Culture
Keli Semelsberger
In this episode of Improv Nerd, host Jimmy Korein chats with Kelly Semelsberger, an experienced improviser and author of 'Improv Shaman.' They discuss her journey from a challenging life in ...
Keli Semelsberger
Culture •
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Interactive Transcript
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Hey, before we get to the episode, I just want to let you know that I will be teaching
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my artist's low comedy Weekend Summer Intensive here in Chicago in person on the Weekend
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of August 6th and 7th.
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The artist's low comedy is about slowing your improv down so it becomes as easy as having
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you want to do improv scenes that matter, go to my website, jimmykorean.com and sign
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up now.
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I limit this to 10 people and if you sign up before July 9th, you'll save $30 on this
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That's jimmykorean.com.
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And if you can't make it to Chicago, don't worry, I will be offering an intro to the
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artist's low comedy online on July 27th from 1 to 3 pm Central Standard Time.
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I limit this to 10 people so you get personal attention and the workshop, if you sign up
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before July 13th is only $49.
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Go to my website jimmykorean.com for more information into register.
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That's jimmykorean.com.
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Jimmykorean.
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Jimmykoreinsonert.
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Jimmykoreinsonert.
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Jimmykoreinsonert.
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Jimmykoreinsonert.
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Jimmykoreinsonert.
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Jimmykoreinsonert.
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Welcome everybody.
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Come on in.
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Turn up your heads at turn on your whatever you're listening to, your device, whatever your
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device is.
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Maybe you're listening to this on a phone.
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I don't know.
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I don't care.
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Just come on in.
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Take a seat.
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We have another great episode of improv nerd.
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I am the host of improv nerd.
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My name is jimmykoreinsonert.
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If you don't know that, we have a great episode for you today.
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Our guest today is Kelly Semmel's burger.
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She has been improvising, teaching and directing live improv for the last 26 years.
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She started out in Chicago back in the 90s where a lot of great people started out, including
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myself.
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That's where I met Kelly.
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And then she moved to Charlotte in 2001 to start the Charlotte Comedy Theatre.
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She is the author of her new book, Improv Shaman, the transformative journey of divine
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play.
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We talk to her about realizing you're enough when you're on stage, how to take care
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of yourself and how that affects you on stage and she gives us an exercise to be more
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vulnerable in our improv.
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Before we get to that episode, it's great to be back.
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I know I've taken a little time off, but I'm here.
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And you don't have to give me any shit for it.
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I'm giving myself plenty of shit.
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I just want to say something.
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Recently I went and I looked on Apple.
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That's where you can get this podcast.
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One of the places you can get this podcast.
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And there were some really nice reviews.
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And then I'm not going to read them to you.
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But I just want to take this opportunity.
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If you've listened to this podcast for a while and I'm asking you is a friend, I guess.
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This is kind of a favor.
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If you are enjoying what we're doing to just go to Apple and then just write us a nice
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review, I would really appreciate it because it makes me feel good.
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It really does.
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But you know I have low self esteem.
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So it doesn't take much in the outer world to make me feel good in the inside world.
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So enough about me.
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Here it is the Kelly Semmel's burger episode.
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Enjoy.
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Kelly Semmel's burger.
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Thank you for being our guest on Improv Neur.
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Thank you.
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It's an honor to be here.
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I'm so excited.
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I am too.
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Let's talk about the 90s.
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You're living in North Carolina.
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You're married.
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You're a mom.
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You're a corporate trainer.
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You have a house in the suburbs.
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How do you end up leaving all of that and doing improv in Chicago?
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Well, that's a really good question.
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There's so many answers that I think.
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Curtis is you.
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It was so confusing for me at the time.
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I just knew I wasn't where I was supposed to be.
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I had worked so hard to have that life.
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I came from such a broken home.
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And so to cultivate this life where I was a professional and I was a mom and Mary and
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I had a nice new home and I had a new car.
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And I had worked so hard to get the American dream and I was so miserable.
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I was so depressed.
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I tried everything I was working out.
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I was going to therapy.
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I was going, you know, I just, I could not understand that this was not for me.
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And eventually just got to be out, you know, you're getting so much pain sometimes and it doesn't even have to be physical pain.
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But when I think, well, I believe that if you are not on your soul path, your heart will betray you.
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And no matter how good what you're doing looks to the outside world, you on the inside know that it's not the right path for you.
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And I think that's where like kind of the imposter syndrome comes from a lot with people.
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Maybe it's not that you don't think you're good enough for good at what you do.
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But maybe you're not on your right path and something feels disingenuous about that.
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So I think I had I had a lot of that and I just made the decision that I didn't want to be miserable and pain anymore.
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So and then Chicago just came to me like a good Chicago.
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My mom was there, but we didn't have a relationship.
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So I was like, okay.
