CDM: Up Close With...

[sammy]

Welcome to Up Close With, featuring interviews with the fine folks involved with this year's first-ever Close to Del Marathon at the Playground!

[sammy]

UP CLOSE WITH...
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Rene Duquesnoy!*

*who is very dashing in a suit I must say!


Heya, Rene! How's it going?

Hey Sammy! Things are going great. I love summertime.

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

You bet. Facts we all probably know: I am involved in The Playground (http://www.the-playground.com/) in many capacities. I ran the Incubator program for a while, and did the website. Now, I do the schedule and co-ordinate guest team applications. I perform regularly there with Homey Loves Chachi. I also am one of the founding members of DSI Chicago (http://www.dsicomedytheater.com/). Along with Zach Ward, I created a little hiphop improv show called the BEATBOX about 5 years ago. Has it been 5 years? Wow.

Stuff people may not know. I work for an electronics options firm in the CBOT. I skydive regularly. I grew up in Pittsburgh. I just bought a Vespa. I spent 10 years in the Air Force, both active duty and reserves. Most importantly, my birthday is tomorrow (Thursday, July 12th). Booze up with me after the Big Yellow Bus!

How did you get into improv?

I can guarantee you that I got in to improv like no one else. Back in 1999, when I was graduating from the University of Pittsburgh, I was working for my friends now defunct web design company, Halo Technologies. One of their clients was some comedy club in Chicago. I had never been to Chicago, and the main type of comedy I knew were either Steven Wright one-liners or a Monty Python skit. I was tasked to organize the content and do some coding on the site. While I was adding the content, I learned a lot about some theater named Second City (http://www.secondcity.com/). Farley and Belushi started there? Neat! Huge training center in Chicago? Awesome. I happened to be moving to Chicago later in the year. I may as well sign up for a class. So, prior to seeing any shows or knowing where Piper's Alley was, I took a level A class at St Alphonsus. I actually didn't even see an improv show for the first 6 months of living in Chicago. I was too busy traveling for my consulting gig at a company called ThoughtWorks. I fell in love after Bippity Bippity Bop, all because I had mad ASP skillz.

Can you tell us a bit about The BEATBOX?

The BEATBOX is billed as the 'fusion of hiphop and improv'. There are many hiphop elements to the show. Freestyle, rap battles, and even techniques taken from DJing. Oh yeah. I have been a DJ (with turntables) for almost 17 years. The idea came to Zach and I at a party, where there was a freestyle circle and I started beatboxing. We had so much fun, and were determined into creating a show. As the BEATBOX evolved, we applied hiphop hooks or DJ tricks to the show. Some worked out well, such as the scratchback, and some failed miserably. Who remembers the Helicopter? Confusing. To describe the BEATBOX to people who have never seen it would be to call it a fast longform show with shortform hiphop games sprinkled throughout...and rap.


What do you enjoy most about your shows?

I love to make characters in the show rap battle against each other. You know that one roommate scene where they argue about something that no one really cares about? If that happens in The BEATBOX, I make them rap battle it out. It gets personal quick, and fun. Its instant energy for the show.

Why do you think The BEATBOX has had such longevity?

Probably 2 reasons. First, there aren't many hiphop shows like this. Its very unique, and I think people that have been doing improv for as long as you have would still see the show. Second, we don't run The BEATBOX full time. We have had runs in pretty much most of the spaces in the city. When we aren't running, we put the show on ice. That way the cast doesn't get tired of the show, and when we pull it out of the crates, its fresh to everyone.

Any groups in particular you really look forward to seeing at the Close to Del Marathon?

I am excited to see the Reckoning (http://www.reckoningimprov.com/). They have appeared at the last few Dirty South Improv Festival along with The BEATBOX, so there is a little camaraderie there. They are also super talented. I'm also excited to see Mike Johnson (http://www.the-playground.com/index.php?page=players&player=554) because, well, he is Mike Johnson.

What's one of your favorite improv moments or memories here in Chicago?

That's a tough one. I have had a lot of fun doing different shows all over the city. One of my favourite memories was probably performing with my old school group Dually Noted many years ago. We played at Frankie J's, and although the houses were small, the shows were super fun. Also, The BEATBOX show at the CIF Showcase stage a few years ago was super fun.

What's one of your worst improv memories?

I don't remember the specifics, but I was in a group scene with a few other people. After the show, we were discussing the scene and apparently, we were all camping when I thought we were doing something completely different. Whoops.

Any advice for the improv youngsters out there?

Two small pieces. First, watch as many shows as you can. Watch to learn. Put yourself on the stage and in the scene and think about what you would do. Second, get a group together with a director you like and start rehearsing. You have to be pro-active to get better. You aren't owed a team or stage time.


Visit the BEATBOX on myspace (http://www.myspace.com/thebeatboxshow) and keep tabs on Rene on his website (http://reneduquesnoy.com/index.php).

[sammy]

UP CLOSE WITH...

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LOUIS SAUNDERS








Hey Louie! How ya doing?


Quite well. And yourself?


Awesome, thanks! Tell us a bit about yourself!


I was born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia, home of Thomas

Jefferson and Dave Matthews. I moved to Richmond, Virginia (home of the

Confederacy) after college and worked there for a year or two. Then moved

here (the explanation of which is below).


