Thomas Middleditch 11/16/06 Part 1
Thomas Middleditch began performing stand-up, sketch and improv in Canada. He currently lives in Chicago, where he performs with Baby Wants Candy and the Improvised Shakespeare Company.
JF: Where were you born?
TM: I was born in a small town called Nelson in British Columbia, Canada.
JF: What were some early influences on your sense of humor?
TM: Definitely Kids in the Hall, that was probably the biggest influence comedically, and Monty Python, then movies that weren't really comedies. I grew up on movies like The Dark Crystal and Labrythn. Those really influenced me comedically, even Joe Versus the Volcano, movies like that, not SCTV. I hate that show. [laughs]
JF: What's annoying about it to you?
TM: Maybe if I were at the age to appreciate comedy I would like it, but at the time I was introduced up until now I've found it to be really hammy and over the top and lame. A lot of people have said to me like 'that's the point. They're making that ironic,' but to me it doesn't seem that interesting. [laughs] Like that Martin Short [imitates Martin Short doing Kathryn Hepburn] crazy comedy. There's nothing smart or anything about it. It's just really lame late 70's characters.
JF: Like 2-dimensional characters?
TM: Yeah, and they have these Canadian guys Bob and Doug MacKenzie, and it's like 'yeah, I get it.' It's not as if I don't get it. It's just really dated that's all. It may have made sense for the time period, but just because of that that doesn't mean I have to appreciate it. I don't think it's funny.
JF: How have things like Labrynth and Dark Crystal influenced you comedically? What impact to you see in your comedy?
TM: That kind of stuff is kind of dark and it has a lot of fantasy stuff, which I always think is really funny. I always think dragons are funny and riding away on a dragon is funny. [laughs] Stuff that's dark and a little twisted and off-kilter, rather than straight forward. I find Jim Henson and movies like that to be really creative. Like in Monty Python in The Meaning of Life when all those business people ride away in [inaudible] as if it's a pirate ship. It's really creative, absurd, and fantastical. That's the kind of stuff that I usually find funny.
JF: When did you know that you wanted to be a performer?
TM: I wasn't one of those kids who knew straight away, when they were three years old or something. I guess I knew for sure was when I was in 8th grade, grade 8. I was in a drama class and I guess my teacher saw something in me and cast me in a play, just for some a regional play competition. It was a comedy. Light. I really had a lot of fun with it.
I remember the first couple moments. We had this shtick where I'd stick my head my head around the curtain, then see the audience and get scared. The first time I did that in front of a big house everyone laughed a lot. I was like 'wow, that's a really interesting sensation. You do this and get a huge reaction.' I was like 'I can play with all of these people collectively,' and that's pretty addictive.
JF: How did you get involved with improv?
TM: After that, I got involved with Junior High and High School improv teams, but that's all short-form. That lasted until the end of High School, then I stopped doing it. It wasn't until years after I graduated and moved to Toronto that I got back into it. It was still short-form, but it was with people who were really clever, and interested in the same stuff that I was. We would do scenes about riding around on dragons. You move to move to Spain, and what Spain is people moving chairs around going 'welcome to Spaiiin!' [laughs] It's not actually Spain. It's just some weird version of Spain. That's what kind of rekindled my interest in improv. You can do anything you want. As long as you say 'this is the truth,' then it is what it is.
JF: What brought you to Toronto?
TM: I was actually doing theater school in Victoria. I was a little fed up with the program. I wanted more. I went to Toronto to go to a conservatory. I auditioned with someone who later would be my comedy partner, I suppose you could say, but after I auditioned I didn't accept their invitation at that school and just did comedy. We became a sketch group at the beginning, then we got into improv.
JF: How old were you at that point?
TM: I was about twenty-one, twenty, twenty-one.
JF: So, at that point you basically decided to pursue comedy full-time?
TM: Yeah, as much as I could, although the comedy scene in Toronto is very underground. There's Second City, then there's everyone else, and everyone else is performing at random bars and stuff like that. You have to get your own gigs, and do your own thing. It's cool.
JF: Did you study improv in Toronto or were you just doing it?