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And so and you talk about in the book, finding your tribe, how was it coming to Chicago in the 90s that you you realize that improvisers are your tribe.
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You know, I had never done theater performance or anything before was never anything in my realm.
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Now I was the person that would, you know, crack up and and do that kind of stuff with my friends.
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I would do the weird daring things, but it wasn't until I'd been there almost a year.
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And I was doing more corporate training.
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And, but I would get so nervous and I thought, well, I'm in the home of improv.
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Why not just take an improv class. Maybe I'll get better at at my vocation and can move up the ranks.
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You know, I still had that corporate mindset.
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And as soon as I started taking my first improv class and meeting improvisers.
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I was like, oh, these people get me like as weird and, you know, I say things that other people are thinking, but you're not supposed to say I say anyway.
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You know, that people are like, oh, yeah, you're good for that.
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And instead of, you know, telling me to be quiet and keep my head down.
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There was a place that lifted me up.
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And then I think the first time I ever saw the lost jeddies from a renex store to IO.
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When it was sold that bar before the the car street IO was IO.
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And I saw the group, the law sheddies, which was a herald team, which was really great.
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Bob, he was on that Stephanie.
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It's just really.
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Definitely wear.
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Uh, shameless.
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There's so many.
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Miss McCarthy.
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Yeah.
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Improvisors.
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And I remember them doing a scene where they're in the chairs and they were doing a scene is they were motorcycles.
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And throwing things back and forth and moving the chairs as motorcycles.
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And the give and take was beautiful.
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And I remember just looking and say that that's what I want to do.
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That right there.
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And to that level.
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Uh, and then I never stopped.
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It was just something that I was like that is beautiful.
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And I want that magic.
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And then you threw yourself in and you studied at the Improvis Olympic.
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And as because we cross paths a little in the 90s.
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I have to say you probably were one of probably the only single mother doing improv.
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And I really curious to know what was that like.
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Uh, it was challenging, but at the same time.
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You know, Colby, I'm actually at her house right now.
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She was raised in the community.
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I don't think anybody else knew it to do it this either.
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Uh, don't call me the one with the kid.
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And uh, how old was Colby at the time?
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Six when I started seven before she really started coming around and there were time Indian in showers was was gracious with her.
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So it was Mick like everywhere I took her because there were times I just I couldn't be a rehearsal.
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Uh, because I didn't have a babysitter and people like me come on anyway.
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Uh, and there were times out and if you were there when when she's became props on stage, you know, we use her and as a prop and also put her in some shows, but.
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Uh, the community.
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Really didn't know what to do with Colby, but at the same time we're so beautiful and honoring of her as a child because all of us were recapturing our are being a child.
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So it was a safe, beautiful place for her to be, you know, Charlotte tells us about the first time she went Colby she walks into her own theater and there's this little girl working her box office was Stuart Ranson is on my first team.
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Uh, and she was like, she goes, who are you and she's like what theater you looking for and she started directing charnas to where to go for what show and she was like, oh my gosh, you know.
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Uh, so the community was was beautiful with her so she actually loves telling the stories about being raised in the theater and of course people that she hung out with have gone on to be famous and write things that she's so proud of and so it was interesting it was hard financially.
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But at the same time was it was a beautiful thing she had a childhood no one else would ever have.
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What was what's one of your fondest memories about that time in the 90s in Chicago, either on stage or or just hanging out.
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So, you know, I don't know.
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All right, let me tell you a lot of it's a blur because it was Chicago in the 90s so.
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Well, you'll do it in your book that like me, you were doing there was a fair amount of drinking going on.
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Oh yeah, so fair amount of drinking and smoking and other things that.
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Took for my practice.
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My, my spiritual and improv practice, you know, I think I couldn't, you know, give you one specific memory so I have so many amazing memories.
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I mean, it was so many years of my life there, but what I think is it was the hate as very of improv time and space.
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I think some of the most incredible talent came out of that and you can see now in what's happening, you know, in film and TV shows, who's writing and doing everything they're, they're in comedy.
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It's a lot of the Chicago 90s improvisers.
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I was very blessed. I think we all were to be there in that time.
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There still were so enough of us to feel the vibe of what was going on, but not so many of us we didn't know each other.
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Like, you know, we could go to any of the parties or go to any of the theaters and you know everybody, you know, you go over to see people in Sex and City that were in your shows or that were your cast and we all kind of moved back and forth was was very much a still a small community.
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I think that's why I remember most is like it's a place that taught me that I had a place of belonging.
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And all my memories are really of community of just such a beautiful community we had.
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And it wasn't so much later that I would call that tribe that I would understand that as being a tribe, but I think.
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I mean, I just have so many beautiful memories of all the people that I got to play with and work with and party with and you know, cry with.
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But that we did have this community that was so close that that was my that's my overall favorite memory.
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The rest of my boy can't stay in public.
