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How I Live and Learn With Improv

I love being creative. Be it through writing, toy photography, drawing, or acting. There’s one form of acting I love best and that’s the art of improv. The thing I like about improv that’s different from regular acting is that you literally make your scene up on the fly. Now, that might frighten some people, but I was never passionate about reading and memorizing scripts. With improv, there are no scripts, but there are rules. During my improv journey, I found that some things that made improv very difficult for me. First thing, I have Asperger syndrome, which is a high functioning form of autism. So, eye contact is a struggle for me due to this disability. Additionally, I struggle to read social cues. Last thing, my anxiety. My anxiety currently controls my life and makes it difficult to do things. Currently, my anxiety contributes to why I’ve been skipping improv classes lately. But more on that later. In addition to my mental struggles, there were the financial struggles due to the high costs of paying for the classes that I took. I would like to review my improv history and how improv taught me a few life lessons. I remember my first improv class. I was 14 when I started improv and class was held inside a small dance studio in a shopping mall called The Foundry in Barrington, IL. My teacher was nice and so were my classmates. Heck they even let my friend join me in class for free one time too, so I got to perform improv alongside my childhood friend for just one class. As I began to get comfortable with my peers and performing improv, eventually though, oh boy, did my attention seeking ways come out through improv. I will admit up front, in improv, I’m a stage hog. For two reasons, the attention, and the laughs. For me, silence is scary, but more on that later. After I finished the kiddie improv class at the small dance studio in Barrington, IL. 

It wouldn’t be until 2010 when I started attending classes at Metropolis Theater in Arlington Heights, IL. Metropolis truly became my first deep dive into improv as an adult. I was taught by my first true improv teacher Jeremy and met classmates who would eventually become the members of our improv team, Sunny Beijing. Sunny Beijing and I performed at Metropolis and even perform at Laugh Out Loud Theater in Schaumburg, IL. Along with taking classes with Sunny Beijing and performing alongside them at LOL, we all became close friends too. Slowly Metropolis transitioned to coaching my improv team instead of teaching classes for adults. As Metropolis today more puts their focus more on teaching children than adults. As my love for improv grew, I decided it was time to expand my education. I decided to attend classes at The Second City and iO Theater. I studied at a legendary Chicago theater, The Second City. I graduated their improv, acting, and writing programs. I love to tell people that I’m an alumnus of Second City because I studied where Chris Farley, Stephen Colbert, and countless other comedy legends got their start. Now, I never became a bigshot like them, but that’s cool. It was cool too that I was taught by people who knew them. I have had so many great teachers it is hard to keep track of them. One thing Second City taught me was how show business operates and how it’s truly not a 9 to 5, but a gig to gig. During classes at Second City and iO Theater, I learned that it’s good to not always be funny in improv. Usually, people think that improv always usually must be a comedy show or they’ll confuse it with a stand-up performance, which I blame on another theater called The Improv. The Improv theatre is more stand-up comedy based. Over the years, I created serious characters during improv scenes which people, to my shock, seem to like my more serious or straight-man characters in scenes more than my Chris Farley/Jack Black knock-off characters. It feels good to know that I have range as both an actor and improv performer. The Second City to me is both a place of fond memories and sadly, a place I’m scared to go back to. The reason I’m scared to go back to Second City is because of an email from a teacher who helped me and traumatized me at the same time. I used to perform in Second City’s Jam Sandwich, but after a email that rocked my world was sent to me, by someone that I respected, not anymore. 

My teacher was trying to help me out, tell me the rules, teach me, troubleshoot some potential complaints about me. Yet, how I interpreted the email made me sad and annoyed. Usually, I would send an email asking to sign up for an upcoming Jam Sandwich. Instead of a sure, ‘you in’ return email, I got an email back which basically read this is my playpen and you must follow my rules. My teacher called me a scared puppy, and I know he was right, that I am a scared puppy. I know the stage hog in me was rampant during my performances at Jam Sandwich. People who watched me told me I did good, and they weren’t in my family. But sadly, after that email, I returned to Metropolis to rejoin my team and had the bonus of a shorter commute. Now, back to why my anxiety, which is making improv difficult for me now. I have missed or skipped so many improv classes due to my emotions. In all honesty, I need to grow thicker skin. One thing I don’t like most of the time about taking classes is feedback and criticism. I focus more on the negatives than the positives, which when I hear bad criticism about me, I focus more on that, than the positive feedback I get from an improv scene I performed in. I have even left classes early because I couldn’t take the criticism anymore. Because I miss classes, I’m not a reliable team member. Even though I feel like my team still cares about me and we are friends, there’s a riff is slowly forming between me and my teammates. In some ways it brings back memories of the cursed Jam Sandwich email. At a recent performance at Laugh Out Loud Theater, we were playing a guessing improv game and our teammate struggled to guess the final clue. Now I admit up front, I flub a lot of guessing games. Many times, when the performer has been on stage for to long and when we are running out of time, it’s okay to give an obvious clue to move things along. I felt it was that time, but my group didn’t, so I was silenced when I tried to give a clue. They were probably right, but my mom and I felt that the silencing was a bit harsh. My anxiety makes me paranoid about if my team cares about me or are they fearful of me because I’m a bit of a wildcard. I still love performing improv when I can, and I still perform with my improv team Sunny Beijing. Who knows, maybe I will return to Second City or iO Theater someday. I even have thoughts of going to take classes at another Chicago theater called The Annoyance. I do love that when you perform an improv scene, it’s usually one and done. It might live on in a video on my YouTube channel or depending on how funny the scene was, I might write it as a sketch. But it’s nice when an improv scene is over, it’s over -never performed again. After an improv scene I performed in is over, my hindsight kicks in and says how I should have done things differently. Yet, in all honesty, it’s just in the past and the past already happened. All you can do is just learn from your mistakes and continue to improve your life. After all, there’s no improve without improv.

