's the best improv call-out you've ever heard?

I was teaching a class and asked for an emotion as stimulus for a scene. Someone joyfully called out ‘swimming!’ and we were in bits. That led to their troupe name being ‘Swimming Is An Emotion’ so it proves the old improv mantra that there are no mistakes, only gifts. (Turns out he thought I’d asked for ‘a motion’ if you’re trying to join up the mental dots)

Which improv course are you doing, and what made you choose that one?

I’m doing the five week course at iO. I suppose the main reason is that if I’m going to go that far and spend all that dosh I may as well do it in a big way. I get to live in Chicago for longer. Maybe there should be a better reason than that but there you go.

When/how did you start planning your trip?

We worked with Jason Chin from iO in February and he invited us to perform in Whirled News Tonight which is a massive honour. I’ve always heard how amazing Chicago was for improv and I started to realise that what I had considered to a financially impossible pipe dream was actually a viable career investment.

What are you most excited about?

I am very excited to have the chance to immerse myself fully in improv for a good few weeks. I’m looking forward to working with lots of different tutors and improvisers and absorbing little bits from all of them. And, of course, watching the shows. The improv scene in England is so small, I’m looking forward to seeing all the different things that the troupes are doing out there and having my mind blown.

Are there any shows you HAVE to see while you're over there?

I definitely want to get to see ‘TJ and Dave’ but on the whole I’m very open-minded and I’m up for everything. I’m imagining it’ll be like being in an improv sweetshop so I don’t want to make too many plans – just see what looks tasty!

What are you going to do in chicago when you're not improvising?

Seeing as many shows as I can primarily. I’ve heard that the Mexican food is pretty special in Chicago and I’ll probably try and get to a cubs game. I might try and find an open mic night or something and do some non-improv stuff. I also fantasise about taking a road trip and finding a hidden cabin by a lake one weekend, cos America is tiny and everything is really close together isn’t it?!

How do you think the trip will change you?

Hopefully I’ll come back as a better improviser! Even planning the trip has shifted my attitude up a gear towards making this my full time job. So I want to arm myself with the tools to do that.

Do you think you'll go back another time?

Ask me afterwards. It might be a dump and everyone could be lying!

If you could name a new impro group anything you like, what would it be?

It would have to be something that organically came from the group. A random line in a scene or something personal and specific to them. Let’s be honest, if it was me it would probably be rude.


Liz plays in The Maydays and has her own website.
Follow all the improvisers at #ChicaGoUK

#ChicaGoUK: Jason Blackwater

This summer something close to a metric tonne of improvisers from the UK descend on Chicago, Illinois to check out the improv scene and study at one (or more) of the improv schools.
We at London Improv think that's quite a notable thing, so we decided to interview as many of those folk as we could. First up - Jason Blackwater. Yes, he might sound like a character from Game of Thrones, but he's also a jolly nice man. And a giant.

Tell us a bit about yourself..

I'm Jason Blackwater. I'm in The Maydays and Silly String Theory.
I started performing improv at drama school under the brief tutorship of Ken Campbell, Sean McCann and Adam Megiddo where I toured improvised musicals for just over a week. To finally realise that it was possible to be a professional improviser was a revelation and I intended to find a way, once I graduated, to perform improv as a sideline to my acting. I even had my own troupe for a while, Improv's Dog, doing all of my favourite short form games. I then put the idea to the side for a while until I moved to brighton and immediately joined The Maydays and it's been like that ever since. Acting is now my sideline to the improv and shall remain so for the foreseeable.

What's the best improv call-out you've ever heard?

In one of The Maydays' student showcases recently, upon a request of a topic of study someone yelled "Speleology". I played the old, "Well, of course I know what speleology is, and of course the cast know what speleolgy is but for the benefit of the one or two people in the audience who don't know..." routine. The audience member DID know and it is, as you will of course realise, the study of caves.

Which improv course are you doing, and what made you choose that one?

iO summer intensive [5 weeks]. The Maydays learn through the skills from the iO school of thought and thought I'd go and learn from the source.

When/how did you start planning your trip?