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And then eventually you moved to an North Carolina and you started a theater and a school there.
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What were the lessons that you learned at Chicago that you bought to Charlotte?
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You know, so much besides obviously technique all that will always apply similarly, but it is such a different marketplace.
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One of the things I learned was you can't act like you're in Chicago and Charlotte.
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You can't act like you're in Chicago anywhere.
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It's a whole different level of play.
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It's a different expectation.
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It's a different audience expectation.
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What I learned was to stay adaptable.
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And what I learned was to not.
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I learned some things from Chicago that I didn't want to do in Charlotte.
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In Chicago, because it is an actress town, it is someplace that's a little bit more competitive.
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I wanted to have more of that kind of what I loved about the clubhouse field at IO.
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I wanted to expand upon that.
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Or even at denoance.
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I wanted to expand them on that and make it even more so this safe place because that's what really improv gave me was the safe place to be an explorer and be myself.
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And and welcome others of all different types.
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So I think I learned that I wanted to create something that got rid of kind of the competition aspect or the feeling like you're in high school and are these levels.
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Or to feel like you had audition to get to the next level.
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I wanted that gone.
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So I really learned from the Chicago stuff what I didn't want.
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And also what I did want.
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So I could kind of cultivate my own thing and not make it like, you know, a repeat of anything that existed in Chicago.
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But take the elements that were beautiful.
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And and and really focus on those.
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Because no matter what you're teaching improv skills, that's always going to be consistent.
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But what is the environment that you want?
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And that's the thing I really focused on was having a healthy, healthy environment where I talked.
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And let's talk a little about your book improv shaman.
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Do you take some very familiar improv terms and kind of discuss them in the book?
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And there's there's concepts and themes that run through it.
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And one theme I think is to me is finding your voice or you say being more vulnerable, being more authentic.
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How do you do that in a group?
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Oh, there's.
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That's a very good question.
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There's so many ways and I guess it would depend on whatever group we're talking about.
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You know, there are some places that you can.
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Well, I'll say how I do it.
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Especially with like new students, for instance, I got a room full of new students and they're terrified and I'm being structured.
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So I'm already in this power position to them.
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I come in and carry this space of acceptance, just with me.
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And I also love to do exercises about just like kind of calling on all of our humanity and how we're alike.
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Like my exercise will always start off with, you know, what are things that are bothering you right now and then going around and like, what are things that you want to say you're going to create in your life.
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And then really getting to human stuff right away.
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I don't go around and ask people like, what do you do for living and why do you want to get out of this class? Because we all hate that.
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I immediately talk about those things. I also created exercises like, you think that's bad, which is where we all give up our most embarrassing moments and we go around the circle and compete as to who's been more embarrassed in public.
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How would that game work?
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The game of you think that's bad.
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So I would say like I split my pants on stage because I weighed 280 pounds. You think that's bad. And then you, right. And then I would say you think that's bad.
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I drank too much night before and had seafood and had an explosive episode at a car max while shopping for my daughter's car.
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You think that's bad. You know, my family wouldn't let me speak at my dad's funeral.
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That's how I know I'm going to hug you and that's what happens.
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So we all go, you think that's bad. But then you have the most really, oh, because then it'll go. We will share more and more.
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You think that's bad. I had, I was married two times and neither time could I have children. I only have children out of wedlock.
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You think that's bad. I had my first, my only child at 52.
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So we would go around like that. It probably in a circle. I would imagine, right.
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Or people can volunteer because some people may not be ready to share.
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And I never put pressure on anybody because the next time we play it or something else they may be willing to at that point.
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I also give so much room for comfort level when I teach because really, and it's just a way I raise my kids.
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I'm not trying to raise a successful child as far as like make sure you have a good, you know, you make this much money and have a 401k.
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I want them to like themselves. I want them to love themselves because a person who loves themselves loves the world and takes care of it and takes care of themselves.
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So I want my students to feel safe above all else. I want them to feel comfortable and that they belong more than anything else.
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Anybody can teach skills and some people can it may or may not get the skills based on what they're capable of doing, but to feel safe and comfortable is key to me.
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And then I'm setting the garden. I'm putting in the fertilizer for all the rest of the growth.
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But yeah, I think that's very necessary. So like games like that that I like to play because it's fun and everybody laughs.
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And then you know each other's human beings. I also start to warm up just happen oddly where I have people go around and introduce themselves in a new environment and then give everybody a compliment and then it's stopped them really shortly.
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And say, wasn't that awful? And they're like, yes. And I'm like, did you compliment everybody on their hair or they're closer like, yes, I said, OK, see how.
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How would that game, how would that game work? We be in a circle.
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So we'll do the first part of it. And I'll tell you the cool. Well, then we can do the second part of it.
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It's like, if I had, I'm forced to now introduce myself to you like I don't know you. So nice to meet you. I'm Kelly. And I love your glasses. They really look good on you.
