Twice a month Extra-Strength News features “Performer Profiles” where we ask 20 Questions to notable improvisers from around the country to get their thoughts and insights into the art form and shed light on how their brains work. You can also check our Improviser’s Glossary for explanations of some terms and concepts.
EXTRA-STRENGTH’s Travis Guba is more than just our treasured teammate, video guru and token blond. He’s a classically trained actor (like, really classically) and improviser with too many film, TV & commercial credits to count, and despite appearing to easily be able to take your head off in a bar fight (assuming he’s standing on said bar, or perhaps wearing stilts) he’s also one of the nicest guys you could ever have the pleasure of knowing.
When did you start improvising?
I took some classes at L.A. Theatersports in 1991 and I was hooked. When I was studying acting there were always opportunities for improv, but it was when I was at the Experimental Theater Wing of NYU that I was introduced to completely different styles of improv. Whether it was doing Meisner exercises or exploring Viewpoints movement or mask work or clown work. It was all enjoyable to me. It was a real downer when I did a regular play because things were more set in stone and I got bored 3 weeks into rehearsal. Especially when I was working with someone passionately against improvising. *A big shout out to the Delaware School of Acting on that note. *
I’ve found that strict dialogue or blocking can make it harder to create a performance with the kind of vitality that comes from discovering something on the spot. I’ve figured out what I truly love about performance: being so utterly present in that moment of discovery and sharing that experience with a group of people who would follow you into the darkest spots of your mind. It doesn’t always happen, but it’s awesome when it does!
What do you like about long-form versus short-form improv?
I like them both, but I feel that long-form has so much more room for scenes that are funny because they are truthful. Those are my favorite laughs. Long-form contains some short-form elements, so you have to have some ability to play in a quick manner when necessary and it adds a nice pacing variety to a piece. I suppose I think of long-form as a whale and short-form as the fish that it just ate whole.
What do you do to warm up?
The day of the show I listen to or read things that get my mind working in a deeper way, like a radio show or a book that I think has a great narrative. We’re so inundated with pop culture and gossip on a daily basis that I want to feed myself something bigger than that type of trivia. Don’t get me wrong – I still drink that stuff up too, but if I want my improv worlds to be bigger than I need to feed my brain something stimulating. Then I meet up with the team before the show to have a drink and I’ll throw out some weird shit I just learned. Then I encourage myself to fail brilliantly so I’m not trying to constantly “get it right” on stage. Other times I just go into the green room bathroom, take out my enormous penis, look myself straight in the eyes and repeat “you are a superstar” for about 15 minutes. However someone recently raised the mirror in that bathroom about a foot which means now I have to bring a step-stool. It kind of sucks to have to drag around a step-stool.
What’s your favorite character(s) you’ve played to date?
I played Peter Pan’s out-of-shape shadow in a Mr. Falcon show. I don’t know why it tickled me so, but there was just something about the idea that your shadow could do its own thing. My take on the shadow was he hung out on the couch way too much, liked a good chunk of cheddar on occasion and was not a particularly big fan of kids – especially that whiny fucker Peter. I don’t know how much of that came through in my performance, but that’s what I was thinking.
I also play lots of animals and demented mimes, which I enjoy a great deal. I’ve done a fair amount of clowning and I love it when I can pull that stuff out of the toolbox. In a recent Extra-Strength show I played an impatient and finicky vulture waiting for the two main characters in the scene to die so I could eat them. Brian O’Connell partnered with me for a 3 minute lazzi with two vultures preparing for a discerning seven-course meal.
What shows/performers do you like to watch?
There are some fantastic teams playing at iO at the moment and not just on the Main Stage; there is some great work being done in The Loft and the Andy Dick Black Box. I really enjoy the quieter, more intimate shows that I see in The Loft. Especially a solid two-person show, the space really yields itself for that. In general, I love to see a group of people who have genuine affection for each other balanced with a sense of duty to the work. You can completely tell when people love and respect each other on stage. In part because there isn’t some big fat ego blocking the funny. That being said, “Beer Shark Mice,” “313,” “Quartet,” “MUD” and “Mr. Meesta” are all teams I enjoy(ed) watching.
What do you see as your greatest strength/weakness as an improviser?
I have a small nuclear fusion coil of energy and I move well. I also do plenty of accents and think I’m a pretty good dramatic actor too. My weakness is that I sometimes undermine the character for the joke instead of waiting a bit longer to discover something funnier and more honest. I can’t help it! It’s too damn tasty!
Has being an improviser had any impact on your career?
It keeps the muscles ready for auditions. The copy I get is often so over-vetted that it’s had all the life sucked out of it. Being able to improvise lets you throw your take onto something that would otherwise be unremarkable. I’ve booked several jobs directly from my ability to improv. I’ve also been paid more because I’ve had to improv on jobs. But, conversely, I’ve probably lost a few jobs from making stuff up. Sometimes they just want you to peel the fucking banana like a good monkey. However, I don’t know if that would have been an interesting job anyway.
