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improv improv improv improv improvement For these comic actors, ‘improv’ also means ‘improvement’ BY BILL MOTCHAN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH LIGHT
Jen Weinman was going through a really hard time in her life. She was dealing with depression and had a bad breakup. Then she met a group of people who had a common interest: improv theater. “I asked them why they chose improv and one of them told me, ‘Because I wanted to participate in life instead of observe,’ ” said Weinman, 40. She joined and discovered a like-minded community. Weinman is among a group of Jewish St. Louisans who are part of the local improv scene. Some people gravitate to improv to conquer a fear of public speaking; others do it to meet new people. It is both an affordable and approachable hobby with a welcoming community and multiple entry points.
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“It’s been a way to connect with other people,” she said. “Improv has changed all parts of my life in my family relationships, personal relationships, romantic relationships and professional relationships.” Julie Bieniek Brown, who is preparing to teach high school, said improv helps enhance a person’s communications skills. “I’ve never really had much of a fear of public speaking, but I know other people have,” said Brown, 41. “One of the guys that I used to see at the Improv Trick had
to give presentations to people that he worked with. It was just for a room with 10 people, and that made him terrified. So he learned improv. We were doing large shows, and he was up there doing it like it was nothing. So to go from being scared in front of just 10 people to doing a show for 1,000 people, I mean, that’s a huge feat.” Improv is not a substitute for therapy, but it can be therapeutic, said Katy Paul, who works in human relations. “I got involved in 2009,” said Paul, 38. “I had just gotten married. I was a year out of college, and I was looking for adult friends. I’d always done theater, and I had dabbled a little bit in improv. I took a class, and I was hooked and ended up being part of the first Improv Shop graduating class. And now I teach there, I perform regularly.
“It’s the only art form where everyone in the cast is the director. Everyone is a choreographer, everyone is the actor. We’re all doing it together at the same time. We are in the moment with the audience, sharing that experience live.”
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JEN WEINMAN & WINSTON
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We get to be silly and play pretend in a way that you don’t normally get to do in your adult life.” The plot and narrative of an improv show can meander just about anywhere because the performers make it up as they go. On a recent weekend night at the Improv Shop in midtown St. Louis, Paul and Weinman were onstage being silly. One of the bits involved a Burger King employee receiving a critical quarterly review from her supervisor. The employee had a poor attendance record, and she brought her children to work, leaving them to chill in the walk-in cooler. Growing up, Scott Weinberg watched a lot of Comedy Central and “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” As an adult, Weinberg, who works in information technology, began listening to improv podcasts. “I had just gone on a real big health kick and had achieved a whole bunch of other goals,” said Weinberg, 42. “I wanted to put See IMPROV on page 17
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