#ChicaGoUK: Reppin' N.I.

It's not just Londoners heading to Chicago this Summer. Or folk from Brighton (London's beach). The "Further Afield" region is being fairly represented, like this 'un from Northern Ireland. Morgan Hearst.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I started stand up comedy 3 years ago at the age of 36. I had always wanted to try stand up but Belfast didn't have an open mic scene until then. Around 2 years ago a friend asked if I wanted to go with him to an improv class at a local arts centre. I went along thinking that it would help my stand up but fell in love with it as an art form in it's self. Last year we started a team called Yes And. To date we are the only regularly performing improv team in Northern Ireland.

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

We play in local pubs so a lot of call outs tend to be on the coarse side. I once asked for a location that would fit the stage and got 'The Congo'. We also seem to get the suggestion 'At a meat factory' a lot. I have no idea why.

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

I'm doing the summer Intensive at iO. I wanted to learn long form and as iO is where it was created it seemed to be the place to go.

When/how did you start planning your trip?

I booked the course in September or October not sure which but was pretty much as soon as they had it available.

What are you most excited about?

I have signed up for workshops with Susan Messing and Jet Eveleth. Watching videos of Messing with a Friend and The Reckoning were in large part what inspired me to come to Chicago so I'm excited about learning directly from them. I expect to be a little star struck.

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

TJ and Dave at iO, Messing with a Friend at the Annoyance.

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

The usual tourist stuff, go see Batman and I'm looking for a few open mic spots.

How do you think the trip will change you?

It will leave me with massive debt. I hope to come back to belfast and show the rest of our team what I've learned and start performing long form on regular basis. Who knows, we might get a Belfast long form scene going. That would be worth the bill.

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

I've been trying to convince our group to change our name to Giant Frog. So that.


Morgan's website is FailedHuman.com
His Twitter handle is MorganHearst
Follow all the UK improvisers going to Chicago at #ChicaGoUK.