Tournament Season at iO West

We’re in the middle of a period I’ve decided to call “tournament season” at iO West, with two major improv tournaments, both leading up to the LA Improv Comedy Festival in June (which has a number of improv and sketch tournaments of its own). Competitive improv isn’t really my cup of tea — it can get uncomfortable and bring out a few negative qualities in performers – but I like the idea of a playoff-style tournament, with no incumbency advantage and a clear, definite end. Tournaments can be a great way to boost excitement in the community, bring in a new audience, and encourage interaction between people who don’t normally perform together. They’re also fun to speculate over.

One of the two tournaments is the (second annual) United States of Improv Tournament, in which improvisers compete on teams defined by their states of origin. The winning team receives a limited run on the mainstage and bragging rights. Last year, one-man musical improv team Tom Christensen of North Dakota swept the whole thing (knocking my Team Florida out in the first round), and this year, with heavyweights New York, Texas, California and Ohio seeing early defeats, it really could be anyone’s game. It’s a great idea for a tournament — you get to see top improvisers at the theater play on teams with new faces, and everyone gets really excited about it. Tonight at 11:30, Team Florida kicks off the second round, competing against New Jersey’s team for a spot in the semifinals.

The other big tournament is the annual iO West Harold Tournament, in which iO’s house teams compete against each other for bragging rights, a performance slot representing the theater in the festival’s tournament, and a rumored “protected status” from the Harold team chopping block. All of the Harold teams will compete, except previous winners (Local 132, King Ten, USS Rock N Roll, and Bandit), and most mainstage teams are “top seeded,” which means they get a bye week. This will be my first year in the tournament, and I’m on The Cartel, which will face off against either Riggins or Medium Cool on May 23 at 7:30.

I’d love to weigh in on various teams and make predictions, but when the audience decides the winner (or partially decides, in the case of the Harold tournament), these things are damn impossible to predict. So I’ll just say my money’s on Florida and The Cartel. If both of my teams don’t win it all, may lighting strike me dea–

iO West Harold Team Changes: The Cartel

There has been another seasonal shake-up of Harold teams at iO West. My old team, Natural 20, was sadly broken up after an 8-month run. However, after auditions last Sunday, I have been lucky enough to be added to a different mainstage team, The Cartel. The Cartel has been a popular team at iO West for the past few years, and it’s a huge honor to be asked to join them. Also joining the team is the wonderful Lauri Roggenkamp, of Hot Toddy fame (and a fellow Student of the Year).

Since I got the good news on Monday, things have been moving fast. I had my first rehearsal with the team last night (which was also the team’s first rehearsal with its new coach, Annie Kouris), and we have our first show tonight at 9:30 on the iO West Mainstage (with Bandit). After meeting the group and rehearsing with them, I was impressed by their dedication to the craft and their passion for the team. Also, they’re hilarious. It’s gonna be great working with these guys.

For a full list of all the changes (cuts, additions, new teams, etc.) read below the jump.

Read more of this post

Sitting in with USS Rock N Roll

I have been invited to sit in with USS Rock N Roll, one of the top Harold teams at iO West. USS is well known for their dynamic group work and ability to consistently produce inspired, thematically connected shows. They won the 2009 iO West Harold Tournament and were named “Best Harold Team” at the 2009 and 2010 Del Close Awards. USS is a popular team in the community — they’re great about going to watch other teams, and they do cool things like invite a novice performer from a recently cut Harold team to play with them for two weeks. While I’m a little nervous to guest perform with a team with such a strong sense of group mind, I love how well they support each other and I’m anxious to experience first-hand how they attack the Harold.

I am also excited to work with Jason Pardo, the team’s coach, a well regarded guru in the iO West community (and a fellow TSF alum). He’s been working with USS to take a different approach to scene work and character work, and if you’ve watched them lately, you’ve probably seen how funny they can be in scenes (very).