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Thank you. And I'm Jimmy. Do I introduce myself to you? Yes. I'm Jimmy and I really like your glasses too.
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Thank you. So now we have both compliment each other at a very superficial level, which is I will bring up and say that's what the world has taught us to think of each other and and as much as we feel comfortable with like anything more is very difficult.
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So now I change it to to something that's totally different from that. I'll say, OK, let's introduce each other like we will endow each other with some sort of amazing thing about the last time we met we know each other.
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And somehow you struck with me because of this thing. So I could do it with you now. I was like, Jimmy, oh my God, is I can't believe I'm seeing you right now.
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Like the last time I saw you is when you flip the car off of me and drug me to the hospital over your shoulder. I can't even thank you enough. You are real. I just thought you were an angel.
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Oh my God, Kelly. It's so great to see you. The last time I saw you. It was there was 10,000 people in the audience and you gave this Ted talk. And I've listened to Ted talks, but that Ted talk really, really inspired me and changed my life.
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Thank you so much. No, thank you. No, thank you. I couldn't do that to talk if it wasn't for you saving my life.
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Well, I mean, you saved my life twice, you know, and compared to thank you. I just want to thank you.
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Let's send each other gifts. Shall we? Yes.
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So the part where I get the comment, the compliment part, the part where we then do like a made up thing like we just did the Ted talk and me taking the car off you.
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What is that? What is that accomplished?
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I think what it can. Well, and also later on, I'll go to a step where once they're more comfortable, we'll do it again. And I'll add the step of now compliment the person as you know them to be later on.
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Okay, great. So how would that happen? I see the bridge is missing here, but I don't do that for a couple more weeks. Then I'll do bridge like every time I'm around you, you let the room, you know, they can start going to to greater experiences.
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So I just I kind of jumped up to the fun. Like isn't it more fun now I'm going to remember you as a person who saved me and you remember me as the Ted talks person and then we've already formed this kind of magical pretend bond, which is really what improv is all about is we make up these stories.
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And we can we give it to that that cast that other person and now we're doing it purposely as an introduction and I alluded to when we do scenes, we're doing the same thing we're giving these these stories to our scene partner and delighting in it and accepting it and moving forward.
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So it's kind of like even in the introductions is the first time I teach them just in play and in their nervousness to go ahead and doubt each other with things and then to take that on and to like let go of who they feel the responsible to to to introduce themselves as you know if I come as like I'm Kelly Selmsberg and I run Charlotte comedy theater it all feels awkward and strange.
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So we go into the pretend world and take that awkwardness away and then a week or two later we'll go into here's how you impact me like kind of on a more real level.
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So we've got to know each other in class and you know I really like playing with you because you agree a lot on stage or I really feel supported up there because you go with everything I give you.
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Yeah, I love being on stage with you because you make eye contact me right away and I have a feeling that I can move on the moment I see you on stage.
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Well, I love you on stage because you play so real and it's just so comfortable.
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There's there's another thing you talk about in the book and it's kind of repeated too and that is taking care of yourself is an improviser and I think if you were in Chicago in the 90s that wasn't a lesson that we learned necessarily.
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So how does taking care of yourself and if you before I asked this next question what does taking care of yourself mean off stage for an improviser.
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Well, that can go to you know the basics of basics of self care you know honoring your body knowing when you're tired knowing when you need food knowing when you're being too hard on yourself when you're sick you know it has it's moved a lot you know we've learned so much through COVID and still to this day there's a lot of messages I'm giving my students my cast about self care because it's changed because it's so much more dynamic now you know mental health self care has come in.
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Into play and in conversations self care about knowing when something's kind of off boundaries for you or triggering for you there was no concept or talk about triggering you played with whoever you played with and they treated you the way they treated you especially as a female or a person of color or a by-packed person you didn't get to say that really just that did not feel good to me you know so self care as a person is knowing your boundaries in the outside world.
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And being able to your physical emotional spiritual boundaries in the outside world and setting those and sticking with those and then also having those on stage if you need to have those on stage and us all honoring that for each other there are a lot of people that have said I sorry couldn't come to class or whatever I was sad and depressed and ball of ice and you do what you need to do to take care of you but I will tell you.
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Some of my most sad depressed days I showed up anyway you can sit in the back and roll on the floor if you want but feel free to come and not feel like you have to give anything to this theater to this class you can just be here and receive from us and that's a lot of messages people don't get that it's okay to receive and just be in the environment not feel like you have to be on or not give but sometimes taking care of yourself is just being around people that inspire you and not being required to do anything for that.
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Well that also speaks of another theme in your book and that is your enough.
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And I think when it that goes back to the first thing you asked me is like early on you said how did this feel like you're tried is that when I start improvising and whether it was on stage I had a crappy show or just hanging out I felt like I was enough in this environment.
