Spotlight on Yvette Rebik

Yvette loves to make people laugh! She's been with the Bovine Metropolis Theater since 2005 (Class #29) and has written and performed in 8 ACME sketch comedy shows. She just finished performing in "Biography" at the Bovine and is also a player there in "On the Spot" and the "Improv Royale" long form house team MooCrew. She also performs in various other improv groups around Denver and was in the Final 4 in "Denver's Next Improv Star". Yvette is also a teacher at the Bovine. Outside of the theater, you can catch her as Tizzy on The Dom and Jane Morning Show on MIX 100!

How were you first introduced to improvisation?

I’m from the Chicagoland area. I always watched “Saturday Night Live” with my family, and it became a tradition I especially always looked forward to. Once my mom saw how much I loved the show, she told me that a lot of the cast members came from The Second City in Chicago. She talked about how she’d seen shows there, and when I was old enough, I went with my parents to see as many shows there as possible before leaving for college at CU-Boulder. I was immediately hooked after seeing live shows.

After 3 years of college, I simply did a Google search! I had always wanted to try it, so when I was visiting back home in IL in the summer of 2005, I just looked up Denver improv classes. The Bovine Metropolis Theater’s site was first, so I clicked on that. I read about the theater and the program and was sold! I signed up for the next Level 1, and the rest is history. I’m a proud graduate of Bovine Class #29!

Last year, you performed in the Bovine's production of Denver's Next Improv Star. What did you take away from that experience?

That show was a crazy fun experience! The biggest thing I took away from that show was to be a confident player. Own what you can bring to the stage. Know your strengths and work on your weaknesses. The constructive criticism from the judges helped me with all of these, making me a better player at the end. I’m so happy I made it to the final 4!

You appear on the Dom and Jane show each morning on MIX 100. How has your improvisation training prepared you for being on the air every day?

My improv training is what got me my job, so it plays a huge role every day. We don’t script our show. We’ll brainstorm topics based off things going on in our lives, quirky stories we find in the news, listener e-mails, and other various sources. If someone comes up with a good topic, we’ll barely talk about it to keep it fresh for the next day’s show. Listening and thinking quick on my feet helps me so much with my job, and also being funny! It’s an entertainment show after all, so Tizzy has to be on her game every morning.

You perform on the Bovine long form team Moo Crew and have also done short form for the show "On the Spot". Does your style of play differ depending on the form?

Most definitely. When people ask me which form I like better, I can never pick. I love them both so much! When I perform long form with MooCrew, I really concentrate on not rushing scenes but also maintaining energy on stage. I love that I can develop strong characters with a lot of background and have nice relationships with others. With short form, high energy is a must, which is something I’m known for. I have to think super quickly on my feet, especially with pun games, but I love that challenge. An “On the Spot” show can have 20+ games, so throughout the performance I’m a lot of different characters, whereas with long form I may only be a few in one set. When writing for sketch shows, I like getting inspiration from long form scenes rather than short form. However short form moments can inspire sketch blackouts. Pretty much I feel more “BAM!” moments in short form and “yesssssss” moments in long form.

You happen to be one of many "improv couples" in Denver. What benefits are there to having a partner that also improvises?

I turn to my boyfriend (Dave Karasik) for guidance and tips, and I absolutely love performing with him. Since we’ve been together 2 ½ years and have been performing together for even longer, I have fantastic group mind moments with him. I completely trust him on stage, plus it’s fun to mess with each other too. We’re very supportive of each other both on and off stage. Being supportive is one of the best qualities to have in an improviser and in a significant other. Our schedules can get a bit crazy, but since we’re both actively involved in the improv community, we understand the late night commitments and don’t give each other a hard time when we don’t get a lot of time to ourselves. I love that we have the same passion – improv!

Spotlight on Howard Semones

Howard Semones started his performance career at the age of three singing The Archies' "Sugar, Sugar" in front of a jukebox for strangers in a bus station and has since performed in such exotic places as Iceland and South Carolina. Eventually Howard moved to Denver where he began explorations into improv comedy and appeared in three plays, "The Food Chain," "10 Naked Men" and "Shopping and F*cking." Recently he made his film debut in the award-winning short film, En Filmen Experimentalen and appeared as Storefront Zombie #2 in If You Can't Eat 'Em… He currently directs and performs with the local Denver improv troupe, Monkey's Uncle.

How were you first introduced to improv comedy?

In 1998 or 99, a gentleman came into my part-time job with flyers for improv classes I'd been told many times to do stand-up, but all my humor came from bouncing off others so decided to take the class. Turns out it was one of those acceptance-into-a-cult moments sans the white sneakers, Flavor-Aid and Snuggie robe. The robe I refused because it was bedazzled.

Who were some of your comedic heroes growing up?

Mostly stand-up comedians like Jonathan Winters, Robin Williams, Elaine Boosler, Phil Hartman and Lois "Sorority Girls From Hell" Bromfield. Basically any comedian with big hair and loud pastel shirts. As for writers, you can't go wrong with early Jim Abrahams and the Zucker brothers.

