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Twenty Years of Now!
Transactors Improv Co. is 20 years old!
It gives me a great deal of satisfaction to be able to write that as we prepare to celebrate the anniversary with a run at Manbites Dog Theater in Durham. Reaching 20 years is significant in most ventures. Okay, maybe that's not much in geologic time but it's a hell of a long time for a mosquito and almost as long for an improv company.
Most improv companies simply don't last this long. Yes, there's Second City and, I guess, the Groundlings that have years if not decades on us but I'm pretty sure we can make the claim to be the longest continuously running improv company in the South.
But what's important here is not the sheer number of years but what we've done with them. Take a look at the "What Folks Think of Us" page to see what critics, presenters, and audience members think of us. I'd like to take a moment to tell you what I think about us and what I hope defines this company in the future.
It's a love thing. We have certainly had our share of conflicts over the years but what we're aiming for here is a democratic creative process that elevates the group instead of the individual. Of course we all recognize that if the group looks good we all look good and our egos will be gratified.
We do theater. For years we have focused on presenting not just funny stuff but, well, art. We work on our craft, constantly trying to improve as actors and singers and, obviously, as improvisers. We've studied with people who have taught us about dramatic movement and voice work as well as with acknowledged improv gurus. So you won't see us in comedy clubs because even though we're funny we are a theater experience.
We aim high. Often I have considered changing our motto to "Just because it's improv doesn't mean it sucks." In traveling around the country and seeing many improv groups since 1989 I can confidently tell you that most improv is bad. Fortunately there are wonderfully inspiring companies too.
Maybe the problem is that there are so few legitimate educational opportunities in improv (who offers an MFA in improv?) or that few people stay with improv long enough to become really adept at it. It is a medium, after all, that relies very heavily on experience as a means of developing.
Whatever the reason, while many other companies are going for the cheap and shallow joke we're going to strive to do good improv, to explore deep and meaningful ideas and feelings, and to innovate artistically. We don't always succeed but at least when we fall short we do so in a noble effort.
We explore. I feel the best improv is about exploration and discovery, both within scenes as well as outside of them, from shows to artistic missions. We try lots of new things and perhaps some things never get refined because we've already moved on to the next thing. However we try to avoid complacency and always to find new ways to do improv.
It's a legacy gig. All of the original members of Transactors Improv had left the company by 1987. The most senior current member joined in 1989. So the continuity has been broken. Yet we try to revere our former members and honor their work and contributions to the company.
Probably the best example I can give of this is that when we're together just chewing the fat we wind up telling stories about people that some of us don't know and have never met. It's almost like a family; we're telling stories about aunts and uncles: D.J. Tim Tired, Miss Thingy, Stick Boy, Mark, The Big A, Mary, The Count, Eric, Chimpula, Rob, Jay Bird, Noushie, Groooorm, Steven, Steve, and Steven, J.A., Queenie, Mo, Das Waff, Nanc', Wack-a-Doodle-Doo, Beat Sue, Randy Boob, and after a while you can't tell the legends from the real thing.
So I say thanks to all those past members who made Transactors Improv what it was and what it is, especially the founders and past directors Steven, Tim, and Dan. I thank our audiences and students who have supported us and the presenters who have hosted and paid us. I also thank The ArtsCenter in Carrboro, which has been a home to us, and the North Carolina Arts Council, which has supported us with grant funding. And before this starts sounding like an Oscar-acceptance speech I'll just end it by saying here's to now-past, present and future.
-Greg Hohn, Director
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