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I was an improviser's build on what is so since we build on what is whoever comes to me as a student or who I who I came as as a student was enough and then we take whoever Kelly was or Kelly is now and I get to I get to build on that in every moment in every scene where I can just be something else entirely but who you are is enough the the experience you have as I say is I luckily have all like right now Jimmy I have all your experience to my disposal.
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I have to live it in order to have that I'm grateful for that you don't want to live mine either to have that experience so I think a lot of that you know goes back to.
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This community in why I wrote the book is I think this community is a very special community I think it's a very sacred community to me the only other time I felt like part of a team was in the military and that was a whole different thing that we were trying to accomplish.
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But you have that leave no person behind I've got your back you know that the mentality of like we make each other look good it's just not found anywhere else on such a broad scale as this work and I think it is so beautiful and so sacred and I think it is so healing and I wish you know we could teach it to you know Congress in the Senate I wish it was more broad of this mentality that we have and that that's the enoughness that's the building on whatever.
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There is instead of tearing down each other or creating that enoughness and that not enoughness which everything else in our society does including teachers you know are being graded from a young age you know ABCD it tells you where you are even if you may be neurodivergent or may have other learning abilities so yeah I think I think this work and the people who do it.
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Are all about making people feel enough.
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And part of yeah is there an exercise that you do that makes people besides your attitude about it that that brings home that point that you're enough.
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You know when I use a lot which is such a simple one and I know everybody every every improv teacher knows this one is the Oracle or doctor know it all I just like the Oracle and you're sure you're familiar with it is where it gets gets to just say one word and then build on each one right so it would be like if we were an expert on dating we would it's we would we would each take one word like a one word cent so if I asked the question to the Oracle.
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Or doctor know it all what's the best place to go on a first date we would say I think that you should go to Starbucks okay so that and how does that how does that a complex when you do it enough and you of course you have to talk it down you can't just do that and go now you all feel like you're enough right I wish it was that instant because we'd be doing it for therapy all the time right then I would then I would feel enough because I've done it plenty of time.
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Yeah well I think it's going are not enoughness is based on our own expectation we have to handle the whole thing right the whole piece of this answer because I'll ask things like when should children be space why are women better drivers than men I ask questions that people are going to have an attitude they're going to have a thing about they're going to want to finish the whole thing they're going to have the answer they want to be right.
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And then we do it in times of these didn't you see how fun that was it didn't have to be right it didn't have to have one opinion to it and you didn't have to take on the whole thing which means the little bit that you contribute to whatever you are giving your piece of energy right now it's just one word.
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But in your work day it might be this product or this project with your kids it might be reading this book but that one thing is what you contribute to the energy of your life and that is enough because other people build on the rest you are not the only person creating a happy home you're not the only person event or thing creating an effective and good work life you are not you only have this little piece and if you can remember that part of your life is just one word.
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It's just the right now being in love with what's in front of you right now and serving that moment and serving with all that you have there right now that's your one word.
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Because that exercise breaks it down you can only listen pay attention to what's going on around you and give your thing and sometimes it's very limited what we can give I mean right now we know we feel pretty powersless in a lot of ways but what can I do right now you know like an
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social political aspect I can give money to ACLU right now that's the love that I can offer.
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Well the other thing you talk about in your book is being in the moment and and really improv to me I don't care what you're teaching what kind of style it all comes down to being in the moment and you talk about in your book for things that get in the way of being in the moment can you can you talk about that for us.
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So I kind of when I do this in front of a class I will stand and go imagine me in a circle and if I stand to the left this is me judging others they're not good enough they're too good they're so good I can't be good I can't shine because they shine anything this is standing outside the circle then I'll go to the right of the circle I say this is me judging myself I'm not enough I'm not good enough I'm too fat I'm too whatever we we want to
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hurt ourselves with there's also in the past thinking in the past all step backwards and see if I step in the past I'm not really reliving the past but I can bring a trauma to where I'm feeling right now.