When and how did Monkey's Uncle form?

After begging my improv instructor to form a group, we finally held auditions for Monkey's Uncle's birthing group, LaughLines. When that didn't pan out we narrowed the group to the five strongest players and had our first real gig in 2001 at Jazz@Jack's when they were still on Platte. That first show was a long mess. Afterwards the director stepped down and left me to pick up the pieces. Thankfully, we had Matt Wallington who had been in the community for close to a decade and helped Matt Krupa, Mike Sjerven and I avoid many of the rookie mistakes. We had even more help refining the group when Larry Epstein brought his years of experience in. We finally added some female energy a few years ago with the addition of Shari Myers.

What have been some of the highlights of your improv career with Monkey's Uncle?

Making very close friendships with five very talented people is the main one. Our superhero opening (including costumes) turned out to be a huge success. And one year we found ourselves performing for a nurses' convention at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in the IMAX theater in front of the screen performing for 200 - 300 extremely responsive people. That was us soaking in awesome sauce.

What is it about improvisation that you enjoy the most?

Working up the audience to the point where the show has to stop because the audience can't stop laughing is the best, but really enjoy the fact that no one -- including the performer talking -- knows what's next.

How has the improv scene in Denver changed since you started performing?

It's grown ginormous. I've seen medium-form grow out of groups needing to make themselves unique. The positive of that is there is a type of improv and style of humor for nearly any audience.

You occasionally team up with other improv troupes like Rodents of Unusual Size for shows like When Animals Improv. How are those shows different than other Monkey's Uncle performances?

Groups like Rodents help us strengthen our performance. They tend towards cleaner show and we just let our audience take us where they demand, so it's always challenging to keep a scene clean but funny as well. It also gives us fresh perspective and helps us form ideas that make Monkey shows better. Plus there is always the more people on stage, the bigger the potential audience. That's why we're in talks with The Denver Wigs, which has hundreds of players, to do a combo show. A witty name escapes us currently. Simian Toupee? We'll work on it.

Spotlight on Meridith Crosley Grundei

Meridith C. Grundei is an award winning performer and holds an M.F.A. in Contemporary Performance from Naropa University in Boulder, CO. Prior to moving to Colorado, Meridith worked as Associate Faculty for The Second City Training Center in Chicago, IL. Currently, she owns a presentations and media training business called Red Ball Communications, is adjunct faculty at Naropa University in Boulder, CO where she teaches Improvisational Theatre, is an instructor for the Rocky Mountain Theatre Conservatory at Denver University and is a private coach to a variety of professionals who are actors and public speakers. As an actor, Meridith has performed with companies such as the American Conservatory Theatre (The Misanthrope), iO Chicago, Baby Wants Candy, Sprung Movement Theatre, The Evergreen Players (16 Wounded), square product theatre (The House of Yes), WreckingBall Theater Lab (Good Girls Don’t, But I Do), Playback Theatre West and many others.

How were you first introduced to improv comedy?

In college at Colorado State University. I was a member of the improv group, Clownbox in Ft. Collins, Colorado where we performed Keith Johnstone short-form games. Later when I moved to San Francisco, CA I was introduced to long form and performed regularly at a café on Taylor St. with a group called Adnauseum.

You studied at iO and worked for the Second City in Chicago. What did you take away from that experience?

A lot! Improvisation has taught me how to be a better actor and a better person. I have used my skills not only to help develop work but to also help others in communication and team oriented relationships. I feel that teaching improvisation to very diverse groups of people has taught me a tremendous amount about myself. Teaching is the best education I will ever get. Did I answer the question?

Both iO and the Second City inspired me in different ways. I feel fortunate to have experienced them both.

You currently teach improv in Denver and Boulder. What is the main message or theme you try to convey to your students?

That YOU are enough!

To trust yourself, to perform at the height of your intelligence, to know what your objective is and to stay present. There is more, but you should take my classes to find out...tee hee.

Oh yeah, AND have fun!

You are currently performing with Playback Theatre West. How would you describe Playback’s form?

Playback Theatre is a long form style that was developed through theatrical improvisation, story telling and psychodrama. The form itself is comprised of smaller forms called pairs, fluids, chorus and story. One member is a conduit between the audience and the players. This person is called the conductor. The conductor elicits stories from the audience that the remaining players then playback. It is an amazing community experience and I feel extremely honored to be apart of this group. It has been a very freeing experience for me to improvise in this way. I feel like it combines the funny with the truth and the sorrow that we all embody.

Last month Playback Theatre West hosted a show at the Dairy in Boulder focusing on Fourmile Canyon fire stories. How did those stories translate through improvisation?

Surprisingly, we had very little fire stories. We had many people in the audience who had been displaced because of the fire and they mostly shared their frustrations during our short form styles. One woman shared that she was in Boston for vacation and all she wanted to do was to sit down and enjoy a lobster dinner. When she received the call that she may have to evacuate she was mad. She was even more frustrated when she flew home, without her lobster dinner, to find that her house was still standing.

