Why don't current stars talk more about iO?

[Eric Pedersen!]

It seems to me that (i'm going to use words like all and never, i mean most and rarely) all the people that are in the spotlight that have roots at iO never mention it or give it credit. I know that once or twice Tina and Amy mentioned that they were here on Leno, but for the most part I don't hear nearly as much "I was trained at iO, I love improvising" from people who I would expect it from. Most recently I was listening to Adam Carolla's podcast and Koechner was the guest. I don't expect him just to interject with fawning for chicago, but the largest part of the show was them talking about their route to success, and iO did not get brought up, even while Adam was talking about getting into improvisation at groundlings.

Does anyone else notice this? There are plenty of interviews with these people that improvisers have done, but that's still internal, I wonder why people like Adam McKay and others don't mention it more. Any thoughts?

[jrrtubbs]

It certainly is suprising.

I'm sure many of you heard about the 18 or so writers and performers from SNL coming to iO recently. That trip was organized by Lutz because aside from Sudekis, so many people had no knowledge of iO. Lutz said "It's a part of our history!"

I do wish they'd mention it more.

[sammy]

How often do actors mention the studios or schools they trained at?

Neither Brad Pitt nor Kiefer Sutherland talk about their acting training.

And I'm sure we could list a billion other actors, artists and musicians who don't reference their early training or speak of it in-depth unless specifically asked. Extend that to athletes as well, reporters will probably add a bit mentioning Agassi training at Nick Bolleteri's Training Center but you didn't hear Agassi talking about that after he moved on from there.

I'm pretty sure everyone involved is cognizant of the what the interviewer's audience is interested in as well and that most likely skews the conversation...Mom and Pop America would rather read about that celeb's current and upcoming doings with maybe an ancecdote or two or tossed in there, hearing about their training just isn't interesting.

Also, it's all relative. Fey and Poehler were only in Chicago for a few years -- they've spent much more time doing other things out of town than they did in town, so this was a stop along the way, an important one, but it wasn't the end all be all.

[jrrtubbs]

Also, it's all relative. Fey and Poehler were only in Chicago for a few years -- they've spent much more time doing other things out of town than they did in town, so this was a stop along the way, an important one, but it wasn't the end all be all.

The same is true of Mike Myers, but he still at least gave a mention to Del Close and to the concept of "yes and" on Inside the Actors Studio.

I'm not saying that every interview these people do should be about iO, but when someone who trained and performed at iO or Annoyance or Second City, or anywhere, they should mention it when their asked about their improvisational background or training.

[nhoj]

A lot of successful performers who studied under Del still credit him, and while they may not say explicitly that they studied under him at iO, any props given to Del are props for iO.

And I think the most telling credit to iO is when someone who has 'made it' who played at iO brings people they know from their time there along for the ride. McKay getting Fey in the door at SNL. Fey hiring McBrayer and Lutz and Sudeikis and Kay Cannon on 30 Rock. McKay putting Koechner and McBrayer in Talledega Nights.