An Interview with Hal Peller, Part 2

The conversation continues in Part 2 of Danielle Montezinos' interview with Hal Peller. Hal is a long time improvisor, teacher, and coach who studied with such luminaries as Paul Sills and Del Close.

Danielle: You coach a lot of successful teams around NYC, is there any advice you can give to a new team just starting out?

Hal: Use Spolin to help with challenges and to gain trust.

Play with great abandon and joy.

Give yourself permission to be foolish and get out of your own way.

Get “out of your head and into the space” – Paul Sills

Have FUN – if it’s not fun, you aren’t playing… you’re working and fearful.

My top 3 rules of improvisation are:

1.     Always make positive choices (Yes…and)
2.     Stay in the moment – to know something so well you don’t have to think about it while you do it – (this takes practice)
3.     Make the other person look great!  (all rules in improvisation can be broken except this one)

D: What's your favorite thing about living in NYC? And, what's your least favorite?

H: It was rough for me moving to New York City on February 14, 1979 from Atlanta, GA.  I lived on a 100 acre farm, with a 4 acre lake and 2 acre horse pasture with horse trails throughout the property and about eleven dogs all living and playing together. We would swim and ride horses all day… and then I moved to New York City with cold weather, alternate side of the street parking and a 5 story walk up… what a nightmare, yet, I was in love and I had my career.  I told Janet, my wife, that I don’t know how long I can last up here in the cold and she said, “… well you better get used to being in the cold because when we have children you are going to be out there playing with them in the snow…” So, I learned how to snow ski and learned that one doesn’t have to be cold, that technology exists that can keep you warm even if the temperature is below 0.

After a year I told Janet that I could tolerate living in the city and then after 5 years I had an epiphany. Janet and I were walking up 5^th Avenue in the city, blue sky, sunny day and I heard this music.  A street performer was playing the steel drums through some sort of synthesizer and he was not playing traditional island music …he was playing classical music and it was so beautiful the feeling just washed over me… where else could I live in the world and be surrounded by this kind of beauty doing what I truly love and the feeling just washed over me… the feeling overwhelming took over my entire body… it was a complete epiphany!  I ran into that guy 3 years later in a Chinese restaurant and I was stunned/shocked to run into him of all the millions of folks who live in the city that I would run into this guy who changed my life… who created this beautiful music… who helped cause my great epiphany and I told him all about it and he looked at me and said, “…well man … I am happy for you… but I CANNOT wait to get the F*&K out of New York…”

D: Why is Spolin work so important in Improv today?

H: Viola Spolin wrote the book that inspired Del Close, David Shepherd and Paul Sills.  She wrote the book that everyone from Alan Alda, Gilda Radner, to Tina Fey, Steven Colbert and Mike Meyers all learned from and helped them become great successes. Alan Alda still uses Viola’s games to work with scientists to help them to communicate better. Viola Spolin wrote the book that changed my life and helped create a career for me that I love more than I can express.  Yet, many of the improv schools today don’t teach her work.  When I coach a ‘Harold Team’ they only give credit to Del Close. They changed improvisation to an art form that requires one to try to be clever.  So, I say that is all well and good, however, if you also include Spolin you will not only find it easier to be clever, you will be remarkable because so few folks even know about her work!

That's great! Great pointers, and a great story. Thanks so much, Hal.

If you'd like to learn more, and sample Hal Peller's  work, consider taking his one-day workshop with IRTE. You can sign up at irteinfo.wix.com/irte and go to the "hire us" tab, or click here.

An Interview with Hal Peller, Part 1

This coming May 4th, here in New York City, improv teacher Hal Peller is going to lead a one-day workshop for IRTE using the techniques and exercises created and developed by Viola Spolin, arguably the creator and founder of today's American improv movement.

IRTE's Danielle Montezinos asked Hal a few questions about his history with improv and stand-up comedy both inside and outside of New York City.

Danielle: How did you first get into improv?

Hal: How did I ‘first’ get into improv? When I was about 9-10 years old I used to love to watch Jonathan Winters improvise his great characters.  I would then go outside and entertain the neighborhood kids. I had two characters that they loved – one was an infant in his mother’s womb and the other was a race car driver because I could do great sound effects with my mouth and would go through all the gears and then a loud crashing sound.  The kids just ate it up and I loved the attention. 

When I was doing stand-up, in the late 70’s, I had a decent 50 minute set that I used to play colleges.  I was hired by a jazz club in Greenville, SC to do two shows one evening and the crowd was great and I had a great first show. The owner came into the dressing room after the first set and told me that the crowd is not leaving… they want to see the second show.  I responded, “…holy sh*t, I only have ONE set…” so I improvised the next set.  Just like I did when I was a kid – I was scared, but I had fun and so did the crowd.