Currently I am on the teams Chicago Sashay Company (http://www.chicagosashaycompany.com/), Wing Night and

Roadster (http://www.iochicago.net/ht_roadster.html). All of which I love dearly. I've been writing movie scripts lately

too. And a novel about a ragtag group of assassins.


What? Really?


Yeah, I have just started really. Basically it's about 5 assassins who are

also roommates in a four-bedroom apartment (one lives in the storage space

in the basement). There is plenty of deadly violence and arguments about

who does the dishes. Plus there is some Socratic dialog, but I don't know

where that comes in quite yet.


So, what got you into improv?


FourSquare. That's what did it for me. I was living in Richmond and doing

very little with my life. I had a well paying job and I did stand up

occasionally, but I just didn't feel creatively fulfilled.


I came to Chicago to visit my friend Duncan Gale and he said "you gotta see

FourSquare." All I knew of live improv was Whose Line and ComedySports so I

was expecting improv games, but what FourSquare did that night made me

rethink my life goals. For serious.


Soon after, I read Truth In Comedy (http://www.amazon.com/Truth-Comedy-Improvisation-Charna-Halpern/dp/1566080037/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/102-6598354-9797719?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184302678&sr=8-1) and started to see improv as an art

form. Then quit my job, moved to Chi Town, and took classes at IO (http://www.iochicago.net/).


Can you tell us about Chicago Sashay Company?


We went through classes at IO together. When we came out of 5B we realized

we still wanted to continue to play together. At one point we had 20 people

in the CSC although only about half of those members are still active. No

one leaves the CSC unless they die, or ask to leave.


We had a monthly spot at the Green Door tavern. That was a super exciting

run of shows. It was Jorin Garguilo's idea get a suggestion at the END of

our shows, and then create a form based on that suggestion for the next

show. By the end of the run we had around 8 forms we all knew really well.

We also had a pretty successful run at the Playground (http://www.the-playground.com/) with a form we

created called "Secret Mission." It was an organic form based on a piece of

writing that was stored in a top secret manila envelope.


We played in North Carolina for the iO South Invitational. Out of that

performance we were given a run in the Del Close Theater, which brought us

full circle back to our 5b days.


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Chicago Sashay Company's Active Dance Team


How did the Active Dance Team come out of this?


Well, actually the name "Chicago Sashay Company" originated at Barleycorn

of all places. After an IO class one evening, our then nameless group went

upstairs at Barleycorn (which at the time was an almost always empty dance

floor). We would dance the night away, sometimes performing on-the-spot

improvised dance that looked choreographed. We would do this by following

each other, sometimes there would be a leader and sometimes the group mind

was so strong, there wouldn't be a leader at all. It was beautiful, and all

unspoken.


After an hour or so, patrons would come upstairs to see what the commotion

was about and the upstairs dance floor would fill up and sometimes people

would join in our dances. We welcomed them with open, flailing arms.

Some jerky bouncer at Barleycorn came up to us one day and made fun of us

for our dancing. He sarcastically asked if we were "some sort of dance

team" and Anthony Ellison, without thinking about it, said "Chicago Sashay

Company." It stuck.


The next week we came back with business cards with our CSC logo and the

slogan "Follow our feet to your heart" on them. There was a club promoter

there who actually asked if we would be willing to dance for clubs around

the Wrigleyville and Halsted areas. We knew we had something special.

That was over two years ago, now we dance before the wildly popular live

game show Don't Spit the Water (http://www.dontspitthewater.com/). We also danced for the grand finale of

Impress These Apes (http://www.impresstheseapes.com/). We love Blewt!


Actually, come to think of it, before we ever had a single improv

performance together we were dancing. It's not exactly like a

chicken-or-egg thing, but maybe a little.


So what do you guys have planned for the Close to Del Marathon?


Surprises. Between each show we will do an interpretive dance. That's all I

want to say. The element of surprise is very important with dance, and with

being an assassin.


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Psyching up for the big dance...


Any groups in particular you really look forward to seeing?


In the Close to Del Marathon? It looks like an all around solid lineup.

The BYB crew looks especially appealing. I mean that as creepily as it

sounds.


Plus Cowlick (http://www.the-playground.com/?page=ensembles&team=21) is extremely fun to watch.


I've never heard of the Reckoning (http://reckoningimprov.com/index.php), but I'm sure they are competent.


What's one of your favorite improv moments in Chicago?


A couple years ago TJ Jagadowski and Paul Grondy did something in Armando

that I still think of as the the perfect scene. TJ was a young kid and Paul

was his Grandmother. I want to describe it all, but I wouldn't do it

justice, however it started with the line "The ground is lava" and ended

with the line "My imagination killed my grandma!"


The audience laughed and "aww"d. My favorite reaction.


What's one of your worst improv memories?


I went to go see a lot of barprov when I first moved here. Duncan was in

The Party, and they usually wrecked shop. But there were usually 3 or 4

other groups that made me want to kill someone. At the time I was very new

to improv and had no idea that in a year I would be doing the same thing to

people in bars all around Chicago.


But it's all part of the learning experience.... Right?


Ugh. Right. Any advice for the improv youngsters out there?


I still kind of consider myself one. But for those that are just starting

out, Dan Bakkedahl had an awesome quote in our Level 3 IO class:

Do this so that when your 70 and your brat of a grandson comes up to you

and says, "I'm bored" you can say, "Yeah? Give me a suggestion."




Keep up with the further adventures of Louie on his blog (http://louiesaunders.blogspot.com/).