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Something from the past because I'm thinking about it in this moment it's not happening to me now but I'm experiencing this moment this fear failure for instance or I can be step in the front and say or I can be in the in the part of the future going man I hope this teacher really thinks I'm good and I get to be on a team I hope that
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you know I marry somebody worthy of me or anything and you can bring those emotional expectations to the present moment but then I step back in a circle and I said no matter what you're doing really this is the only time that exists you will feel everything right now you can't feel anything in the past is gone you can remember when you felt it can't feel
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something in the future is not there and that judgment is going to push you in or out of your body but right now if you give all your time energy emotion and passion to loving and I do say loving this moment even sometimes when they're hard moments because if you love it you're going to you're going to go through it with a kind of compassion to get through it and to serve it sometimes we have to serve and be there for things that we don't enjoy you know
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like recently I've been sick I didn't enjoy it at all but I had to serve that moment and that that had to happen I love my focus and attention and that's that that being in the moment so yeah so the the past the person over really exists it's only what you feel about them now right which we love to conjure to do great improv scenes right to bring that energy and emotion whatever you're feeling right now so they can feel it
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and judging yourself just pulls you out because you're thinking about performance generally right there's your and I don't just mean on stage I mean our performance is a human being and we're supposed to be you know Dell actually in one of his classes I remember him saying he telling the story about how he he woke up from a dream and this is one of the one things I will always remember
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he said I woke up from a dream and and the thing was in the dream I was I was flying and I was like peddling in the air to keep myself flying and then the farther I got away from Chicago the more I couldn't tell where I was I couldn't see the buildings anymore I couldn't tell the landmarks all I knew is that I had to keep going to stay afloat but I couldn't see landmarks to see what my progress was anymore and to me that was such a great metaphor about life is that you know when you're really flying you don't have any landmarks you're out on your own I mean there's there's not something you're doing good we have we have these
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ideas that would graduate college you're doing good if you get married you're doing you know like there's these small landmarks that our society has but when you're flying you're going past those
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and then you just have to keep going just just keep going you're not going to have anything to tell you that you're doing a good job anymore you're but you're flying
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you know I think that's what living is you're still you're still here we're still kicking nothing's going to tell you you doing a good job you just got to feel it keep going
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you know what do you tell improvisers because I think a lot of improvisers fall into this trap that if they don't make a team or they get cut from a team that they're not making progress
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I think that's the delivery of it as well I mean you know of course we've had that in and our space to and we generally you know as a principle will offer to support it because to me I feel like if they didn't get there it's my job to get in there I am their teacher or this is our training center so
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we offer like putting back in other places are working with a different instructor you know but there's sometimes when I think when people can't it's up to the instructor training institution to say you know you have gotten a lot out of this is you've gotten what this is going to be for you to serve you there there are other things evidently that you still
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will want to work on that you want to go forward with but you we got you here you know what else do you feel like you need to do or need to accomplish not everybody's going to be an improviser not everybody can let that go on stage and that's usually the thing that I see holding people back as they're still trying to protect themselves when they're on stage and I recently started saying you know when you walk on stage you're stepping into a story book get in there you know step fully into it really enjoy the magic of this moment you've been taking classes
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you've gone to rehearsals today you showered you reserve time you brought friends to come to this show when you step on that stage and as soon as you hear something that starts creating the world that you're living in step fully into it and enjoy it and embrace it and take this time to really play because you have with my our shows are an hour and a half you have an hour and a half of your week or month or my often you play to really immerse yourself into this beautiful pretend magical space that we've all created do it enjoy it and then everybody lights up and there a lot more like
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yes let's play and what you're saying what you're saying is and it's something that I struggle is a performer and I think I'm eventually getting better as a teacher is focusing on the positive stuff that you're doing
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yeah and there are some people that you know every once in a while you're going to have you know a train wreck student that literally is like this is probably mental health issue not an improv issue you know I can do what I can do I'm an improv teacher you know
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for general say you know I think that there's other things that that in you were your path for you and then
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probably serve you as much as it can and and and you have something if you continue to do this you're not
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going to be spending your time and money on whatever it is you should be doing but I think you should
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investigate that because this is served you as much as it can and you've gone as far as you can in
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this and and you've done a great job because this was a big thing for you to take on and for everybody it
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is everybody is a level when students you know shaking and we're not knowing what they're what we're going to do and halfway
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through it is just like thank you for letting me you know trusting enough to do these weird exercises we have them do you know I've got to do it and
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everyone's well say I understand while you're doing like say monster machine slow mo riot or something like I know you have a
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degree and you're wondering what's happened to your life that this is what you're doing right now but trust me you know I
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know I'm sorry I'm sorry yeah it is it is the positive what is what is going right well I think improvisers have
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a tendency to beat themselves up you know I didn't do this right I didn't do this right I didn't do this
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right and and what I'm learning is like that doesn't really make people better now it's the same thing
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uh you know as your life path you didn't I say this you're not doing it right compared to who if
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there was somebody living your exact life from your same parents same genetic code right next to you
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this got a better credit for than you then you might good judge yourself but but there's nobody ever living your
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experience nobody is doing this scene for you in this moment right now with whatever you have on your mind
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or whatever the scene partner gave you or whether you're too hot or thought you had to pee whatever that moment is
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gone and it's so unique to you that that moment even happened let it go move on you know we do say I'm not
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where I should be and I hear that a lot especially at our age you know I don't have a lot of money
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put away or whatever I'm just gonna trust all the R.A. but the thing is nobody's ever been Kelly
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Summersburg before you know I'm charting new territory I'm learning about it all the time you know