I moved to New York in 1979 after doing the open mic nights at the clubs…”Catch a Rising Star” and the old “Improv” and did ok… They invited me back.  But my material was not up to NYC standards so I took a Comedy Class at the Learning Annex with Joey Novick and he turned me onto a book called Improvisation for the Theater by Viola Spolin.  I read the book cover to cover and just fell in love… the whole concept of playing to get to our intuitive was the concept that I had achieved all the way back when I was a 9 year old kid –playing to my friends and knew what it felt like to be in that wonderful zone but didn't understand until Viola Spolin told me how to get there. 

D: What was it like working with Paul Sills?

H: I loved Paul Sills.  He started Second City in Chicago and he was the son of the great Viola Spolin.  I met him when, my wife bought me a 7 week workshop series in the mid to late 80’s.  I had studied with David Shepherd, Del Close and Martin Harvey Friedberg by this time and I was also teaching and performing so it was the perfect gift.  He taught straight out of his mother’s book but he had no patience.  He would yell “… where’s the f*&king smoking gun in this scene…” He was known for his temper, but I didn't see that… I saw that he was just very passionate about the work and he would just get frustrated.  I heard stories that he would throw a chair sometimes and thought …well that doesn't seem to be in line with his mom’s teachings. We were playing a game where we had to eat a meal (show don’t tell) and talk about another topic.  I had great object work (create the objects in space) … I could show what I was eating, but I wouldn't talk while I was eating and after the game ended Paul said to me, how come I didn't talk that much – I didn't really play the game.  I told him that in real life I don’t talk while I eat… I’m all about the food and his response was, “well this isn't real life… this is f*&king ART!” His words were harsh, however, I felt he said them with a great sense of humor, and compassion… we hit it off and we became good friends.

He helped me put a business plan together because I had someone in Atlanta interested in starting an Improv theater.  My business plan included the great Paul Sills to direct and the guy got cold feet. He didn’t understand that the joy of theater was the risk and daring behind each show.  One of my greatest memories was the week I spent in Door County, WI with my 17 year old son, in 2002, playing at the Paul Sills' Wisconsin Theater Game Center which included a full 5 day long intensive with Paul and his daughter Aretha Sills (Paul said it was the family business.) What a wonderful vacation playing and hanging out with the entire Sills family.

D: You went from Stand-up to improv, do you ever miss Stand-up?

H: I often think about doing stand-up again.  I figure that I would be so much better now with all these years of improvisation experience. One of my favorite improvisation teachers was Martin Harvey Friedberg, who used to coach stand-ups using the rules of improvisation. So, I started to coach stand-ups too.  The business of stand-up is so different now than when I first came to NYC back in 1979… but funny is still funny and organic is much better than forced comedy.

I'll post part 2 of Hal's interview in a few days.

If you're interested in learning more about Hal's work, consider participating in his one-day workshop with IRTE. You can sign up at irteinfo.wix.com/irte and go to the "hire us" tab, or click here.

IRTE's Jeff O'Leary

Hey, everyone.

For our final installment of "Meet the Groovy Gang" we're going to ask Jeff O'Leary a couple of questions about his character, his cartoon watching, and any groovy adventures he might have had as a kid.

Did you watch cartoons like Scooby-Doo or Josie and the Pussycats when you were young?

I was a big fan of Scooby Doo. Unfortunately I never got to see Josie and the Pussycats when I was a kid.  My favorite cartoon of that era was Hong Kong Phooey.  It blew my mind that the main character  transformed from a mild mannered janitor into a kung-fu superhero by jumping  into a filing cabinet.  It also has the greatest cartoon theme song of all time which I will gladly sing for anyone who asks me.

Tell me a little about the character you're playing in "The Groovy Gang Adventures". What inspired you to create him or her?

I play Chompers, the talking Alligator. The character was actually created by Nannette [Deasy] – he was part of  the back story for her character Lorna Blue when IRTE did the show “Hint!”. I always assumed he was Lorna Blue’s imaginary friend but now I know that he is real. Very, very real.

The lovable flesh-eating 'gator, Chompers.

Did you belong to a groovy gang when you were a kid?

Even cooler -- I was on a team of superheroes! My older brother Jim was really into comic books  and he created a group called The Challengers. He was The Condor, my best friend Randy Harris was Laser Sword, and I was Mechano Man.  I had all sorts of cool gadgets and doo-dads with which to fight crime. During the summer we would play outside for hours, acting out our adventures.

Can you tell me one a memorable adventure you had when you were young?

