Thomas Middleditch 11/16/06 Part 2
JF: What was your experience like when you moved to Chicago and started taking classes at Second City?
TM: Well, to be honest, I was a little disappointed with Second City. You had to audition to get into it, even after a period I still had to audition still, although I loved my class. I thought they were a really great bunch. Comparing Second City to IO, at IO, even though you didn't have people who were super, super serious about improv, not that you had that at Second City all the time, you had teachers who were young and enthused about teaching. They wanted to help you grasp these concepts. It was a lot more of an engaging learning experience. I felt sometimes at Second City the people I was being taught by didn't really care. They were like 'yeah, yeah, yeah, warm up, for an hour.' We'd spend an hour playing games like Big Booty and stuff. I think how they taught was a little more cardboard cut out of what improv is. Whereas at Improv Olympic, they actually encourage you to try new things. It's like 'whatever. If that comes out, that's your scene.' That's just my opinion. I'm sure there lots of people who really loved the program. I got a lot of good things out of the program. I loved the class 5 show. I loved meeting a couple of the teachers I met. Overall it was a good experience, but in terms of the training is just two different styles.
JF: So when did you start at Improv Olympic and what was your experience like?
TM: If I came here in January, I probably started in February or March, a couple months after I started Second City. I came in being like 'ok, I know what Second City's like. What's this like? Everybody says it's so great.' My best friend at the time was taking it at the time and was really giving it high praises. So, I said 'ok, cool. Let's give it a shot.'
The person who I started with was Rachel Mason. She was very good. I really liked her positive energy. It was a sharp contrast to what I had been getting elsewhere. I really took to it. I was trying to be open-minded because there were people in the class who had never done improv in their lives. Actually, they were probably the most interesting people to watch, because they were genuinely making all these discoveries, not only about the scene, but also about their ability to do improv, which was pretty cool to watch.
JF: When did you start performing on a regular basis in Chicago?
TM: I suppose on a regular basis when I got picked up Baby Wants Candy.
JF: [laughs] Ok. That was your first team?
TM: Yeah, that was a good thing, and probably pretty fortunate. I always look back on it like 'oh man, I'm really lucky that happened.' [laughs] As opposed to, 'yeah, that's me. Of course.' I was fortunate maybe in the sense that Rachel got to see, maybe, a bit of my abilities in level one. But I don't know. I was told that that wasn't a deciding factor. But as far as auditions go, I walked away with that being one of the more comfortable auditions I've had, which is very rare for me. Normally, I walk away going 'Oh God that sucked.' But yeah, that was my first thing. That happened after a few months, in the summer really. That was a good time. I really like that group. They're great.
JF: They held just an open call for people?
TM: Yeah, actually, I think that might have been the first time they ever did that. I guess it was about timing and nailing that. I guess they saw something. I had actually only seen one show of theirs before, and to be honest I didn't like it. [laughs] It was my friend who convinced me. They're a very good group though. I did it and after the audition I was like 'that was a lot of fun. I hope it happens' and it did.
JF: Were you nervous starting out on Baby Wants Candy? Had you done musical improv before?
TM: I'd never done musical improv before, except for the occassional song you'd be forced to sing in a short-form game, or back in the day me and my friends played guitar and would like to record songs that we made up on the spot. I was pretty nervous, just because I think my first show was with a bunch of people who were super-established. I think my first show was with Rachel [Mason], Stuart [Ransom], Joe Canale, all these guys who are so good. So, my first couple of shows I was like [laughs] 'ok, don't screw this up. Make them think they made a good decision bringing me on.' I was a bit hesistant at first, but it didn't take much to make me relax, because everybody is so supportive. That's probably the most supportive group I've ever played with, because that's their whole premise. If you go out to center stage and sing a high note, everyone is going to be behind you supporting that. That's how the show works.
JF: They're going to be supporting you musically? Singing the same note?