TM: I never studied until I got [to Chicago]. That's typical, except for the Second City guys that drop in on the improv night. I'm speaking of one major improv night that's pretty popular among the kids who don't have training. It's a bunch of people who don't have formal training in improv, but are just funny and they just go up and do stuff, I guess. It's really different from even Comedy Sportz, which is short form. You can really tell it's more of a collection of people spontaneously being funny, as opposed to doing a form, or even what here in Chicago people perceive improv to be.
JF: How would you characterize improv in Canada? How is it different from what we're used to America? Or is it different?
TM: It doesn't have to be different. I'm basing this on my experience here in Chicago. Chicago is kind of unique unto itself. Everyone's doing a lot of long-form. In Toronto, when I was there, what I was exposed to was short-form. There was some long-form. Also, there's not a lot of places to get really good training. I mean, there's Second City, but it's not the tightest organization.
JF: Huh. As a complete outsider, someone who's never ever been to Canada, what I've heard is that there's more of the Keith Johnstone story element going on over there. They try to make things into a story more often than we do. Did you notice that or is that just a misconception on my part?
TM: I'm trying to think if I can think of any groups who are doing that. In Toronto at least, there's one duo I know called Iron Cobra, a guy and a girl, they're the people I know who are most likely to do improv telling story. You know what? You might be right. There is. The main improv night that I went to, for example, is short-form. You get points and you win. It's competitive. Part of the criteria was if you told a story, if there was a beginning and end. Always the judges would be like 'I like narrative.' So, if your scene was sort of about nothing, you wouldn't get good points. You'd have to tell a story. So, I suppose you're quite right in that sense. Even in a short scene you'd have to have a beginning, middle and end. Someone would go on an adventure, something happens and it gets all wrapped up at the end.
JF: How did your acting training mesh with improvisation when you got back into improv? Did it help or was it a hiderance?
TM: No, no, it was definitely an asset. I don't know it's because of [my acting training] or not, but I like to see improv where you commit a little more, especially to characters that are either big or require a little bit more emotional integrity. A lot of people can do the sort of superficial, crazy characters, but when the people who are a little more grounded and 3-dimensional, some acting training definitely helps. You can access the character and flesh it out quicker, I guess.
JF: What brought you to Chicago and what year did you move?
TM: I moved just over a year ago, so like January 2005. Originally, I came to go to Second City. I was thinking about going through it in Toronto, but the feedback I had received didn't sound too hot. Also, I figured if I'm going to go through Second City, I might as well go through where it started. I came down I auditioned. When I got in, I was like well, I guess I've got to move to Chicago. That was my original motivation. That and to go through the program and see what would come out of it; see if I could get invovled. If I did, ride that I guess. As soon as I got here, I heard everybody talking about Improv Olympic, so I took classes there as well.
JF: So you hadn't heard about Improv Olympic before you moved to Chicago?
TM: As I was moving, people mentioned it and say 'you would really like it,' and I was 'ok, I'll see.'
JF: That's interesting. You hear about improv, and people are like it's big in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Toronto. So, you'd think they'd have a really good training center, but is that not the reputation that they have?
TM: I don't know. It depends on circles. To me, I simplify it, that there are three sections of comedians [in Toronto], aside from stand-ups. You've got people who are Second City. There's another theater called The Bad Dog, which, [laughs] I don't know. I don't want to say anything thing too bad, because it will probably be posted on your blog and people will be like 'Tom's an asshole!' But, ...I don't know.
JF: Right. [laughs]
TM: Then, I don't want to make it too grandiose, but then there's this underground scene. They're a little bit elitist. They're a little bit snobby. They're like 'screw Second City. Screw Bad Dog. You don't need any training. You're funny and you're born with it,' or whatever. So, there's places to train like Bad Dog and Second City.
One of the things I notice that's different about here and there is that here everything's set up for you. You enroll in the programs. You learn what you can. You can audition for all sorts of teams. If you work hard, you're going to be able to perform, probably on a regular basis. There in Toronto you've got to do so much stuff. You're setting up your own shows. You're kind of on your own, even if you go through one of the training programs.
I think that's what spurs the underground movement: 'Well, we're all on our own anyway.' You have a lot more direct contact with places like the Comedy Network, which is Canada's version of Comedy Central. Me and my friend from the Iliads we were talking about getting shows with them, but of course our stuff was way too weird for them, but whatever.
