Like any self-respecting extrovert that loves the sound of his own writing and thinks he’s an expert on something, I’m tossing my virtual hat into the ring of paragraph-smithing.

I’ll be talking mostly about improv, as that’s my passion and area of expertise. I won’t be writing every day… no need to put that kind of pressure on myself. But, whenever something improv-like happens to me, I’ll endeavor to post. Even if nobody ever reads it, at least I’ll have it to look back on, stroking my own ego and rolling around in my own wordy filth. (See, that’s a sentence that I’ll really appreciate a year from now.)

That said, I feel I’ve got a good perspective on this whole improv-y scene, and a good, open mind from which my thoughts can flow. What gives me the right? Well, like everyone, I’ve got access to the Internet and I’ve got a website. There ya go.

What sets me apart?

I actually know what I’m talking about. I first found the thrill of performing 23 years ago, when I was a bit player in a community theater show. It wasn’t much, but they charged admission. The next year I got the lead in a children’s theater production of “The Pied Piper of Hamelin” as the evil mayor, and from there, no looking back occurred. After dancing through the typical person’s childhood and teenage school plays and musicals, I emerged from high school in my small town of Linwood, Kansas to find out that there was no theater to be had.

Being lazy (?), I decided that instead of driving to Kansas City, I’d create a performance group in the nearby town of Bonner Springs, where I worked. I worked with a group of friends and family, and we started performing all around town. Before long, I got a reputation as a guy that put on an entertaining show. I was the Woody Allen of Bonner Springs, directing, starring, and sometimes writing my own shows. That went on for eight years. Toward the end, in about 1998, I discovered improv comedy, which I used at that time to help develop the acting skills of my troupe, and those of my middle school actors (I had founded a Drama Club at the school where I was employed).

As time went by, I got the appeal of improv, which gave all the satisfaction of acting, but without any of those messy lines to memorize or props and sets to organize. Don’t get me wrong… I still love plays and musicals, but I can do 16 improv shows in the time it takes to do one scripted show, at a fraction of the cost.

Eventually I gave up the community group… I turned it over to another of the members so that I could move on and grow my skills in Kansas City. Once there, I discovered that my skills were pretty well grown. I quickly was hired to start directing shows.

I also joined my first “professional” troupe. (professional in that there is pay… but not much of it, as all improv here in the KC area currently is.) I fell in love.

More on all this in future posts, I’m sure.

Eventually, my dream to open my own theater started occupying more and more of my thoughts. (Tons of folks have the dream, but few have the opportunity or cojones to actually do it.) I had the background. I had the skills. I had the devotion. I did not have the pedigree. All my training had come in the field.

So, it was time to go to Improv Olympic. I spent six weeks in Chicago doing improv over 30 hours a week, in front of expert instructors that boosted my talents and knowledge by a huge degree. It was huge for me, and really knocked me to a new level of performing.

Came back, opened the theater, and now host two shows a week, and perform for others during the rest of the week… (more on these later as well!)

So, that’s the skeleton of the “creation story” of the Roving Imp, for anyone that cares. Please feel free to comment, ask questions, challenge my authority, or otherwise pick apart anything I’ve written.

Holy hell… I’m longwinded.