TM: Musically, or whatever. Choreography or even just the energy. I guess a pretty cool symbol of that is a month or two ago Baby Wants Candy went to Washington DC, and we had one of our really great, trademark Baby Wants Candy shows. I was playing Joseph Stalin. There was some sort of twelve foot high platform that went along the back, and I managed to get on top of it. I was delivering my speach: 'everyone believe in Russia or whatever.' Mary McCain, whose a veteran, said 'if you really love us, you'll do a trust fall off the ledge.' [laughs] So, I was like 'oh no, what!? Are you serious?' The audience was like 'yeah, yeah, yeah,' chanting. I'm on their being like 'ok, I guess I have to.' So, they all got beneath me. They were just standing there with their arms out. I'm like 'lock you arms. Lock your arms.' [laughs] Eventually we got the right configuration of arm locking. I sort of leapt off there. They caught me, hoisted me in the air, and we sang our final note. That was the end of the show. Everyone gave us a huge response. That's a memory of improv that probably won't ever go away. That was really cool.
JF: How have you adapted to doing musical improv? And have there been any things that help you make up songs on the spot?
TM: It's definitely gotten easier as it's come along. I'm probably not the best at coming up with really clever rhymes. There are some people who really good at that. I'm not one of them. We've done a lot of workshops with that, and I am normally by far and away the most frustrated. I don't know how to do it. Like the one where you choose the word you want to rhyme with first. All that weird confusion set-up thing. My technique is just going with how it goes, even it doesn't rhyme. If you're committing to the emotion and your words of the feeling that you want to convey, [I think it will work]. I connect moreso emotionally rather than cerebrally. It's definitely gotten easier. Playing with the band members, the same band members helps, getting to know who's actually providing the notes is definitely key to making that whole business easier.
JF: Did you go through the process that seems to be at IO, where people get put on incubator teams then work their way up to a Harold team?
TM: I didn't do so much of that. When I got here, I managed to get on an incubator team at the Playground. It didn't last too long, because at that point I was really hard up for cash. I just couldn't participate with coach and rental fees. I would say getting on Baby Wants Candy really helped me out. Charna managed to see me in that. From there, she put me on a team that was already established. They were called the Extra Billies. In the recent schedule change, everybody got reassigned. That's when I got put on Bullet Lounge with a bunch of really, really funny dudes and one funny girl. [laughs]
JF: What kind of form do you guys do? And when you're a house team at the top of the schedule or whatever do you have more freedom to do different forms if you would like?
TM: I guess so. It's not a written rule or whatever, but that seems to be the consensus. Some house teams prefer to do the Harold even. Teams like Deep Schwa do whatever they want and it works really well for them. That's kind of what Bullet Lounge is about. The only thing that we are doing is that we bring things back at the end, and we've agreed that we'd like to have an opening. So, we're kind of working on our own opening, what we like to do. Some of us like to play by hard fast rules. Some of us are like 'let's just do whatever.' The cool thing about that team is that it's all seasoned improvisers, so whatever happens you can trust the guys. [laughs] Not that you can't trust the other guys.
JF: What are some things that you like to get out of the opening?
TM: I would say that the biggest thing is get everyone amped and on the same page. A lot of people say that the opening is not a warm-up game. Your warm-up should happen before that, but to me when you're on-stage in front of everyone with the lights a lot different than they were in the parking lot playing zip zap zop things can change between. To get everyone on the same page, yesanding and working on the same level is probably the primary function. Also, to generate information that you can draw from, especially for the first couple scenes. If you go in there, you don't have anything and you go in there and like 'hey Bill.' And you're just starting with some scene that you're pulling out of your ass. That's not as good as going in there with an idea.
JF: What are some good openings that get everyone on the same page?
TM: It depends on how you work. I think an opening should cater itself to the group dynamic, to who the players are. If you've got a bunch of people who are really heady, who stand back and serve up really weird clever things to say, it probably doesn't make a lot of sense for them to be in a 'whoosh' ambiguous type of opening, unless they're like 'yeah, let's get over our headiness and into a new realm.' Everybody should be excited and positive to do whatever their opening is. There's nothing worse than being up there and somebody is like 'I really don't like doing this.' [laughs] A. they should probably get over it, but b. it's pretty awkward.