JF: Where were you born?
TM: I was born in a small town called Nelson in British Columbia, Canada.
JF: What were some early influences on your sense of humor?
TM: Definitely Kids in the Hall, that was probably the biggest influence comedically, and Monty Python, then movies that weren't really comedies. I grew up on movies like The Dark Crystal and Labrythn. Those really influenced me comedically, even Joe Versus the Volcano, movies like that, not SCTV. I hate that show. [laughs]
JF: What's annoying about it to you?
TM: Maybe if I were at the age to appreciate comedy I would like it, but at the time I was introduced up until now I've found it to be really hammy and over the top and lame. A lot of people have said to me like 'that's the point. They're making that ironic,' but to me it doesn't seem that interesting. [laughs] Like that Martin Short [imitates Martin Short doing Kathryn Hepburn] crazy comedy. There's nothing smart or anything about it. It's just really lame late 70's characters.
JF: Like 2-dimensional characters?
TM: Yeah, and they have these Canadian guys Bob and Doug MacKenzie, and it's like 'yeah, I get it.' It's not as if I don't get it. It's just really dated that's all. It may have made sense for the time period, but just because of that that doesn't mean I have to appreciate it. I don't think it's funny.
JF: How have things like Labrynth and Dark Crystal influenced you comedically? What impact to you see in your comedy?
TM: That kind of stuff is kind of dark and it has a lot of fantasy stuff, which I always think is really funny. I always think dragons are funny and riding away on a dragon is funny. [laughs] Stuff that's dark and a little twisted and off-kilter, rather than straight forward. I find Jim Henson and movies like that to be really creative. Like in Monty Python in The Meaning of Life when all those business people ride away in [inaudible] as if it's a pirate ship. It's really creative, absurd, and fantastical. That's the kind of stuff that I usually find funny.
JF: When did you know that you wanted to be a performer?
TM: I wasn't one of those kids who knew straight away, when they were three years old or something. I guess I knew for sure was when I was in 8th grade, grade 8. I was in a drama class and I guess my teacher saw something in me and cast me in a play, just for some a regional play competition. It was a comedy. Light. I really had a lot of fun with it.
I remember the first couple moments. We had this shtick where I'd stick my head my head around the curtain, then see the audience and get scared. The first time I did that in front of a big house everyone laughed a lot. I was like 'wow, that's a really interesting sensation. You do this and get a huge reaction.' I was like 'I can play with all of these people collectively,' and that's pretty addictive.
JF: How did you get involved with improv?
TM: After that, I got involved with Junior High and High School improv teams, but that's all short-form. That lasted until the end of High School, then I stopped doing it. It wasn't until years after I graduated and moved to Toronto that I got back into it. It was still short-form, but it was with people who were really clever, and interested in the same stuff that I was. We would do scenes about riding around on dragons. You move to move to Spain, and what Spain is people moving chairs around going 'welcome to Spaiiin!' [laughs] It's not actually Spain. It's just some weird version of Spain. That's what kind of rekindled my interest in improv. You can do anything you want. As long as you say 'this is the truth,' then it is what it is.
JF: What brought you to Toronto?
TM: I was actually doing theater school in Victoria. I was a little fed up with the program. I wanted more. I went to Toronto to go to a conservatory. I auditioned with someone who later would be my comedy partner, I suppose you could say, but after I auditioned I didn't accept their invitation at that school and just did comedy. We became a sketch group at the beginning, then we got into improv.
JF: How old were you at that point?
TM: I was about twenty-one, twenty, twenty-one.
JF: So, at that point you basically decided to pursue comedy full-time?
TM: Yeah, as much as I could, although the comedy scene in Toronto is very underground. There's Second City, then there's everyone else, and everyone else is performing at random bars and stuff like that. You have to get your own gigs, and do your own thing. It's cool.
JF: Did you study improv in Toronto or were you just doing it?