When I was in second or third grade I tried to run away from home. There was some sort of dispute about allowance or chores with my parents and I decided to punish them. One morning I packed some odd bits of food (I specifically remember cheese) in a grocery sack and walked out the front door. I was about a block away when my Mom came outside and yelled out “Oh Jeffffff! I made you some scrambled eggs!” There was a brief moment of hesitation and then I turned around and went back home. I really like scrambled eggs.

Labor disputes are always settled by eggs. Hard boiled ones were my weakness.

Thanks for everything, Jeff.

"The Groovy Gang Adventures" can be seen this Saturday April 20th at 8:00 pm.

Where?

Gotham City Improv, 48 W 21st St, #801 between 5th and 6th Avenue in New York City!

Tickets: $6


Are you a junior high, high school, or college student? Tickets are $3 at Gotham City IRTE performances with advanced reservations.

Too cool for school? Take advantage of the "3 for 3" deal! Tickets are $3 per person for groups of three or more with advanced reservations (only at Gotham City).

IRTE's Nannette Deasy

We're here with the Artistic Director of IRTE. Besides that, she's also the creator and a cast member of "The Groovy Gang Adventures". She's playing Lorna Blue, girl detective. Let's find out a little about her inspirations for IRTE's first project of the 2013 season.

Did you watch cartoons like Scooby-Doo or Josie and the Pussycats when you were young?

Oh, yes. Scooby Doo, Josie and the Pussycats, Speed Buggy - I watched them religiously. Jabber Jaw bothered me, though. Although I was too young to go see the movie Jaws, my parents, for some reason, thought it was okay to bring me and my brother to see Orca, the Killer Whale when I was five. They must have thought that Orca was some Disney live-action movie and not the horror flick that it actually was. We left, my brother and I in tears, shortly after the dead baby whale miscarriage scene. (Parents, don't ever bring your kids to movies featuring whale fetuses). I think that's why I never liked Jabber Jaw, even though he was a shark and not a killer whale - that and the fact that I found the shark's voice (He spoke like Curly from The Three Stooges) very grating.

Who was your favorite?

Scooby Doo was my absolute favorite show from the ages of five to eight, followed closely by Josie and the Pussycats, especially when they were in Outer Space! (although Melody was annoying - she seemed so dumb, almost to the point of mental disability.) The original Scooby Doo series was actually pretty scary. The supernatural elements were thrilling, though I often felt disappointed that the villain always turned out to be some regular shmoe in a mask. Frankly, the fact that they'd been stalking a flesh and blood psychopath, all without the help or even knowledge of the police, should have been infinitely more terrifying; but, hey, I was five.
I also considered the SD Gang's life pretty glamorous. Tooling around, completely on their own, in a van with a talking dog - no school, no parents, no  responsibilities other than solving fun "mysteries" - now that was cool!

Tell me a little about Lorna Blue, the character you're playing in "The Groovy Gang Adventures". What inspired you to create her?

I originally created Lorna Blue for IRTE's very first show ever, Hint!, which was a spoof of the board game, Clue. Rather than play the traditional Clue characters (Mrs. Peacock, Colonel Mustard, etc.), Curt [Dixon], who was directing, asked that we all come up with color-themed "mystery characters."

I first thought of developing a spunky "girl detective" character - a cross between Nancy Drew and Velma from Scooby Doo. In rehearsal, I quickly dropped the Nancy Drew aspect and stuck with the Hanna Barbera teen nerd/brainy girl who grew up in Tampa, FL solving "mysteries" with her fellow teen adventurers, the Groovy Gang. However, I thought it would be fun to play her as a 40-something, whose Groovy Gang days were long past. I wanted to explore the idea of what happens to these characters down the road. In Lorna's case, very bad things happen. For the run of Hint! I made Lorna the last surviving member of her Groovy Gang after all her friends had been horribly (and stupidly) murdered by a serial killer, the Bayside Strangler. They had been pursuing a particularly promising clue in the completely unrelated case of the Haunted Holiday Park when they ran afoul of the cannibal rapist. Lorna luckily did not share her friends' fate as she was spending the summer at fat camp outside of Philadelphia. Unfortunately for Lorna, this led to years of guilt, regret, mental breakdown and substance abuse.

The IRTEs all had so much fun playing with Lorna in Hint!, that we quickly decided our opening show this season would follow the adventures of Lorna and her Groovy Gang's happier youth - a sort of prequel, I suppose.

 Nannette Deasy as Lorna Blue

Did you belong to a groovy gang when you were a kid?