I'm getting to the point where I kind of like any opening. At first I was not really into the crazy ambiguous openings, where everybody's like 'Dynamo! Dynamo! Dynamo!' [laughs] flying around. Now I'm into it. So, I feel people should push themselves. Those heady people should do those crazy openings, but if they don't like it they don't like it. But now, me personally, I'm into that stuff, especially after seeing groups like The Reckoning who make it look so easy, because they just agree to everything and heighten everything. So, the best opening is one that you enjoy doing.
JF: What are some qualities of a good team?
TM: Support. Being nice to each other on stage, but moreso off stage. I probably learned that lesson. I've probably been a jerk to people. I learned that's not a good thing, the same way that other people are jerks to everyone else. But you learn that if you're going to be like that the team's going to suffer. So be positive, like each other, and trust each other. And have fun really. If you're nervous and don't want to get on stage, either don't do it or get over it, because it rubs off on everyone else. It's a group sport, a group activity.
JF: How did you get involved with the Improvised Shakespeare Company?
TM: A while ago I was in a project at Second City. Michael Gellman was writing a book on improvisation. He got some people to work out his ideas with him. [Blaine Swen] was part of the people who went on that journey. He had done it in L.A. He asked me to do it. I said yeah. We did a run at Second City, then that ended. We thought to do it at IO. Charna had seen it in L.A., and thought it was really funny. So, she was like 'yeah, I'll give you guys a run.' We did an audition and got cast members, so there you go.
JF: So that's a passion for both of you guys? Shakespeare?
TM: I wouldn't call it a passion. When he first asked me I was like 'Oh my God. I really don't think I can do that.' I tried that before in short-form games and had a really hard time coming up with the rhymes and even the style of it. But he said 'Yeah, I really want you to try it out.' So, I said 'What the hell? I'll do it.' I'd had experience with Shakespeare before, but by no means am I a conisseur.
TM: Well, to be honest, I was a little disappointed with Second City. You had to audition to get into it, even after a period I still had to audition still, although I loved my class. I thought they were a really great bunch. Comparing Second City to IO, at IO, even though you didn't have people who were super, super serious about improv, not that you had that at Second City all the time, you had teachers who were young and enthused about teaching. They wanted to help you grasp these concepts. It was a lot more of an engaging learning experience. I felt sometimes at Second City the people I was being taught by didn't really care. They were like 'yeah, yeah, yeah, warm up, for an hour.' We'd spend an hour playing games like Big Booty and stuff. I think how they taught was a little more cardboard cut out of what improv is. Whereas at Improv Olympic, they actually encourage you to try new things. It's like 'whatever. If that comes out, that's your scene.' That's just my opinion. I'm sure there lots of people who really loved the program. I got a lot of good things out of the program. I loved the class 5 show. I loved meeting a couple of the teachers I met. Overall it was a good experience, but in terms of the training is just two different styles.
JF: So when did you start at Improv Olympic and what was your experience like?
TM: If I came here in January, I probably started in February or March, a couple months after I started Second City. I came in being like 'ok, I know what Second City's like. What's this like? Everybody says it's so great.' My best friend at the time was taking it at the time and was really giving it high praises. So, I said 'ok, cool. Let's give it a shot.'
The person who I started with was Rachel Mason. She was very good. I really liked her positive energy. It was a sharp contrast to what I had been getting elsewhere. I really took to it. I was trying to be open-minded because there were people in the class who had never done improv in their lives. Actually, they were probably the most interesting people to watch, because they were genuinely making all these discoveries, not only about the scene, but also about their ability to do improv, which was pretty cool to watch.
JF: When did you start performing on a regular basis in Chicago?
TM: I suppose on a regular basis when I got picked up Baby Wants Candy.
JF: [laughs] Ok. That was your first team?
