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 some light on how their brains work. You can also check our Improviser’s Glossary for explanations of some terms and concepts.
Extra-Strength’s Brian O’Connell is a familiar face to anyone who frequents the iO West Theatre in Los Angeles, where he runs the bar and seems to appear in every other show, including Dr. God, Tigerpants and MUD. Brian also wrote, directed and starred in the independent feature KILLER VIEW.
When did you start improvising?
I started improvising on March 3rd, 2003. I remember distinctly it being that date as I had seen my first ever show in January and wanted to sign up immediately but had missed the registration at iOWest. I’ve never left.
What do you like about long-form versus short-form improv?
Basically, short-form’s not my cup of tea because I don’t find it particularly challenging or dangerous for either the audience or the performer. Normally, when people ask me why I don’t perform short-form improvisation, I’ll respond, “Because I can’t do a short form show about ‘betrayal’.” It’s a polite way of saying that it’s not my bag without offending my friends who really adore short-form.
What do you do to warm up?
Nothing. Check in with your fellow teammates. Take the temperature of their mood. See who really needs this show tonight. Maybe chat a little bit about what we would like to accomplish as a team, i.e. “Let’s really try and listen to each other tonight.” If I’m the guest on a team or if it’s a particularly new team that I don’t know the players as well and they want to warm up, I will oblige, but I’m firmly in the camp that believes that your whole life is your warm up. You either showed up to f’ing do this or not. Warm ups are for cowards and communists.
What’s your favorite character(s) you’ve played to date?
I’m currently in love with an Eccentric Billionaire character as eccentric billionaires can get away with literally anything. But he, along with the similar Big Game Hunter, needs to take a break. My favorite will always be Azagthoth Christslayer. He’s a 10-year old dark lord and evil genius who still loves everything about being a kid.
What shows/performers do you like to watch?
Oh, boy. There are a lot. I’m currently studying the female performers I really admire like, Zabeth Russell and Jill Alexander, as I’m trying to expand my repertoire of female characters. Anyone who knows both of us can tell that I’m literally Miles Stroth Jr. and I don’t deny it at all. I’m fortunate that I get to play with most of my favorite performers (I can watch Dave Park and Brendan McLoughlin go for hours; probably why The Lusty Horde is my favorite show to watch as well). My favorite to watch right now is Drew Coolidge. It’s like watching Derek Jeter in the minors. Once he puts it all together and becomes self-aware without succumbing to that knowledge, it’s over. He’ll be better than all who came before him.
What do you see as your greatest strength/weakness as an improviser?
Well, in all honesty, I don’t feel that I’m particularly very good. I abhor compliments, as I’m terrified that if I ever start to believe my own press, I’ll stop pushing to improve. The two may be related or not, I don’t know. But I honestly don’t think I’m very good at this craft.
Has being an improviser had any impact on your career?
Absolutely. Aside from a few diehard friends from film school, just about everyone I know in this industry is through iOWest. It really is a ridiculous amount of talent in one place. I get called in to so many commercial auditions for my improv training. I booked one in September that I would NEVER have gotten if I didn’t have this skill set. I wrote, directed and sold my debut feature film based on the realism in the story that was heavily reliant on improvisation.
What advice would you offer someone who’s new to improv?
Start early. Never give up as it is one of the few things you will find in your life that you can do until you are very, very old and still learn something every day which is incredibly rewarding. There are no “good” or “bad” improvisers; there are only improvisers and more confident improvisers. Fear is for suckers.
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?
Listening. It’s unbelievably frustrating to participate in or watch a scene where one performer completely misses the point of why the other person wanted to be out there in the first place. Not only listen to what I said but how I said it. What context was it said in? There is a certain school of thought in improv that “Everything is a gift! Isn’t it wonderful that we make up anything at anytime?!? Isn’t that the point of improv?” And the answer is, no. That is not the point. I’m only going to say this once: that theory of this art form is 100% utter, unadulterated horseshit and you are a dick. Now I’m stuck holding a sausage instead of my rifle because you weren’t listening and were trying to be cute. Asshole.
What inspires you and/or informs your improv?
There is a moment in the movie Alien Nation where Mandy Patinkin (as the alien) tries to explain how the aliens are fascinated by the human race; how humans set a wonderful moral standard that at the same time they seem horribly incapable of reaching in themselves. I look for flaws; for the wonderfully horrible.
What do you look for in a coach or teacher?
Just give it to me straight and help me get better. Let’s not waste each other’s time. If I thought I was perfect or needed pats on the head, I wouldn’t be here.
What’s the worst scene you’ve ever done (or seen)?
I’ve been in dozens of awful scenes but what really eat my guts alive are shows where there was a missed opportunity. It was there for the taking and we didn’t take it to that next level. I don’t want your laughter. I want to bring out things in the performance where the audience is so passionate about what occurred that it affects the rest of their lives. I want a person to come up to me months after a show and say, “I divorced my husband/wife because I couldn’t believe they thought/felt that way about that scene. It’s like I realized I married a monster.” I could die happy then.
Have you ever been embarrassed by anything you’ve done on stage?
I regret nothing.
Do you have any “no fly zones?”
Everything is fair game. Rape can be funny. So can leukemia. I also like everything being fair game because horrible people will reveal themselves on stage. I love watching and saying to myself, “Holy Shit! This guy is super racist and you can tell he’s stunned that no one is laughing.”
Do you ever get stage fright?
Nope. I love hecklers too. Bring it on, dipshit. I make up shit for a living.
High or Low status?
I usually like low status geniuses. Hobos with philosophy degrees are interesting.
Straight or Absurd?
Straight man gets most of the laughs and does less than half of the work. But I also like to play robots and dinosaurs.
Preferred Opening?
Don’t dig ‘em. I will offer $1 million to the person who will assassinate the “standing in a straight line/semi-circle and taking turns saying a word” opening.
Favorite Improv Form?
Deconstruction is simply the greatest improv form ever invented and it’s not even a close race.
Favorite Line You’ve Ever Said?
“Case of Natural Light, pack of Marborlo Reds… picture of a black man swimming back to Africa with a Jew under each arm.” I like wearing the skin of truly awful human beings and playing them realistically: child molesters, rapists and serial killers. That line is from a scene where someone asked a Southern racist what he really would like to see on a crafts services table. It got me nominated for a Del Award and you can hear a guy on the video scream “Oh, My God!” like he couldn’t help it. THAT’S what I want.
[...] Alexander is a long-time friend of EXTRA-STRENGTH. Conroy DJed her wedding, and both he and O’Connell called her out in their Performer Profiles as someone who they look to as a constant source of [...]