The Nevada Sagebrush

For some students, the opportunity to work with a local improv comedy troupe has been life-changing

Members of Empire Comedy perform their improvised comedy routines before audiences weekly at the Good Luck Macbeth Theatre in downtown Reno. The troupe also offers drop-in classes and opportunities for students and others interested in trying their hand at comedy. Photo courtesy of Mario Colombini.

Improv is an acting art known for its often wacky, outrageous and (maybe) hilarious antics on stage, and Empire Comedy is among the few theater companies in the area doing it. But the members also are the only actors who gain confidence, creativity and quick-wittedness in their everyday lives.

University of Nevada, Reno theater professor Michael Lewis, 34, founded Empire Comedy in April of 2007, and Empire has been performing long-form improv since 2008.

“Long-form improv is a type of improv that takes one suggestion or idea that an entire sketch is built around,” Lewis said. “It can go on for 20 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on how long the show is. It’s essentially taking a world that is unformed, and with every line of dialogue, you’re slowly building the parameters of that world. You’re taking one thing and expanding it and asking, ‘What does it mean in that world?’ A lot of people think that improv is something of invention, but it’s really using what’s already there.”

As an example, Lewis described a show in which a particular actor was playing a bully, who asked his partner to hold a bag. This act of asking the partner to hold something became a way of showing dominance over the other. Discoveries such as these are what Lewis loves about improv, and are what affected him profoundly when he started out at the age of 17.

“I really found my creative voice through improv,” Lewis said. “I’m an improvisor first and an actor second. I actually get terrified with a script because there’s room for mistakes there. In improv, there’s no right way to do it; you can’t make a mistake.”

This young theater group might not have made a big impact on the Reno community yet, but it certainly has made an impact on its students and the group’s creative endeavors. Dan Smith, 26, also known as Dan Wise, is one such student. He has worked with Empire since January 2011 and has since drawn much inspiration from the classes.

“My friend Tim Dufrisne encouraged me to take the class; he thought I would be good at it,” Smith said. “I’d done acting classes and stuff before and I like being on stage, so I thought, ‘Why not?’”

Getting his start in stand-up comedy about five months earlier, Smith found the class improved his interaction with the crowd as well as “thinking on his feet” during stand-up performances, even when these were things he considered himself to be good at already.

“You’re basically tackling everything you’re insecure about in improv,” Smith said. “I’m a lot more comfortable on stage because of it.”

Dani Ray, a 23-year-old geography major at the University of Nevada, Reno, also found herself learning how to improvise at the recommendation of a friend who was taking improv classes at The Second City improv theater company in Chicago. Since she started last May, she has learned many lessons that go beyond the classroom.

“My friend and I went to one performance together and I decided to go to one of their drop-in classes,” Ray said. “I wasn’t even thinking of doing any sort of acting, but I completely fell in love with it.”

University of Nevada, Reno theater professor Michael Lewis founded Empire Comedy in 2007. Photo courtesy of Mario Colombini.

Ray was shy throughout high school, claiming to have once passed out while giving a presentation in front of a class. However, she said this fear hasdisappeared since learning the art of improv.

“It’s changed my life and how I do everything,” Ray said. “I feel like I’m better in social situations and am not as shy. My whole life I was taught to think before I speak, but improv pretty much taught me to do the opposite.”

Ray has started doing stand-up comedy since learning improv and changed her minor focus to theater because of her newfound passion.

Improv also serves as a way to improve personal interaction and teamwork. Lewis and his students have gained from this through the relationship with their peers on stage.

“You really have to look out for the other person in improv,” Smith said. “You don’t have your own interest on stage. You’re always thinking, ‘How can I contribute to the scene?’ It’s that shared collectiveness that really makes a scene.”

It’s also that collaboration that can make improv reveal one’s true character. This raw and honest form of acting becomes a unique way of getting to know people, according to members of the Empire improv troupe.

“It creates a very personal atmosphere because you’re facing all your fears at once,” Ray said. “You learn so much about a person just through improv, almost on a subconscious level.”

Not only is trusting your partner important, but team-building and being able to share the stage are essential to successful improv, Lewis said. All these techniques have profoundly impacted other aspects of the improv actors’ lives, from facing their fears to learning better personal interactions, truly breaking the fourth wall and going beyond the worlds they create with their fellow improvisors at Empire Comedy.

“You have to have this weird faith in others,” Lewis said. “Your success is based primarily on collaborating, so you can’t have one person doing all the work and still have a good show. You have to say, ‘Let’s create this together.’”

What: Empire Comedy performances

Where: Good Luck Macbeth Theatre

119 N. Virginia St.

Reno

When: Every Friday at 10 p.m. There will be only two performances during the first two weeks of December until the new year.

Cost: $10

What: Empire Comedy drop-in classes

Where: Good Luck Macbeth Theatre

119 N. Virginia St.

Reno

When: Every Sunday at 7 p.m.

Cost: $10

No experience is required for drop-in classes.

Participants must be 18 or older.

For more information about the improv troupe, visit EmpireImprov.com.

Stephanie Self can be reached at arts-entertainment@nevadasagebrush.com.

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