TM: Yeah, that was a good thing, and probably pretty fortunate. I always look back on it like 'oh man, I'm really lucky that happened.' [laughs] As opposed to, 'yeah, that's me. Of course.' I was fortunate maybe in the sense that Rachel got to see, maybe, a bit of my abilities in level one. But I don't know. I was told that that wasn't a deciding factor. But as far as auditions go, I walked away with that being one of the more comfortable auditions I've had, which is very rare for me. Normally, I walk away going 'Oh God that sucked.' But yeah, that was my first thing. That happened after a few months, in the summer really. That was a good time. I really like that group. They're great.
JF: They held just an open call for people?
TM: Yeah, actually, I think that might have been the first time they ever did that. I guess it was about timing and nailing that. I guess they saw something. I had actually only seen one show of theirs before, and to be honest I didn't like it. [laughs] It was my friend who convinced me. They're a very good group though. I did it and after the audition I was like 'that was a lot of fun. I hope it happens' and it did.
JF: Were you nervous starting out on Baby Wants Candy? Had you done musical improv before?
TM: I'd never done musical improv before, except for the occassional song you'd be forced to sing in a short-form game, or back in the day me and my friends played guitar and would like to record songs that we made up on the spot. I was pretty nervous, just because I think my first show was with a bunch of people who were super-established. I think my first show was with Rachel [Mason], Stuart [Ransom], Joe Canale, all these guys who are so good. So, my first couple of shows I was like [laughs] 'ok, don't screw this up. Make them think they made a good decision bringing me on.' I was a bit hesistant at first, but it didn't take much to make me relax, because everybody is so supportive. That's probably the most supportive group I've ever played with, because that's their whole premise. If you go out to center stage and sing a high note, everyone is going to be behind you supporting that. That's how the show works.
JF: They're going to be supporting you musically? Singing the same note?
TM: Musically, or whatever. Choreography or even just the energy. I guess a pretty cool symbol of that is a month or two ago Baby Wants Candy went to Washington DC, and we had one of our really great, trademark Baby Wants Candy shows. I was playing Joseph Stalin. There was some sort of twelve foot high platform that went along the back, and I managed to get on top of it. I was delivering my speach: 'everyone believe in Russia or whatever.' Mary McCain, whose a veteran, said 'if you really love us, you'll do a trust fall off the ledge.' [laughs] So, I was like 'oh no, what!? Are you serious?' The audience was like 'yeah, yeah, yeah,' chanting. I'm on their being like 'ok, I guess I have to.' So, they all got beneath me. They were just standing there with their arms out. I'm like 'lock you arms. Lock your arms.' [laughs] Eventually we got the right configuration of arm locking. I sort of leapt off there. They caught me, hoisted me in the air, and we sang our final note. That was the end of the show. Everyone gave us a huge response. That's a memory of improv that probably won't ever go away. That was really cool.
JF: How have you adapted to doing musical improv? And have there been any things that help you make up songs on the spot?
TM: It's definitely gotten easier as it's come along. I'm probably not the best at coming up with really clever rhymes. There are some people who really good at that. I'm not one of them. We've done a lot of workshops with that, and I am normally by far and away the most frustrated. I don't know how to do it. Like the one where you choose the word you want to rhyme with first. All that weird confusion set-up thing. My technique is just going with how it goes, even it doesn't rhyme. If you're committing to the emotion and your words of the feeling that you want to convey, [I think it will work]. I connect moreso emotionally rather than cerebrally. It's definitely gotten easier. Playing with the band members, the same band members helps, getting to know who's actually providing the notes is definitely key to making that whole business easier.
JF: Did you go through the process that seems to be at IO, where people get put on incubator teams then work their way up to a Harold team?