Not really. Like most improvisers and actors, I was not overly burdened with a huge abundance of friends. (Don't look at me like that, performers. Let's face it, very few of us ever made it to the "cool kids table.")   Miss Popular, I was not. However, when I'd go visit my Grandparents in Ireland for the summer, I'd suddenly have a ready-made gang of friends 24/7. Both my parents came from large families who all had kids, so when we met up, I'd have loads of cousins around my own age to hang out with. My maternal Grandparents had a farm, so there was plenty of land, animals and trouble to get into.

 Can you tell me one a memorable adventure you had when you were young?

One summer afternoon, my cousins Xarifa, Siobhan and I were playing in the local church. It was a small country church, so it was frequently left empty and unlocked. We taste tested the holy water, sang in the microphones (Siobhan was obsessed with Madonna that summer) and lit all the candles (matches had been conveniently left out), including the votive candles.

I was up in the choir loft playing with the nativity creche animals, who were battling the baby Jesus' parents. Siobhan was at the altar belting out "Like a Virgin." That's when the priest came in. He was pretty mad when he saw that the offertory candles had all been lit and whipped out a calculator. Turns out you had to pay to light those candles! Of course, we were horrified that we now owed this priest money (I'm sure it was just a couple of bucks), but we were more afraid of the trouble we faced from our parents.
Siobhan, Xarifa and I devised a clever plan to seal the priest's lips: We'd all go to confession, so he would be bound to silence by the "sacrament seal."

Of course, none of us wanted to attend an extra mass that weekend (we couldn't very well go to confession at the service we attended with our parents - they'd know something was up). The priest, of course, did tell on us. However, he slipped up by going to our uncle first, not our fathers (who happened to be out) and certainly not our mothers, who were home. I think this guy was a bit sexist, or maybe he knew what the inevitable outcome would be - that our mothers would find the whole thing funny and think he was a jerk for not talking to them first. Siobhan, Xarifa and I got off scot free. I don't think we ever paid for those candles.

In my memory, I'd like to think the dog chased him home on this particular occasion, but I'm probably embellishing. My Grandparents had this border collie, Jill, a working farm dog, who was very smart and sweet with children. For some reason, though, she did not like the priest and had to be tied and locked up every time he came to the house. She'd frequently break loose and chase after him. It got to the point that she figured out where he lived and if she didn't get to him before he got in his car, she'd be waiting for the priest on his doorstep when he got home. Smart dog.

Thanks, Nannette.

"The Groovy Gang Adventures" has one final performance this Saturday, April 20, 8:00 pm at
Gotham City Improv!
48 West 21st St, 8th Fl.
New York City

IRTE's Danielle Montezinos

Today, we're going to talk to Danielle Montezinos, one of the cast of IRTE's "The Groovy Gang Adventures". The Groovy Gang is based on those great Hanna-Barbera cartoons like Scooby-Doo, Josie and the Pussycats, and Jabberjaw.

Did you watch cartoons like Scooby-Doo or Josie and the Pussycats when you were young?

I watched Scooby-Doo everyday after school, though I found it sort of lame, even at a young age.  Probably because it's about Scooby, who's a dog and I was always a cat fan.  The Pussycats were more appealing but were never on when I was home. Only got to watch that when I was home sick or on vacation, which made it even cooler.  I don't remember anything about that show except the theme song!

I was also a big fan of The Jetsons.

Tell me a little about the character you're playing in "The Groovy Gang Adventures". What inspired you to create him or her?

I play Clara Cross. She's sort of the bitchier, edgier version of Daphne and nicer Veronica  from "Josie and The PussyCats".  I like playing bitchy self-absorbed people as it's nothing like me. Also, she means well, thinks she's a good girl, and aims at nothing but to be Prom Queen! If she's Prom Queen, she will most certainly get into Harvard and meet her future husband where she can drop out and be arm candy.  Then and only then, will her daddy be proud.  Sort of sad, wouldn't you say?...At least Clara has a life plan.

Danielle as Clara Cross, Prom Queen at large.

Did you belong to a groovy gang when you were a kid?

Unfortunately, no.  That would have been fun!

Can you tell me one a memorable adventure you had when you were young?

I had many adventures. Some of which were really stupid and could have resulted in me and my friends found dead at the beach. We grew up in Florida and were very bored.  Florida teens equals not too bright.  If you ever have kids, do not raise them in Florida, else they will end up being drugged up whores.  I'm the exception, of course.

Of course.

Thanks, Danielle. I can't wait to see you and the rest of the Groovy Gang.


"The Groovy Gang Adventures" opens Saturday, April 6 with a performance at Gotham City Improv. Check out the full schedule here.

Tickets are only $6.

Are you a junior high, high school, or college student? Tickets are $3 at Gotham City IRTE performances with advanced reservations.

Too cool for school? Take advantage of the "3 for 3" deal! Tickets are $3 per person for groups of three or more with advanced reservations (only at Gotham City).