improv

Improvisation, for me, is the best form of self expression. I feel while on stage I can be anything and do anything, anything being the imperative word.

I want to take improv to the next level, and make it my bread and jam. I want to be able to live off of my skill as an actor and produce something wonderful right away all of the time. Granted I've only been doing it for about two years now, so I'm not a professional.

This is where the move to Chicago comes in. My girlfriends and I are planning on going to the windy city in the coming week to look at apartments and get our feet wet. She wants to do traditional acting, so we're both pretty supportive of each other's goals.

Chicago though, besides costing much more than Ohio, may as well be the center of improv for the world. The Second City is there, iO, and countless other theaters all catering to the make 'em up crowd. There is always something going on in Chi-town, and the world spins much faster up there.

Yes, I do perform improv here in Ohio, and I love every second of it. So why give that up? I'm familiar with my fellow actors and we're actually quite good friends. I am comfortable on the stage we perform at and have performed there dozens of times. The group is really beginning to take off and get some recognition as a comic performance piece.

However, I feel if I stay here, I'm not going to go anywhere with it. I love my fellow actors, but the group is more in the vein of 'after school activity', in that we all work real jobs to support it. Nearly all of the acting we do is for no pay, though we have done what I'll refer to as gigs on a few sparse occasions.

Yes, we're getting recognition. But recognition in the central Ohio art community is just what it sounds like: not that impressive.

I hate to sound like I'm shitting on my group and really the important thing is we have a ton of fun, which we always do. The people in my group are some of the best friends I have ever had and wouldn't trade them for anything.

But the world isn't confined to my back yard. I need to go experience change. I've lived in the same two city area my entire life, and it is starting to wear on my consciousness. I need to be shaken back to life, my bare ass smacked to ensure vitality.

Chicago or bust.