It had been in the back of my mind to go since I'd been with The Maydays for a few months.. so 2010? I never really knew how I was going to afford it but at the beginning of this year I just thought about this summer more seriously. Then Jason Chin came to Brighton and agreed that if enough Maydays got over there he'd allow us to do the second half of Whirled News Tonight [Chicago's longest running improv show] and it was set. by hook or by crook I was going this summer and I just booked it.

What are you most excited about?

The shows. seeing more improv than I can imagine and seeing people I've only seen before on YouTube, on stage.

Are there any shows you HAVE to see while you're over there?

TJ & Dave, Assscat 3000 (I've got a few days in NY too), Baby Wants Candy (again), Improvised Shakespeare, Too Much Sun Will Make Baby Go Blind

What are you going to do in chicago when you're not improvising?

I've resolved to find a steakhouse with a steak big enough to win a t-shirt. Mainly, though, I'll be meeting up with new people and the dozen or so British improvisers who'll be out there too.

How do you think the trip will change you?

I'm hoping to go up a gear in my improv. 5 weeks away from my usual crutch of singing will really improve my scene work, and with a bit of luck bring back some understanding of what I'm doing beyond the instinctual. Plus any adventure will change you in unexpected ways and I'm looking forward to those too

Do you think you'll go back another time?

My original plan in 2010 was to do the year at Second City and I'd still like to do that. I also want to go to LA and Austin and check out the scenes there as well

If you could name a new impro group anything you like, what would it be?

I don't know. I think improv companies need to arrive at their name organically. There's a common feeling in the company and a sense of ownership but a wonderful opportunity was missed in a beginners class I was witness to. They'd hit upon the idea that the really whacky and ungrounded thoughts came from the Big Banana Place and wished they'd gone for that as their name but it wasn't to be. Still my favourite and it's up for grabs!


Jason Blackwater appears regularly in The Maydays and Silly String Theory.
His Twitter name is @jblackwater
Follow all the improvisers at #ChicaGoUk

Long Form Improv? Jason Chin FTW!

Neil Curran is founder and chairman of No Drama Theatre and Laughalot Improv in Dublin, a movie lover, Tinnitus sufferer and misunderstood genius.

I spent last weekend braving the Siberian weather in the UK and attending a Long Form improvisation weekend of workshops with Jason Chin. Jason hails from the infamous iO Theatre in Chicago where he has been involved with improv for over 15 years. He has held the positions of the iO Associate Artistic Director, as well as the Director of their Training Center. Jason created the improvised news satire, Whirled News Tonight, which has been running for over 8 years. He is the author of "Long-form Improvisation and the Art of Zen", Jason was in the UK as a guest of The Maydays.

Or in short, he has the credentials!

My inability to read emails correctly resulted in me arriving in the UK on a Thursday night, for a course that would not kick off until Saturday morning. I spent the Thursday night and Friday taking in the local offerings in Cambridge. Those offerings consisted mostly of snow and cold though. And a search for a scarf.

But I digress. So after a miserable night’s sleep I rose from the dead early on Saturday morning to take a train to London. My destination was “The Nursery” in Southwark. (Note to Irish readers, it is not pronounced South Wark!) An upbeat Jason greeted us at the door and in total there was about 16 of us ready to get stuck in! There were a couple of familiar faces from my previous improv adventure with the Maydays in Leela as blogged about here.

But lets talk about the venue, The Nursery. It was as if the room was built under a railway bridge, with the walls filled in cement and a door added. No, this is not a metaphor, the room really was under a railway bridge! The room was cool and quirky. But, it had no heating. And it was freezing! Thanks to the brainwaves of one of the participants, a few phone calls later we had a flurry of portable heaters which helped to stave off some of the cold by lunchtime. Every little helps!

So Jason gave us an introduction and we got stuck in. After a couple of warm up exercises, we spent most of the day (and the following day) in a variety of open scenes. It was quickly obvious that most people in attendance were experienced improvisers and some people perform regularly. The talent on display was excellent and equally hilarious! But Jason brought an additional edge to the proceedings. He is a fantastic teacher, very attentive and offers great insight into improvisation with his thoughts and feedback. His ability to plants seeds in your head brought out very fruitful results on stage. Jason put much emphasis on emotional reaction and the +1 and it was as if everything just ‘made sense’!