My two shows with USS will be Tuesday, Feb. 21 and 28, at 10:30 pm on the iO West Mainstage. The first one is tonight. If you’d like to come, let me know, and I’ll see about getting you comped. If I can’t, it’s only $5, or free for iO students and alumni.

Watch USS do an opening:

USS: Harold Openings ala David Fincher

I wrote a guest blog for USS Rock N Roll’s website about Harold openings, why we fear them, and an analogy that I found helpful.

Read more of this post

February Show Schedule

I have a bunch of improv shows scheduled for February 2012, and I’ve listed them below. If you’d like to come to any of them, just let me know and there’s a very good chance I can get you in free. The shows marked in **asterisks** are ones I really need an audience for, so if you can, I’d really appreciate it if you could come.

**Natural 20**
Harold Show
Wednesday, Feb 1, 8:30 pm on the iO West Mainstage

Ranger Kamp
Bobby Does the Loft
Friday, Feb. 3, 8 pm in the iO West Loft

UCB 201 Grad Show
Student Final Show
Saturday, Feb. 4, 2:30 pm at the UCB Theater

Local Wizard
Dandy Night
Saturday, Feb. 4, 10:30 pm in the iO West DCT

Local Wizard
Danger Snack’s 2-Year Anniversary Show
Monday, Feb. 6, 10:30 pm in the iO West Loft

Local Wizard
Triggerfinger’s “Save the DCT” 24-Hour Improv Marathon
Sunday, Feb. 12, noon in the DCT

**Natural 20**
Harold Show
Wednesday, Feb. 15, 8:30 pm on the iO West Mainstage

Local Wizard
Bobby Does the Loft
Friday, Feb. 17, 8 pm in the iO West Loft

USS Rock N Roll (Sitting in)
Harold Show
Tuesday, Feb. 21, 10:30 pm on the iO West Mainstage

USS Rock N Roll (Sitting in)
Harold Show
Tuesday, Feb. 28, 10:30 pm on the iO West Mainstage

**Natural 20**
Harold Show
Wednesday, Feb. 29, 8:30 pm on the iO West Mainstage

iO West Harold Team Changes

After a schedule overhaul and the Rapture of Harold auditions, there have been several shake-ups to the Harold team lineup at iO West, the improv comedy  theater I perform at. My mainstage team, Natural 20, looks quite different than it did when we were formed in July. Three big changes:

Natural 20′s performance time slot is now every other Tuesday from 8:30 to 10 p.m. We now share the 90 minutes with Tatanka, and we’ll be bookending our two sets with some fun mixer/audience participation improv involving both teams. We did our first show like this last week, and it went great, so I’m excited to do more.

Natural 20 also has a new coach: Kevin Fleming, a swell guy and a talented improviser playing on Wednesdays with the team Spirit Cat.

Finally, Natural 20 recently added three new amazing performers to the cast: Darius De La Cruz (Big Bennessy), Sky King (Classy), and Carla Snowden (Granny’s Squares). I’ve seen each of them perform around iO and they’re all extremely talented. I know they’ll make wonderful contributions to our team and I can’t wait to perform with them and get to know them better. The three of them will be joining Hilary Bauman, Dave Colan, RC Fill, Will Koehl, Katie Ward, and me to form the new cast.

Tuesday nights are now the most exciting night to come to the theater (a biased statement, I admit). If you want to see Natural 20 perform, give me a heads up, and I’ll get you comped tickets. Follow us on Twitter (@Natural20Improv) and “like” our Facebook page!

For more information about new team lineups and show schedules at iO, read on after the jump.

Read more of this post

October Shows

Slightly less busy month of improv shows in October, but I suppose dropping from 4-5 shows per week to 2 shows a week ain’t all that bad. If you’re interested in coming to any of these, let me know and I’ll get you in free of charge. Check back for updates.