TM: I didn't do so much of that. When I got here, I managed to get on an incubator team at the Playground. It didn't last too long, because at that point I was really hard up for cash. I just couldn't participate with coach and rental fees. I would say getting on Baby Wants Candy really helped me out. Charna managed to see me in that. From there, she put me on a team that was already established. They were called the Extra Billies. In the recent schedule change, everybody got reassigned. That's when I got put on Bullet Lounge with a bunch of really, really funny dudes and one funny girl. [laughs]
JF: What kind of form do you guys do? And when you're a house team at the top of the schedule or whatever do you have more freedom to do different forms if you would like?
TM: I guess so. It's not a written rule or whatever, but that seems to be the consensus. Some house teams prefer to do the Harold even. Teams like Deep Schwa do whatever they want and it works really well for them. That's kind of what Bullet Lounge is about. The only thing that we are doing is that we bring things back at the end, and we've agreed that we'd like to have an opening. So, we're kind of working on our own opening, what we like to do. Some of us like to play by hard fast rules. Some of us are like 'let's just do whatever.' The cool thing about that team is that it's all seasoned improvisers, so whatever happens you can trust the guys. [laughs] Not that you can't trust the other guys.
JF: What are some things that you like to get out of the opening?
TM: I would say that the biggest thing is get everyone amped and on the same page. A lot of people say that the opening is not a warm-up game. Your warm-up should happen before that, but to me when you're on-stage in front of everyone with the lights a lot different than they were in the parking lot playing zip zap zop things can change between. To get everyone on the same page, yesanding and working on the same level is probably the primary function. Also, to generate information that you can draw from, especially for the first couple scenes. If you go in there, you don't have anything and you go in there and like 'hey Bill.' And you're just starting with some scene that you're pulling out of your ass. That's not as good as going in there with an idea.
JF: What are some good openings that get everyone on the same page?
TM: It depends on how you work. I think an opening should cater itself to the group dynamic, to who the players are. If you've got a bunch of people who are really heady, who stand back and serve up really weird clever things to say, it probably doesn't make a lot of sense for them to be in a 'whoosh' ambiguous type of opening, unless they're like 'yeah, let's get over our headiness and into a new realm.' Everybody should be excited and positive to do whatever their opening is. There's nothing worse than being up there and somebody is like 'I really don't like doing this.' [laughs] A. they should probably get over it, but b. it's pretty awkward.
I'm getting to the point where I kind of like any opening. At first I was not really into the crazy ambiguous openings, where everybody's like 'Dynamo! Dynamo! Dynamo!' [laughs] flying around. Now I'm into it. So, I feel people should push themselves. Those heady people should do those crazy openings, but if they don't like it they don't like it. But now, me personally, I'm into that stuff, especially after seeing groups like The Reckoning who make it look so easy, because they just agree to everything and heighten everything. So, the best opening is one that you enjoy doing.
JF: What are some qualities of a good team?
TM: Support. Being nice to each other on stage, but moreso off stage. I probably learned that lesson. I've probably been a jerk to people. I learned that's not a good thing, the same way that other people are jerks to everyone else. But you learn that if you're going to be like that the team's going to suffer. So be positive, like each other, and trust each other. And have fun really. If you're nervous and don't want to get on stage, either don't do it or get over it, because it rubs off on everyone else. It's a group sport, a group activity.
JF: How did you get involved with the Improvised Shakespeare Company?
TM: A while ago I was in a project at Second City. Michael Gellman was writing a book on improvisation. He got some people to work out his ideas with him. [Blaine Swen] was part of the people who went on that journey. He had done it in L.A. He asked me to do it. I said yeah. We did a run at Second City, then that ended. We thought to do it at IO. Charna had seen it in L.A., and thought it was really funny. So, she was like 'yeah, I'll give you guys a run.' We did an audition and got cast members, so there you go.
JF: So that's a passion for both of you guys? Shakespeare?
TM: I wouldn't call it a passion. When he first asked me I was like 'Oh my God. I really don't think I can do that.' I tried that before in short-form games and had a really hard time coming up with the rhymes and even the style of it. But he said 'Yeah, I really want you to try it out.' So, I said 'What the hell? I'll do it.' I'd had experience with Shakespeare before, but by no means am I a conisseur.
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