I did an ad campaign for Staples recently that was all improv. Man-on-the-street stuff, acting as the character in real-life situations. It was the hardest damn job I’ve ever had. It was utterly exhausting to maintain that energy and point-of-view for that long and I am sure that if I didn’t keep working the muscles at iO I would have choked. After a week of shooting, I was drained of all desire to do improv for about a month.
The highlight of improv’s impact, however, would have to be the ESPN Zone spots I did a few years back called “Shelfball.” They presented us with an idea and we just riffed for a couple of days. The ad agency won a CLEO for writing the spots we improvised. They took full credit and pretended they wrote it. Nice.
What advice would you offer someone who’s new to improv?
See shows. Find stuff you like. Blatantly copy what you like in a show or rehearsal to see what it feels like in your body. Adjust it to your sense of truth. Then put it in your pocket for another day. Rinse. Repeat.
There’s a lot of “rules” to improv – which one(s) do you think is most important for a successful scene/show? Which one(s) do you see broken the most?
I really enjoyed Mick Napier’s explanation of the roots of improv rules in his book “Improvise.” I am grossly paraphrasing here, but the first chapter talks about how “rules” were invented to try to recreate an amazing improv performance. Nobody knew how it happened so they tried to organize and compartmentalize it to consistently get it “right.” They then discovered that while the improv sucked less, it was never great again. Rules are like training wheels. At a certain point you have to take them off or that fat kid in your class named Randy is going to mercilessly make fun of you.
What inspires you and/or informs your improv?
I love really weird and interesting cultural information that I can try to explore on stage. A great example of this was an Extra-Strength show where we were doing horrible, unspeakable things to the dead. I had heard this great “This American Life” about someone who was a watcher-for-hire for the Jewish dead. He got paid to watch the dead overnight in place of a family member or Rabbi. I am not Jewish and while this is not codified information, it is not something you would find out about in everyday pedestrian life. I thought, “Wow. Now there is a job that will probably do a number on your mind. Gotta play that guy sometime.” Four weeks later, Brian O’Connell was the corpse of a horrible pedophile in a freezer and I got to be my version of the watcher. A prayer shawl and a “tea bag” were employed that night.
My daughter also inspires me. Having kids is like rehearsing improv 24 hours a day. They are always changing and you need to find ways to continue to stimulate them as well as get the day-to-day banal stuff done. We have lots of puppets that I use or make up a silly voice-over. Now she’s at the age where I have to take a “suggestion” from her for a bedtime story and run with it. I’ve also created a cast of 20 for my daughter’s teeth. They each have their own POV, voice, and ideas. They each like to be brushed a certain way or an argument breaks out between me and the teeth. It’s a 15 minute process. She loves it… for now. At some point she will probably need therapy due to my insane ploy to pay as few dental fees as possible.
What do you look for in a coach or teacher?
Kind honesty with a healthy dose of unsentimental rigor. Someone who fosters courage and but kicks your ass when you hack it.
What’s the worst scene you’ve ever done (or seen)?
The worse scene I have ever been in – and I’ve been in it more than once – is the scene where I’m terrified to go on stage for some reason. I’ve had a few shows where I got so deep into my head that I stood in the wings and watched the show. Maybe came out for a single scene-paint that didn’t even serve the scene. It feels awful afterward. I’m also kind tired of shows that all take place in Hollywood and people are actors. Boring! Also scenes that use the phrase “Hey guys, remember that time when…” and it doesn’t serve the scene at all. But then they don’t SHOW it. A recent show I saw had that exact scenario 8 times in 10 minutes. I stopped counting after that because I couldn’t find the safety for the gun I’d placed in my mouth.
Have you ever been embarrassed by anything you’ve done on stage?
No, that ship sailed long ago.
Do you have any “no fly zones?”
Not a big fan of the open mouth kiss on stage. That’s how you get Mono people! I am also trying to steer away from stereotypes that are played out. I love nothing more than seeing a reversal on a scene that’s playing in that arena. You can dust a scene lightly with the obvious to lead the audience down a path of assumption and then spin it on them. I. LOVE. THAT. It’s smart play by a smart player.
Do you ever get stage fright?
Big time. It’s closer to anxiety. But the best shows always seem to be the 11pm slots on Christmas Eve when nobody gives a shit. I’m at my most relaxed.
High or Low status?
Both. I love kings who should NOT be in charge and pissboys who think they should be king. That dramatic tension is awesome… But I probably play High Status more.
Straight or Absurd?
Absurd.
Preferred Opening?
Organic. However “Organic” is defined since everybody describes it a different way. Please see response to “Rules” above.
Favorite Improv Form?
Depends on the group. But I like Deconstruction because it’s so challenging. I also like the freeflow of the Slacker.
Favorite Line You’ve Ever Said?
Huh? I’m an improviser. I forget 45 minutes after the show. If I could remember that shit I would be a writer.