Voss/Zima (two-person improv with my mortal enemy Lauren Zima)
Sat. Oct. 1 at 10:30 p.m. – Theatre Asylum (Santa Monica and Vine)

Ranger Kamp (Lauri Roggenkamp, Neil Ruddy, Jeremy Belanger, and me)
Hello My Friend Presents: SUNDAY SCHOOL
Sun. Oct. 2, at 10:30 p.m. – iO West Loft

Natural 20
Tuesday Night Harolds
Tues., Oct. 4, at 8 p.m. – iO West Mainstage

Ranger Kamp
The Improv Space’s Welcome Week Improv Festival
Mon., Oct. 10, at 9:40 p.m. – The Improv Space (954 Gayley Ave. in Westwood) 

Natural 20
Tuesday Night Harolds
Tues., Oct. 11, at 8 p.m. – iO West Mainstage

Natural 20
Tuesday Night Harolds
Tues., Oct. 18, at 8 p.m. – iO West Mainstage

Local Wizard
Saturday Nights with Triggerfinger
Sat., Oct. 22, at 10:30 p.m. – iO West Del Close Theater

Natural 20
Tuesday Night Harolds
Tues., Oct. 25, at 8 p.m. – iO West Mainstage 

One Year at iO West

A look back at how I’ve changed as an improv performer in the past year of taking classes and performing at iO West in Los Angeles. This is real shop-talky and probably won’t interest people outside the trade. Or inside the trade.

Read more of this post

September Show Schedule

I’ll be doing improv with a number of different groups during the month of September, and the most up-to-date schedule is listed below. Let me know if you’d like to come see any of these… I can probably get you in for free. The first is a Harold with McCallister, my iO Level 7 class show, tomorrow night at iO West. (Shows that are crossed out have already passed.)

McCallister
Level 7 Harold Show
Thursday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m. — iO West Mainstage

Mystery Box
Saturday Nights with Hello, My Friend
Saturday, Sept. 3, 8:30 p.m. — iO West Del Close Theater

Natural 20
Tuesday Night Harolds
Tuesday, Sept. 6, 8 p.m. — iO West Mainstage 

**McCallister**
Level 7 GRADUATION SHOW
Thursday, Sept. 8, 7 p.m. — iO West Mainstage

“Triage” (tentative name, a show with Justin Alexio, Neil Ruddy, and Lauri Roggenkamp)
Thursday Nights at Prism Box
Thursday, Sept. 8, 9:40 p.m. — The Elephant Theater (on Santa Monica and Lillian) 

Voss/Zima (two-person improv with Lauren Zima)
Friday Nights with Bobby Hot Stuff
Friday, Sept. 9, 10 p.m. — iO West Loft

Local Wizard
Michael Jackson Night with Triggerfinger
Saturday, Sept. 10, 8 p.m. — iO West Del Close Theater

Local Wizard
Mystic Mondays with Tarotdactyl
Monday, Sept. 12, 10:30 p.m. — iO West Del Close Theater 

Local Wizard
One-Hour Improv Festival with English Speaking Moose
Tuesday, Sept. 13, 10:30 p.m. — iO West Del Close Theater

Local Wizard
Whoopsie Wednesdays with Happy Accidents
Wednesday, Sept. 14, 10:30 p.m. — iO West Del Close Theater

Natural 20
Tuesday Night Harolds
Tuesday, Sept. 20, 8 p.m. — iO West Mainstage

Mystery Box
One Hour Improv Festival with English Speaking Moose
Tuesday, Sept. 20, 10:30 p.m. — iO West Del Close Theater

Local Wizard
Friday Nights with Bobby Hot Stuff
Friday, Sept. 23, 10 p.m. — iO West Loft

Mystery Box
Saturday Nights with Triggerfinger
Saturday, Sept. 24, 10:30 p.m. — iO West DCT 

Natural 20
Tuesday Night Harolds
Tuesday, Sept. 27, 8 p.m. — iO West Mainstage

Mystery Box
Thursday Nights with Ruffneck
Thursday, Sept. 29, 10:30 p.m. — iO West Loft