The Groggy Squirrel

Don’t you hate it when you can never think of the right thing to say at the exact moment you want to say it? Those hilarious biting comebacks always seem to come to you hours or even days after they’re needed. Now, if you’re lucky enough, think back to a time when you did manage to put someone in their place or got out of trouble when you were caught red handed. That is the cheekiness and joy I can see in the eyes and read in the words of the three experienced improvisers I interviewed on their favourite comedy form.

The general consensus amongst comedians Julia Zemiro (Impro Melbourne, RocKwiz, Gold FM), Mark Gambino (Impro Melbourne) and Andrew McClelland (The Crew) is that they would recommend impro training to just about everyone, especially anybody who has to speak publicly in their job. “You can apply so many of the theories in impro to anything you do- social, family, work interaction,” states Mark. Julia agrees saying, “Whether you want to be a performer or not, the skills of listening, being in the moment and allowing yourself to be spontaneous are useful and freeing for anyone, at any age.”

Andrew also adds that it would be advantageous to, “…anyone who wants to start performance in comedy. It’s a great way of loosening your mind, and making yourself receptive to comedic possibilities.” What better evidence of this is there than looking at his fellow team-mates in the impro group they formed almost 10 years ago, ‘The Improvables’- Christina Adams, Adam McKenzie, Nick Caddaye, Lawrence Leung and Yianni Agisilaou, who have all gone on to become impressive stand up comedians. Andrew also reveals that when he writes a festival stand up show he usually leaves about 20 minutes free for any new jokes that come up through improvising on stage.

After starting Theatresports when she was 22, Julia Zemiro’s career has since branched out into radio, stage and TV. Despite her additional training in the dramatic arts, Julia says,” I sometimes think that the initial impro time shaped me the most as a funny girl and as a host. Creating characters like Bronya from ‘Eurobeat’ would never have happened without that training. During that time I reckon I got some of the best on the job training of any kind for all types of performance. The ability to just think on your feet, and to not be afraid to fail. That’s the bottom line, to create is to fail often and if you are protecting yourself against this then you can’t be free. To fail with grace and a smile and get back out there and try again.”

Considering that on average, people rate speaking in public as more frightening than death, I found it interesting to hear what keeps these performers going back for more. “The moment you step out on stage, for me, is terrifying” says Mark, “but then the moment you do step on stage, and accept the fact that you don’t have anything to support you except your fellow actors, is where you let it go. It can actually be really Zen being up there. When you accept the fact that you’re about to jump out of a plane without a parachute, it’s kind of like accepting your fate. So it’s exhilaration through fear and anticipation, then extreme calm. To create a moment in time that will never ever be repeated – I think it’s that potential that keeps me coming back.”

Andrew McClelland has a slightly different perspective. “…it’s so cerebral, and it’s so easy. Audiences laugh instantaneously, even if you make a pun, which if written would sound crappy, but audiences go mad for it. Every medium – stand up, TV, radio, it’s writing and slaving and then people feel free to criticise because it’s the best work you can put together. Whereas with impro, it really is the best work that can come out of your head at that time. The hardest thing to learn is to remove the bit of your brain that says ‘no that’s going to be crap’ because when you’re improvising, nothing is crap. It’s the most forgiving most wonderful form, because people think it’s hard.”

Is there such a thing as a foolproof form of entertainment? I asked the improvisers what they believe leads to impro failing on stage. “It’s rare that impro really bombs. But it’s like a sport, you have to train and you have to warm up before you go on. Because if you don’t your brain isn’t quite in the receptive state that it needs to be in.” says Andrew. A cynical audience, a performer showboating, a format that is too rigid or a general lack of training and skill are all factors however that can lead to a less successful impro show. Mark adds that, “The audience is really honest with impro. Their body language and the way they hold their mouth, their posture and everything will tell you if you’re entertaining them or not. And they don’t have to laugh for you to be entertaining them. They can still be enraptured with a scene that’s not funny.”

Although impro groups have been performing for decades, improvisation has finally hit Australian TV screens with the sensation that is ‘Thank God You’re Here.’ However, it is agreed amongst the greater comedy community that the format of the show really only allows for ad-libbing rather than impro. “TGYH is exhilarating as it’s double the danger because it’s filmed and you have to improvise” says Julia. “But it never really feels like true impro because one (or several) actors are following a script and the guest is the one having to bounce off/ improvise from that. With impro you should be able to take it off into tangents, both performers listening and yielding to each other, but on TGYH the scripted actors always bring the story back to the one that has been formulated for you.”

Andrew agrees, adding, “We could do musicals, we can do plays. I think there’s still room for the great impro show on Australian television. As much as TGYH is a great show, it’s not the great impro show. I hope it still comes.” He suggests that most experienced improvisers get to a point where they feel a desire to create worlds through impro. As an audience member, I can agree that it is certainly the bizarre and absurd realities that are born from the performers’ imaginations that make impro a truly unique experience that can take you to a different place and time.

In the meantime, we can be glad that the show has raised awareness and popularity of improvisation for our generation. Andrew explains, “In the 80’s Theatresports was so big, you’d get thousands of people to it but it really died out in the 90’s. I think impro is changing, in a way it needs to. In the late 90’s Theatresports had a stigma attached to it for a while and was looked down upon by other comedians. It was seen as childish, foolish and you couldn’t swear or anything like that. I think now that there’s longer forms I think it’s grown up and has had resurgence.”

Mark says that the buzz of standing on a stage, with nothing prepared, anticipating both failure and brilliance is “…like a drug, because it’s such a rush and live performance generally is. It’s the anticipation, of potentially fucking up, and I don’t mean that in a negative way because one of our strongest points of ethos is that we embrace mistakes because we can learn from them and incorporate them into our overall view of what we’re trying to do.”

Julia, rather poetically, puts it this way: “It’s the opportunity to be as creative as you want fuelled by adrenalin while free falling. It’s freedom.”

Many thanks to Mark Gambino, Andrew McClelland and Julia Zemiro

Impro Melbourne run impro courses every term. They also perform at ‘Don’t Tell Tom’ bar and café’ every Sunday in Brunswick. See their website for details: www.impromelbourne.com.au You can see Julia Zemiro on SBS hosting RocKwiz – Saturday at 9:30pm on SBS and hear her weekdays on Gold FM between 1 and 3pm. Although ‘The Crew’ is no longer performing weekly at the Comic’s Lounge, you can still catch Andrew McClelland on the Melbourne comedy circuit. Check the ‘COMICS’ section of this website. Thank God You’re Here – Wednesday at 7:30pm on Channel 10.