Odin Awakens

Where am I? Who dares awaken me from my endless slumber where I dream my endless dreams? You mortals don’t know who I am? No, I’m not Santa Claus! But Santa is a friend of mine and you will both go on the naughty list for this. I rule the realm of Asgard with an iron fist! Wait, you weak mortals don’t know what Asgard is? I created Asgard with my own two hands, alongside my brothers of course. You still don’t know who I am? Why, I’m Odin! What is this Marvel Comics you speak of? You’re saying that I should probably sue Marvel for copyright infringement and that I would have a pretty good legal case? Yet, you still haven’t answered my question of where I am damn it! What is this Microsoft and the box of X? Wait, you all were trying to make a new Xbox, and it somehow created a rift between realms. Can I return to Asgard now? You want me to tell you how to get to Asgard? Well, it’s high of above Midgard, then I need to cross the bridge called Bifrost and but if I go passed the IHOP on Danga Street I’ve gone too far. Of course, we have IHOP on Asgard because where else would Odin get his pancakes and breakfast samplers from? You’re telling me that you have no idea how to get me home and this Xbox is useless? Ugh, I guess I’m stuck here for a while. What’s that? Jesus Christ! Well, Jesus and L. Ron Hubbard shaved my beard once as a practical joke. Oh, and this is the weirdest shit you’ve heard so far from me today. Which religion is the correct one? Why do you think I would know such a thing? Fine, I’ll just order an Uber, F me!

Snake Oil Social Media Salesman

Hello, hello, come one, come all. Ladies and gentlemen of this small little town, see wonders beyond wonders. Scroll endlessly until your brain turns to rot. Think your kink is unique? Why on here, your kink is in sync. By which I mean I dare say that any and all fetishes known to man and to woman can be found on here. Like big asses? Like small asses? While on here, you’ll never get tired of asses. Like puppies? Well, there are some on here, but for some strange reason cats are literally all the cat’s meow. Feeling nostalgic for days gone by? Remember some cartoon from the 90’s that you thought that only you had remembered? Dare I say on here, you weren’t alone, because everybody remembers Rocko’s Modern Life on here! Wish to know what is real and what is fake? Well too bad, as it slowly turns your brain to rot, by using this wonder of the modern age, we will all soon be fake for goodness’s sake. What is this product of the modern age? It’s Instagram, sadly it’s Instagram. Even I, a humble snake oil salesman, have fallen for Zuckerberg’s con. The price is free for one and all. Yet, it will only cost you your data and your mortal soul. Plus, your innocence, your imagination, and sadly your attention span, um, give or take.

Macho Man Waiting In Line At Disney World

Oh yeah, waiting in line for Space Mountain. A 45-minute wait for me and you here today at Disney World. I’m here in Orlando defending my heavyweight title at SummerSlam. A dream is a wish your heart makes, when you’re fast asleep. Hey, no cutting in line butthead! Move it to the back or you’ll get body slammed! This is my one day off in years and you better believe old Randy wants to have a great time in the happiest place on Earth. I’ve got no strings, to hold me down, to keep me up, to…what did I say about cutting in line jerk? Move it to the back or else…oh I’m sorry, you have no legs. Forgive me, I get pretty riled up after eating too many Mickey Mouse ice cream bars. A spoon full of sugar makes the medicine go down, the medicine go down, the medicine go…this line is too slow. I wanna be where the people are, singing and dancing, I wanna be part of your…oh no, what did I say about line cutting bro? You ain’t handicap, you ain’t fat, you ain’t a make a wish kid, you know what you are? You’re a line cutting bitch and you’re gonna get body slammed. I’ll throw you into the Carousal of Progress, and it won’t be a great big, beautiful tomorrow for you, but it will be for me. When you wish upon a star, you don’t know what a little bitch you are. Get over here line cutter and face the wrath of the Macho Man! As I thrust your head up Goofy’s ass! Oh yeah! Snap into a Slim Jim! Macho Maddess!