I personally find performing improv, especially long form, very liberating. The concept of “Group Mind” during a scene creates a strong bond between performers and the experience and energy becomes shared. There were many hugs, claps and back pats after each scene which only serves to highlight the enjoyment and bond that performing together brings. While you become used to it with your own troupe, its rejuvenating to experience it with new people.

There were so many great scenes over the 2 days (and probably even more during the showcase on the final day which due to my flight home, I missed), many colourful characters and hilarious quotes. Moments like when during a scene Jesus cries, “If I can’t repair a rusty hinge how am I expected to perform miracles!” Or after a scene involving a character receiving a banana on his birthday, Jason asked Andrew how he felt in the scene and Andrew replied, “Was that before banana or after banana?” All classic spontaneous moments!

I met some great people over the 2 days and I’m looking forward to meeting again, be it on stage or viewing from the audience. I’m also looking forward to my US trip in 2013 when Chicago is on the agenda!

Every time I attend or partake in anything improv related in the UK, I am inevitably filled at some point with jealousy at how large and cohesive the improv scene is there compared with Ireland. Its not that we don’t have great improvisers in Ireland, we have some great talent too. But we need more troupes, more venues willing to open their doors to improv and we need to raise the profile of improvisation in Ireland to a higher level.
To quote a friend who used to perform with me in improv shows, “I told people in work that I have done improv before, and thoroughly explained exactly what this entails. Despite this, many a conversation has been started with the line: ‘Did you know Dave did stand-up?’”

But lets not end on a downer. A fantastic weekend of improv with great people and great tutoring was had. If you have a chance to train with Jason in Chicago or indeed The Maydays in the UK, just do it!

You can follow Jason’s blog here

You can visit the Mayday’s website here

You can get in touch with Neil here

How Do You Do Dat Zen?

For the last 10 days, zen-improv master Jason Chin has been in the country working with The Maydays and a load of other awesome improvisers. On Sunday, everyone above collaborates for one amazing showcase.

Join The Maydays and The Chinnites for FREE at the newest improv venue in town: The Nursery.

A student of Del Close, Jason Chin has been performing, directing, and teaching improvisation in Chicago since 1995. He was Director of the Training Center and Associate Artistic Director to the iO Theater for eight years and is the author of "Longform Improvisation & the Art of Zen". His creation, Whirled News Tonight, an improvised news satire, recently celebrated eight years of continuous performances.

Sunday 12th February
Time: Doors 6pm, Show 6:30pm - 8:30pm with interval.
Cost: FREE
Where: Arch 61, Ewer Street, SE1 0NR


LONDONIMPROV: A REVOLUTION IN COMEDY & THEATRE

Sign up to email updates at
LondonImprov@gmail.com

Jason Chin (iO Chicago) longform weekends in London and Brighton

Early bookings are now available for weekend longform workshops by Jason Chin, from the iO theatre in Chicago.

A student of Del Close, Jason Chin has been performing, directing, and teaching improvisation in Chicago since 1995. He was Director of the Training Center and Associate Artistic Director to the iO Theater for eight years and is the author of "Longform Improvisation & the Art of Zen". His creation, Whirled News Tonight, an improvised news satire, recently celebrated eight years of continuous performances.

He has taught and performed all over the world, from Chicago to Manila to Hawaii, and now he is coming to the UK to teach exclusively for the Maydays. This is a rare chance to get instruction from an experienced improviser coming from ground zero of modern longform.

Dates:
Brighton, February 4th/5th, 10am-5pm
London, February 11th/12th, 10am-5pm
Cost: £175 or £150 early bird if booking before Christmas (includes a free copy of Jason's Book 'Zen and the art of Longform Improvisation'
Locations TBC

For bookings and info, contact Heather Urquhart at mayday@themaydays.co.uk or 07818290562.