Blogterview with Chris Witaske

Danielle Solzman: Thanks for joining us today. How are things going in the Windy City?
Chris Witaske: Hi Danielle! Chicago is great. Enjoying the summer while it's still here.

DS: When did you decide to go into improv and sketch comedy? When did you have your “Second City” moment? Or IO moment?
CW: The first show I ever saw at Second City was Slaughter House Five Cattle Zero. I was in Jr. High. It was like nothing I'd ever seen, so funny. I was hooked.

DS: What was your improv training like? Is there any particular thing that an instructor said that has really stuck to you?
CW: I started taking classes at Second City in High school. My favorite teacher ever was Mick Napier at the Annoyance.

DS: When did you join the Second City National Touring Company?
CW: I've been touring for about a year now and before that I lived on a cruise ship for Second City.

DS: Earlier this year, I saw you perform in Murderers with a few of Chicago's talented improvisers. How did this show come into being?
CW: Murderers is my favorite show to do. It's a long form improv show that John Hartman and I started. It's a super fun cast of funny people.

DS: What are some of your favorite characters to do?
CW: My favorite Character is called Aunt Joyce. It's a mix of all my Chicago aunts pitching comedy ideas to me at a forth of July party.

DS: What do you usually tell new improvisers when they are just starting out?
CW: Don't take it seriously. You'll have bad shows if you're busy freaking yourself out.

DS: What's your first memory of Second City, or even IO, and what would be your favorite?
CW: My favorite SC performers are Bill Murry and Ed Furman.

DS: Last summer, you were one of several comedians from Chicago to audition for SNL. What was that whole experience like?
CW: It was the scariest/most exciting experience of my life.
DS: Lazy Tuesday or Lazy Sunday?
CW: TUESDAY BABY!

DS: Thanks again for joining Chitown Improv Celebrity News. Is there anything else you would like to add?
CW: Numbers.

MTV Movie Awards

If you looked closely, the guy playing Bob the Boulder looked familiar. That's because it was Pat O'Brien!

What is $2?

Scott Goldstein was a contestant on Jeopardy! when it aired yesterday. Unfortunately, he was $2 short of tying the winner.

Witaske talks improv

Apologies for slacking but I recently caught this article where Chris Witaske talks about improv.

“The long-form improvisation is doing 15 minutes from just one suggestion from the audience,” said Witaske, who appears in The Second City’s “Fair & Unbalanced” on May 21 at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora. “You strive to get good at the long form. The true talent in Chicago is being well versed in the long form of improvisational comedy.

“In long form,” Witaske continued, “you can have an ‘on’ night when you kill it and then an ‘off’ night when you dive bomb and you are performing to silence.”[...]

“We have 50 years of Second City scenes to draw from,” said Witaske about the show. “Second City has a staff of producers who watch the sketches and decide what we will do, but we all do have a voice. There is some original material written by us. We have maybe three or four original scenes in the first two acts.”

Witaske gets great satisfaction from making people laugh.

“There is nothing better,” he said. “You think you are funny and people also think you are funny.”

He also finds the collaboration of fellow comedians exhilarating.

“When you are with a group for a while it becomes like well-oiled machinery and you know each other’s sensibilities and who they are,” said Witaske, who has performed with Second City for about one year. “It is like a good basketball team. You get ‘in the zone’ when you perform. It is a true ensemble process.”

Murderers

I saw Murderers at IO on Wednesday night.

The group features Amanda Blake-Davis, John Hartman, Chris Witaske, Lauren Dowden, Tim Stoltenberg, and featured special guest Andy St. Clair on Wednesday. Aidy Bryant was supposed to be in the show but seeing as how she just promoted to ETC, it is very unlikely she'll be in a future show so Andy filled in for her last night.

The show starts by asking the audience to pick a number between 1-6. The next thing the audience is asked for is a location.

The introductory scene was in an elevator shaft and I was laughing so hard and almost fell out of my chair. Chris Witaske's shouting and slaps added to the hilarity of the evening.

Time Out Chicago lists the show as a Critics' Pick. I agree. It was very funny when I went.

Murders, for the time being, performs at 10:30 on Wednesdays in the Del Close Theater at IO, right after Dummy.

Dummy

I saw Dummy on Wednesday night over at IO.

Dummy features both Colleen Doyle and Jason Shotts.

I saw Jason perform back in June 2009 in what was easily one of the most hilarious shows I've ever seen. I believe he was with Whiskey Rebellion at the time. Christian Bale was the suggestion and from there, it got crazy hilarious.

The suggestion on Wednesday was conspiracy theories and the scenes were at a Half-Price Books, a doctor's office, and a date. What if you read a full book and got to the last page to find out that it had all been a dream? All the scenes tied into each other in some way or another.

Dummy performs at 10:30 on Wednesdays in the Del Close Theater at IO.

ETC creating new revue

ETC is starting it up again. Brendan Jennings, Tim Baltz, and Mary Sohn stay on board. Joining them in the cast are Aidy Bryant, Jessica Joy, and Michael Leher.