TM: I never studied until I got [to Chicago]. That's typical, except for the Second City guys that drop in on the improv night. I'm speaking of one major improv night that's pretty popular among the kids who don't have training. It's a bunch of people who don't have formal training in improv, but are just funny and they just go up and do stuff, I guess. It's really different from even Comedy Sportz, which is short form. You can really tell it's more of a collection of people spontaneously being funny, as opposed to doing a form, or even what here in Chicago people perceive improv to be.
JF: How would you characterize improv in Canada? How is it different from what we're used to America? Or is it different?
TM: It doesn't have to be different. I'm basing this on my experience here in Chicago. Chicago is kind of unique unto itself. Everyone's doing a lot of long-form. In Toronto, when I was there, what I was exposed to was short-form. There was some long-form. Also, there's not a lot of places to get really good training. I mean, there's Second City, but it's not the tightest organization.
JF: Huh. As a complete outsider, someone who's never ever been to Canada, what I've heard is that there's more of the Keith Johnstone story element going on over there. They try to make things into a story more often than we do. Did you notice that or is that just a misconception on my part?
TM: I'm trying to think if I can think of any groups who are doing that. In Toronto at least, there's one duo I know called Iron Cobra, a guy and a girl, they're the people I know who are most likely to do improv telling story. You know what? You might be right. There is. The main improv night that I went to, for example, is short-form. You get points and you win. It's competitive. Part of the criteria was if you told a story, if there was a beginning and end. Always the judges would be like 'I like narrative.' So, if your scene was sort of about nothing, you wouldn't get good points. You'd have to tell a story. So, I suppose you're quite right in that sense. Even in a short scene you'd have to have a beginning, middle and end. Someone would go on an adventure, something happens and it gets all wrapped up at the end.
JF: How did your acting training mesh with improvisation when you got back into improv? Did it help or was it a hiderance?
TM: No, no, it was definitely an asset. I don't know it's because of [my acting training] or not, but I like to see improv where you commit a little more, especially to characters that are either big or require a little bit more emotional integrity. A lot of people can do the sort of superficial, crazy characters, but when the people who are a little more grounded and 3-dimensional, some acting training definitely helps. You can access the character and flesh it out quicker, I guess.
JF: What brought you to Chicago and what year did you move?
TM: I moved just over a year ago, so like January 2005. Originally, I came to go to Second City. I was thinking about going through it in Toronto, but the feedback I had received didn't sound too hot. Also, I figured if I'm going to go through Second City, I might as well go through where it started. I came down I auditioned. When I got in, I was like well, I guess I've got to move to Chicago. That was my original motivation. That and to go through the program and see what would come out of it; see if I could get invovled. If I did, ride that I guess. As soon as I got here, I heard everybody talking about Improv Olympic, so I took classes there as well.
JF: So you hadn't heard about Improv Olympic before you moved to Chicago?
TM: As I was moving, people mentioned it and say 'you would really like it,' and I was 'ok, I'll see.'
JF: That's interesting. You hear about improv, and people are like it's big in Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Toronto. So, you'd think they'd have a really good training center, but is that not the reputation that they have?
TM: I don't know. It depends on circles. To me, I simplify it, that there are three sections of comedians [in Toronto], aside from stand-ups. You've got people who are Second City. There's another theater called The Bad Dog, which, [laughs] I don't know. I don't want to say anything thing too bad, because it will probably be posted on your blog and people will be like 'Tom's an asshole!' But, ...I don't know.
JF: Right. [laughs]
TM: Then, I don't want to make it too grandiose, but then there's this underground scene. They're a little bit elitist. They're a little bit snobby. They're like 'screw Second City. Screw Bad Dog. You don't need any training. You're funny and you're born with it,' or whatever. So, there's places to train like Bad Dog and Second City.
One of the things I notice that's different about here and there is that here everything's set up for you. You enroll in the programs. You learn what you can. You can audition for all sorts of teams. If you work hard, you're going to be able to perform, probably on a regular basis. There in Toronto you've got to do so much stuff. You're setting up your own shows. You're kind of on your own, even if you go through one of the training programs.
I think that's what spurs the underground movement: 'Well, we're all on our own anyway.' You have a lot more direct contact with places like the Comedy Network, which is Canada's version of Comedy Central. Me and my friend from the Iliads we were talking about getting shows with them, but of course our stuff was way too weird for them, but whatever.
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