Performer Notes

The Man with the Golden Bullet

By Tom Soter Before I improvised on stage, I improvised on film – in a series of Super-8 movies directed by Christian Doherty between 1971 and 1973. This is one of them, from when I was just a mere youth: The Man with the Golden Bullet Directed by Christian Doherty. Filmed: 1971 With Alan Saly, Tom Soter, Tom Sinclair, and Cameron Doherty as Marie Music by Nick Soter The fifth in the Henry Sorelli spy movie series, this installment finds Henry (Alan Saly) trying to recover his girlfriend (...

The Sandman

By Tom Soter Before I improvised on stage, I improvised on film – in a series of Super-8 movies directed by Christian Doherty between 1971 and 1973. This is one of them, from when I was just a mere youth: The Sandman Directed by Christian Doherty. Filmed: 1973At leisure: Tom Soter, contemplating his misspent youth. With Alan Saly, Tom Soter Shot on location in Crete, this bizarre film was one of Doherty’s last and best, a surreal picture of a friendship gone wrong that builds with relentless...

My First Improv Teacher

GEORGE TODISCO IMPROV GURU Todisco: Yes and... By TOM SOTER Improvisation is the art of giving, of positive reinforcement. One of its masters was George Todisco, the founder and artistic director of the New York–based group Chicago City Limits who died in 1982. Brooklyn-born Todisco was only 30 at the time of his death but set in motion a company that continues to this day, proving to be the most successful improv troupe in New York City. Many of its past and present members have performed at...

The Tao of Wayne

By TARA LYNN WAGNER When Tom Soter and I first discussed the possibility of my writing a column, we decided that its "purpose" would be to encourage you l to learn more about the world of improv and the many benefits of applying its lessons to your regular lives. But, between you and me (and PLEASE don't tell Tom), I pretty much just make this stuff up and hope you all like it. I mean, sure, I have managed to talk my way out of traffic tickets and family reunions and actually having to go to...

Your Mother Should Know

By TARA LYNN WAGNER Last month, my mother, her six closest girlfriends and their daughters all descended upon the HomeGrown Theater at 100th Street and Broadway for an evening of riotous good improvisational fun at the Sunday Night Improv comedy jam. I should be used to it. Most of these women have been coming to see me perform since I was a bunny in the kindergarten production of Dr. Doolittle. TL Wagner In the restaurant before the show, they asked me to explain exactly what it was they were...

My Father, the Improviser

By TOM SOTER My father, George, has always been unpredictable. Every night, after dinner, my mother would bring out a cake she had prepared. My father would always ask one of his three sons to bring out a knife and fork to slice it up. Every night, the routine was the same. She'd bring out the cake, my father would say, "What am I to cut it with?" And we would suddenly remember to get the knife and fork. Well, one night, the cake was brought out and, as usual, the three brothers sat there,...

Improv: The Formative Years (1968-72)

By Tom Soter Before I improvised on stage, I improvised with my friends using the microphone of a home tape recorder and then the lense of a super-8 film camera. We were teenagers and made shows for the ACD tape recorder network and movies for Apar Films. By Tom Soter Before I improvised on stage, I improvised with my friends using the microphone of a home tape recorder and then the lense of a super-8 film camera. We were teenagers and made shows for the ACD tape recorder network and movies...

How to Avoid Tickets

By TARA LYNN WAGNER I didn't always live in Manhattan. I used to live in upstate New York where the trees are pretty and the sky has stars and places to do improv shows are few and far between. Back then, I couldn't rely on so-called organized mass transit to get around. I actually had a car. That's right. I drove. Often at great speeds. Ah, I loved driving. I devoted a better part of my weekend to it. I loved the feel of the open road, the call of a long stretch of highway, the sound of my...

Improv Is Cheaper Than Therapy

BY TOM CARROZZA © 2 0 0 5 When I first studied Improvisation at 17 at Second City in Chicago, I didn’t foresee how much of my life would ultimately be devoted to it. I am typical of The Improv Movement in that I can order my pizzas in the style of Ionesco, but I am atypical in the sense that I went on to teach Improv, rather rigorously, for many years. The Early Years: Tom Carrozza with Laura Black on The Second City stage, Chicago 1977. This has afforded me a unique overview: I see...

A Performer Reflects

By KARL TIEDEMANN “An actor,” Edwin Booth is supposed to have said, “is a sculptor who carves in snow.” This is true, to some degree, of all live performance. But improvisation has to be the most impermanent of theatrical forms. After an improv show, one is conscious that this particular combination can never again be repeated. Never will this same group of improvisers face exactly this audience and have to deal with precisely this list of suggestions... On a bad night, you may be tempted to...