BY JASON ROBERT CHIN

	Jonathan Pitts (L) and Frances Callier(R) give birth (again) to the wonderment of Improv in Chicago with thier third annual Chicago Improv Festival.

Frances Callier and Jonathan Pitts are getting to be old hands at this improv festival racket. Callier, a professional instructor, director and performer at Second City, currently serves as the executive director of The Second City Training Centers in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Los Angeles and New York as well as the producer of Black Comedy Underground. Pitts, an improv veteran, teaches improvisation around the country as well as at The Second City Training Center and Very Special Arts Chicago. Together, they founded and have co-produced the popular Chicago Improv Fest (CIF) for the past three years. "11 Questions With…" caught up with these two intrepid producers as they prepared to embark on the biggest, and perhaps best, Chicago improv festival to date.

1. How long have you been involved with Chicago improv?

Callier: In 1986, I walked into Second City (SC) thinking I was going to learn how to be a stand-up. Since then, I have studied at Second City, ImprovOlympic and the Annoyance Theatre. I toured with SC for over two years, taught there for nine years, started its Outreach Program and have been the Executive Director of the Training Center for almost three years.

Pitts: A little over 20 years. I took my first class with Alan Baranowski, at Second City, on Thursday, Dec. 19, 1979. He was teaching a 13-week workshop at Second City, subbing for Del Close. The classes were twice a week on Thursdays and Saturdays. I remember being a 20-year old kid walking into the Second City theatre, and just staring at everything. I remember feeling like I was a baseball player standing in Yankee Stadium for the first time. I guess I was OK, because Alan said I could come back to the next class on Saturday, so I did and I was hooked.

2. How did you become involved in the CIF?

Callier: It was a wonder to me that Chicago–being improv hot-bed–had no festival. It sort of became an obsession of mine. So I talked about it with anyone who would listen. Everyone said that it could not happen, it would not be worth the time and it could not succeed in a town with so much improv. Finally, I had a conversation with Jonathan Pitts, who said, "Let’s just do it!" So we worked on it for a year at my kitchen table.

Pitts: Frances and I mutually came up with the idea for doing the festival in 1997, so we are both the producers and the founders of CIF. We met and planned the various aspects of the festival for about eight months. Then we announced our plans, got the improv community’s invaluable support, and we did the first festival, which was a huge hit.

3. What do you see as the main goals of the CIF?

Callier: To introduce the art of improvisation to a wider audience. To attract students–from around the nation–to Chicago’s excellent schools and theatres and to develop their performance chops. To showcase fresh new Chicago talent to industry members. To provide access to performers, directors, producers, and teachers, not normally assembled in one environment. To stimulate creative thought and discussion on the art of improvisation.

Pitts: To support and promote the art and craft of improvisational theatre. To shine a light on and create greater community with Chicago’s improv community as well as with the improv communities on both national and international levels. To provide exposure to the various Chicago improv schools and instructors; to embrace the present, respect the past and touch the future of improvisation. To put up for the general public one hell of a fun and funny festival at an affordable price.

4. Do you communicate with the operators of the other improv fests?

Callier: Yes, our organization does communicate with other improv fests. Every new festival that I hear about I immediately contact the producer.

Pitts: Occasionally, I talk with producers from other festivals. Last year, I spoke with Austin’s improv-comedy festival producers, which was running the same week as ours. We both wanted to make sure to work together so that if any ensembles want to appear at both festivals, we could support and serve them to do so.

5. What’s the selection process like–what helps you decide which groups are invited to perform on which stage?

Callier: Budget, who will play well at the various venues, availability for various evenings, representation, and the audience at each venue. The first thing Jonathan and I do is visualize what combination of ensembles would make for a great show and we pursue that talent. Then within those considerations, there are the mainstay theatre companies that represent the varied Chicago improvisational tapestry.

Pitts: There is no set formula for creating a slate of rosters or programming. It’s not like the NCAA basketball brackets of 64 teams, which are chosen from a series of mathematical point-ratings system. This is the 12th festival that I’ve produced or coordinated, and I look at each festival as like a mosaic, or a tapestry. And each festival has a different set of circumstances, options, and possibilities, to create this mosaic. So, each individual tile is important, but so is the over-all picture. It’s very Zen-like. All this build-up, hard work and planning to create this event, and then, after one week, it’s over, blown to the wind. Paul Sills was so right when he talked about theatre being an impermanent art form.

6. Why are so many shows at the CIF scripted?

Callier: At the main stage this year out of 24 performances, there are only four scripted shows. It goes back to the old argument–"Is improvisation only a means to the end or the end itself?" Some people strictly believe one way or another. Others like myself ride the middle path. The scripted shows are either created through improvisation or by performers with deep improv roots. I think it is important to show the scripted side of improvisation and what creative people are doing with the art form. The reality is most improvisers’ first jobs in film or television will be writing.