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and sometimes much to my dismay but I say that too about scenes like the great thing about our art is
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it goes away you know what's that scene's over the only reason it's still there is because you are
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now in the past holding the memory of a scene that didn't work out instead of getting back and
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giving all your love to this moment which is now a new scene where you have to edit for the next scene
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but we need you present now let that go it's gone and nobody else is gonna remember it but you
spk_0
well you you bring up an interesting point that I think I struggle with and improvise or struggle with is
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you do let's say you go out in your head right you make a mistake maybe you you deny or you walk
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through an object or something like that and now you're beating yourself up right because you
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you feel you screwed up how do you let go of that and then go back to the moment and the love you talk
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about that is a conscious effort it's no different than realizing that yourself talk is like
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abusive and every time you have these such like wow why am I so mean to myself you know I drop
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something I called myself stupid in my head you know that you start monitoring the thoughts that
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happen in your head and you go that and start changing those thoughts and I think we most people
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have had to go through that is really seeing how you're treating yourself and talking to yourself
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and that's that same voice that says you screw that scene up you know you know technically you may
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have screwed the scene up we all know as improvisers there's no screwing up a scene we can make fun of
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the fact you you that object you and this is why I talk to them I tell people as students we
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time travel so you could have thought you messed up that scene let's say it was a second scene
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and you you denied that person or you walk through an object five scenes later we could refer to
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that make it whole layer-yous and make a call back to it that will make it funny that will give it new
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meaning that'll give it death you don't know what you're doing in this moment how it's going to serve
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you later so how do you know it was a failure you know you having children out in wedlock probably
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at that time seem like like could have been a great failure for me I couldn't have changed it for
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the world there's a lot of things I think we we've all had happened where we're like oh I wish I had
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gotten that job you find out later the best thing that happened you didn't get that job or we think
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we failed or made mistake in life and it ended up being the thing that served us most to be the more
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happy authentic person same thing with the scene you can't value that scene while you're in it or
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while when you just got done with it you have no idea the context of that scene because it's part
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of a whole just like any decision you make is part of the whole story of your life so it really is
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just that one word so I get out of like I can't judge it right now right now I've got to give my
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love to what's happening now which is I'm beating myself up I like okay stop that what's happening
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around me and that's one way to get back to center it's a way that people also stop having panic
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attacks is what is around me oh I'm in the middle of a live show right now my job is to make my
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scene partners look good and now I'm focusing on me and my bad thing instead of them being on stage
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that may need an edit or walk on or to be left alone but that's up to me to focus on them which is
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this is the energy of what's happening and I think that's back to loving the moment is you catch
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yourself you love yourself that moment go I want me beating myself up wait a minute let me get back
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to the base so it is it's a practice and a choice to get back to center to go hey in this moment
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where do I need to be well it's interesting how you you you describe it because it's almost like
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an out of body experience like someone would experience trauma and what you're saying is ground
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get grounded you know look around just feel your feet on the floor take a deep breath you know get
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get back center and and and and is that I'm I that's true we've all been traumatized whether it's
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you know really horrible traumas but we all have we're all walk around like you know that's why
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this is like I consider this a medicine and it's great medicine for that it brings you back to
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center and also brings you in service of others you know we take care of each other um and to go oh
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this is not just about me and what I think about myself and guess what all those people in the
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audience are not thinking about you they're thinking about whether they're having a good time
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and laughing and I even remind my players has said you're in service because those people for an
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hour and a half aren't going to worry about their bullshit job or the horrible things going in their
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life you are going to take them on a magical journey and that's the beauty of how you're serving in
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this world and we're having a good time with our friends you know uh what what do you what do you
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when you tell people you're in service what is what does that mean service to the audience service
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to the player service I think to to all including the audience because in that moment it's not about
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and this is where I think a lot of performers may get it wrong or may may find themselves
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getting nervous and this will help me because I had a terrible sage fight is I'm here to offer
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a view of my life and my creativity and that of my teams and everything we've been working on
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and how we can communicate together out of nothing I'm offering that to a people who have never seen
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that kind of thing happen or rarely um or it only happens in this environment I'm offering that
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to you to see that human beings can work together and adults can play and all the beautiful things
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of improv I'm offering to that I'm giving my energy of that to my art to the audience the audience
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doesn't owe me anything by coming it's not their job to laugh at me or feed me energy it's and
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luckily they do most of the time and it's reciprocal because it's an energy exchange between us
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and the audience that's why we like doing live stuff and being on zoom the whole time was not
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wonderful we didn't get the same exchange but we have to remember it starts with us coming out and
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giving it to the audience they're they're not knowing what's going on I like this when I teach
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people how to host is I say imagine you're bringing people into your house and generally you know
