Improvisational Comedy. Perhaps you’ve heard of it? Saturday Night Live? Second City? The Groundlings? Upright Citizen’s Brigade? Blah blah blah? Well, how about I blow your fucking mind with some knowledge about its roots, and we sit down and chat with the dudes running THAT show? The show I am referring to of course is that of the Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis, MN… the longest running satirical theatre in the country, owned by John Sweeney and Jenni Lilledahl, art directed by Caleb McEwen. Nice line up. Here’s a fact flying directly at your face: The founder, Dudley Riggs, was a Circus dude who had his fill of the circus life, so he just up and started the art of improvisation. Talk about reaching your potential. I recently had the opportunity to sit down with one of the co-directors of the Brave New Workshop’s school for improv, Joe Bozic, who totally let me annoy him with some inane questioning for a few minutes. ENJOY!
BTTV: So… how are things?
J: Things are good, like a fluffernutter sandwich.
BTTV: Alright. Brave New Workshop. Very cool. What exactly goes on here?
J: A little bit of everything goes on here. We have a main stage which produces four original sketch comedy shows every year, a school for improv which has over 200 students come in every single week, and we have a creative outreach program which brings improvisation to those that need it in the business world. Also, dance parties.
BTTV: Neat. Do you have any hilarious stories from class you’d like to share?
J: I remember teaching a class that had an middle-aged married couple in it. The guy was a huge fan of “Rocky” and, whenever he did a scene with his wife, would force it to be a scene from “Rocky”. It was always enjoyable to watch him force “Rocky” into the scene over and over again.
BTTV: What got you personally interested in improv?
J: There’s a philosophy in improv that everything you do is right. That makes me feel good. When I played little league baseball and had a batting average of .000, that didn’t make me feel good. I guess it all boils down to feeling good.
BTTV: Totally. So… I heard that some famous people have come through here… dish!!
J: We have a few notable alumni. Pat Proft, Mo Collins, Missy Peterman, Cedric Yarbrough, Peter Tolan, Tom Davis, and… um… oh yeah. Senator Al Franken. I’ve met him a couple of times. He said he liked my work. Not many sketch comedians can say that they have Congressional approval.
BTTV: So awesome. Ok… think fast! Improv!! What’s your favorite song or band? Go!
J: Anything by anyone that’s not associated with the Black Eyed Peas.
BTTV: Cool. There was no right or wrong answer to that question of course.
J: Ha! Just like improv! Isn’t that so much better than being told you’ve failed?
BTTV: Exactly! So… what’s ahead for the Brave New Workshop?
J: Well, we’ve got the current show, “Toyota! The Runaway Musical Hit” happening now, and we’ll be writing the fall show starting in the next few weeks. The school has youth camps happening throughout the summer and adult improv classes starting all the time. And we’re building a rocket. A moon rocket.
BTTV: Sweet. Well, thank you for taking the time to chat with me today Joe. Do you have any final words for the Better Than The Van readers?
J: Tom Petty will never let you down.
BTTV: Ain’t that the fuckin’ truth.
The Brave New Workshop is located at 2605 Hennepin Avenue in the historic (and awesome) Uptown neighborhood of Minneapolis, MN. Get all the up to date info at their website: Brave New Workshop.