Pitts: I don’t know if so many shows at the festival are scripted. Of the 24 acts on this year’s Main Stage, 7 are fully or partially scripted and 17 are fully improvised. That’s less than one-third. Of the CIF Showcase 15 ensembles, 4 are scripted and 11 are fully improvised. So, out of 39 acts, 28 are fully improvised, and 11 are partially or fully scripted. (That’s a .282 batting average. That will get you a starting spot on the Cubs, but it’s certainly nothing to write home about.) Since the very beginning, improv and scripts have gone hand-in-hand. I think that in order to embrace and promote all of the various aspects of improvisational theatre, some scripted work gets included. Those folks that have scripted, or partially scripted work, also have much training and extensive experience in improvisation, so the very nature and essence of their scripted work is very influenced by improvisation.

7. I know this one is putting you on the spot, but which do you prefer; long-form or short-form improv? Or neither?

Callier: I prefer long-form as an art form. I get to watch or participate in an intricate painting being created. I also like scripted shows. As producer, I think audiences prefer games (short-form). It is more accessible to them and the pay off is quicker.

Pitts: To me, as Mick Napier once said, you can take great improvisers and they can do anything, any form, any style, and look great. I prefer that the work, or the play–regardless of the source–be as great as possible. Games can do a certain kind of a thing with an audience, basically, energize them. Long-form can amaze an audience, blow them away. I look at improvisation theatre’s primary pursuits as games, scenes, and long-forms. I enjoy them all. Each done well is a wonderful, amazing experience; each done poorly is like being in a Des Moines karaoke bar on a Tuesday night. I just don’t think of improvisational theatre in the terms of this particular duality, "long-form/short-form." For me, there are so many different kinds of work being done in improvisational theatre, that I can’t relegate it into just two categories, like Pepsi/Coke, when there is so much diversity to our art form. Think about it, improvisational theatre has out-lived rock & roll. Both of these American art forms were born in 1955, but improv is still vital and growing. Improv’s a performance art form based on spontaneous group communication and transformation. Thus, it’s perfect for this age of instant global information, and digital morphing. For me there are two kinds of improvisation: good and bad.

8. What is the best part of your job? What’s the worst?

Callier: The best part of it all is watching the performances and laughing in anonymity with the audience, knowing that this is why we do what we do. The worst part is not getting financially paid to do it.

Pitts: The best? Seeing so much wonderful work. The Worst? Having to tell someone that their ensemble has not been accepted to perform in the festival.

9. Why do you think the CIF attracts the people who don’t normally go to see improv shows here in Chicago?

Callier: At this point, CIF is packaged to attract "first-timers." It is in a location that is easy to get to and the audience member has an opportunity to see three different types of performances in one evening. It is a taste of Chicago Improv. An audience member can get their feet wet without committing an evening to a certain style of performance. Then if they like what they experience, they will become a patron at that particular theatre.

Pitts: CIF attracts people who don’t normally go to see improv shows for the same reason Blues Fest or Jazz Fest attracts people who don’t normally go see the blues or jazz. There is a promise in these festivals that audiences understand. A promise of quality and safe adventure.

10. Do you see improvisation, much less CIF, thriving or diminishing in the next 10 years?

Callier: Humans have been improvising since they could walk upright. I don’t think we will ever stop doing it. I have a theory that somewhere in Iowa or a black neighborhood, there is a 15-year old who will add the next level to the work that we do. That person will discover new ways to present it on stage, on the Web or on television. They hold the key to future and that is why it is important that this work is accessible to everyone. Because there are innovators yet to come. Will CIF last for 10 years? Who knows?

Pitts: I’ve already witnessed improvisation explode over the last 20 years and I only see plenty of reasons for its continued growth. The story that I like to share is this: My neighbor from across the street is a single mom with a 10-year old son. Last year, I told her about us bringing Colin Mochrie here to perform, and she told me that many times after watching "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" on TV, she and her son attempted to play the games they just saw. And you know they aren’t the only ones in the country doing this. Ten years from now, as these kids grow up, the number of people who do improv will be staggering. Certainly, Viola Spolin’s famous edict of "everyone can improvise," will become truer than ever. Everyone who wants to improvise will. I remember John Belushi once said, it was "hipper to be in an improv group than be in a band." We shall see.

11. From previous CIF’s, what’s your favorite memory?

Callier: Giving out free beer to all the improvisers who attended the show with Mick Napier, Scott Adsitt and Dave Pasquesi. And boy did it rain.

Pitts: My favorite memory from the 1998 CIF was the first ever opening night and we’ve got a sold-out house. On stage Upright Citizens Brigade was making the crowd laugh big time. Frances and I knew, then and there, that the whole festival was going to be all right. The next day, the Chicago Tribune headline review read, "Improv Fest Makes Humor History!"

Home

Improv Till Dawn: Was it good for you?

11 Questions with Callier & Pitts

Long Form vs. Short Form

Upright Citizens Brigade

Charna Halpern