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them but they bring friends with them and boyfriends and girlfriends you don't know and you're showing
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them around you're like this cooler has beer this has non-alcoholic stuff here's what the bathrooms
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are wiggle the hall bathroom if you flush it so when you when you have a show you're showing people
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around your house you're showing people this is what we work on this is what how we play this is
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how we create this is how we process what's going on in the world in our time is through the vehicle
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of improvisation and we're going to give that to you and then they're like yay and they give that
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back to us but if we start out wanting the audience to approve of us that's a different power dynamic
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and then you are already in a powerless seat well it's almost a spiritual principle you're talking
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about if you want the love back if you want the response back you need to give it first right and
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I think so many of us go around the world wanting it to fulfill us and it's what I call a different
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book I'm working on is it's called the difference between being an inside out person and outside
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in person so if you are an outside in person you're waiting for the outside world to fill you which
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also means all the politics and drama and crazy stuff that are going on are really going to push you
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around you're really going to feel like I can't function the world because it's crazy well yeah it's
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crazy but it doesn't have to destroy you so you can function as a light within it so the inside
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out people's like I'm being grounded in myself and I'm here to give to this world I was born I'm
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going to die and in the middle my job is to give as much as I can to this world in whatever way I
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can in the way Kelly can which is doing weird stuff on stage but I'm inside out so I'm going to
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make sure of me well I think that speaks to another concept in your book and that is not worrying
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about what other people think because if you're worried about for me I'd always struggle
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outside validation if I get fame if I get an acid comp I'm going to be I'm going to be fine but
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but to not compare or really worry about what other people think about you how were you able to
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overcome that well you know there are many students go you know Amy Polarova I cash
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she's like well you're not famous I'm like oh that's a slide okay to yeah right I'm like uh um
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because I believe firmly because I think if you if you really push being in your authentic space
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and doing what makes your heart sing you're doing exactly what you're supposed to be doing and I
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believe that each person comes with with some energy they're supposed to give to the world and like
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Jimmy you doing this podcast it's you getting this information out to people this is you doing
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in your skill set what you're supposed to do and to me what matters is not being famous because
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I wouldn't want that I don't want everybody knowing about the stupid things I do uh I want to serve
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my community I want to uh make wayward children like myself feel like they are loved and they have a
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place and they can come be themselves and I've created that and maybe not with intention at first I'm
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sure not I just need people to play with so I was mentally sane um I think if we really are following
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our heart and not what society tells us is valuable but what is valuable to us then we will find the
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thing in which we can serve and we will be happy and that is success it is absolute success and I think
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because I lived a successful life and it was miserable I know the difference now I feel it in my body
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when I teach a class uh when I'm running around on stage or even doing the stuff that takes to
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get on stage and vacuuming the theater whatever I feel that I am in service of this world the best
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way that I can be with my skills and even my brokenness and even my trauma everything that is me
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this my experience comes out in its fullest and best light through being an improviser and I can
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you know that that is I'd love to have the money maybe but it is it's not they're doing what
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they're good at they're doing what they're calling us or they wouldn't be there I think we're all
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we're supposed to be as long as we don't feel that you know horrible feeling that we're not you know
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I mean you're serving in the way that you're supposed to so we got to wrap this up and before we
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end each episode we always ask the same question let's see if I can remember it and that is what
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one piece of advice would you give to an improviser starting out today I would say my most important
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advice would be kind of what we talked about today is be kind to yourself and and be around the
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people or the teachers or the institution that make you feel welcomed and safe to where you can
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learn because that's the beginning of all of it and feel free to play and explore I know that
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there's absolutely not just an improviser but in life there really is no failure at all is
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something in which to build upon and create more from so being that place of like love and co-creation
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love yourself and the people around you and just go for it Kelly Semmel's burger thank you so much
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for being our guest on Improvner thank you so much I loved it and there you have another great
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episode of Improvnerd I'd like to thank our guest Kelly Semmel's burger she is the author of
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the new book Improv shaman the transformative journey of divine play it also like to thank my
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producer Dan Schiffmacher he's the one who makes me sound so slick and so professional if it wasn't
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for Dan you wouldn't be hearing my voice right now if you want more information about me Jimmy
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Karan in my award-winning artist low comedy workshops and classes both online and in person
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and intensive go to my website Jimmy Karan.com also sign up for the Improvnerd blog slash newsletter
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I write a blog every probably almost every week tips on improv tips on life insights about my life
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and how crazy I am it's great to be on the mailing list it also gives you information about
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my workshops and classes so go to my website Jimmy Karan.com like our Improvnerd Facebook page
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we're on all the social media we're on the Instagram and we're on the Twitter and so find us there
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also I want to thank you very much for listening and until next time remember walk don't run
Topics Covered
artist's low comedy
improv workshop Chicago
improv method
vulnerable improv exercises
Kelly Semmel's burger
Improv Shaman book
improv community
Chicago improv scene
improv classes
transformative journey
improv techniques
finding your tribe
improv in the 90s
Charlotte Comedy Theatre
improv for corporate training