One of our company members was also displaced and this stirred up a lot for him.
It was amazing to have that represented in the group during the time of the performance. He could relate to the audience in a way the rest of us couldn’t.

We also raised $338.00 that night by passing the boot. We donated the funds to the local fire department.

Tell us about Hippieman’s Plan for America?

It is a sketch comedy pilot that is currently in production starring; myself, John "Hippieman" Novosad, Bill LeVasseur and Ash Albiniak. So far we have had two special guest appearances by Gary Grundei and Kristin Keating. Hippie Man is directed by Tom Parkins.

The show is very Cobert Report meets SNL, meets Kids in the Hall, meets Mr. Show etc., etc., etc. Very fun cast and group of people! I can’t wait to see the final product!

Are you currently working on any other projects?

Currently, I am directing Paul Sills’ Story Theatre for the Evergreen Players in Evergreen, CO and I am working on a show called Songs of Meat and Cake with square product theatre in Boulder. Songs of Meat and Cake opens at the end of October and Story Theatre opens in January.

Spotlight on Matthew Taylor

Matthew Taylor grew up on the south coast of England in the tiny sailing village of Itchenor. In 1985, he came to America to spend a summer as a sailing instructor. Matthew fell in love with Colorado during his travels and lived in Crested Butte before moving to Denver to focus more fully on performing arts. He is a founding partner of A.C.E. Entertainment, a commercial actor, and author. Matthew has been an active member of the Denver Improv comedy scene for many years.


What were some of your first experiences with Improv comedy when you first came to Denver?

I first took classes from Todd Lambert in Boulder during the fall of 1990. We formed a troupe out of the classes which was called The Mission and performed several shows in Boulder and around the state. Todd planned a crazy tour in which we were to perform in 49 states in 30 days. Things fell apart a few days before we were to head out and The Mission imploded.

Missing performing, Colleen Collins a former Mission performer and I decided to go to Denver to sign up to do stand up at Comedy Works. On the way down in the car Colleen told me that instead of going to Comedy Works she had signed us up to audition at Comedy Sports (now Impulse Theatre.) We both were hired and I played with them for a couple of years.

Eager to explore new forms a few of us formed the group Reaction Slacks and played regularly in the basement of the West End Tavern in Boulder. Lots of talent with a few egos thrown in made for some fabulous sold-out shows and an incredible short life span.

Out of the wreckage of that group formed Laughing Matters which quickly (this is a whole new story!) merged with Headgames. Headgames performed Fridays and Saturdays for the next eight years in the basement of the West End Tavern which is now sadly a kitchen. Cast members during that period included Linda Klein, Barbara Gehring, Eric Farone, Mike Collins, Dave Dalton, Matt Need, Timothy Brennen, Terri Thompson, Susan Hennessy, Bill Lippincott, Phil Keppel, Roger Dowd, Mark Tuchman to mention just a few.

Did you always have a passion for comedy?

I have always loved to laugh so I have always searched out ways to keep laughing.
Sometimes I laugh by watching or listening to comedic groups like Beyond the Fringe or Monty Python, other times it’s just looking at what everyday life throws at me and adding a twist. For me nothing beats the sound and feeling of laughter.

How did you, Barbara Gehring, and Linda Klein form A.C.E?

The three of us performed in a group called Headgames. Barbara had just joined when HBO announced auditions at Comedy Works for the Aspen Comedy Festival. Linda contacted the entire cast of Headgames saying we should do something. Linda, Barbara and I were the only ones to show up at the Market coffee shop the morning of the auditions. We decided to call ourselves A.C.E. because of our different nationalities. We did a Cirque du Solie parody which Judy Brown from HBO loved and immediately she asked for our promo packet. We told her it was in the car and rushed to Kinkos and created one. Then she wanted a video tape of our show so we had no choice but to put up our first show at the old Avenue Theatre. This was the fall of 1998.

After a long courting process with Judy we didn’t get invited to HBO’s festival, so we went anyway and formed The Aspen Comedy Fringe Festival of which A.C.E. was the only group to ever be invited. We were proud to win First Place for two years and then earn a surprise upset third place the following year!

Since then A.C.E has performed over fifty unique theatrical productions, filmed a television pilot, appeared at numerous festivals, and company events.

What are some of your experiences with A.C.E that stand out the most for you?

Our friendship and the ease with which we still laugh together stands out for me.
There are so many memories over the years, most of which involves the combination of travelling and cocktails. The first time we were flown somewhere to perform was a thrill even if it was to Holland, Michigan. But Rome, Lisbon and Hawaii were even better. Then there are the magical times we performed something I personally was so proud of like the first A.C.E. In the Raw Show, Oh!, synchronized swimming in the old Tabor Center Fountains, our show Blur, when the three of us existed in one scene but were in three different realms on stage, The Biddies, Trout World and Wild Tree Safari USA where the audience could experience the gentle giants in their natural habitat and even have the opportunity to feed them in the sapling petting zoo.

The list goes on and on. I am so lucky because if we came up with an idea there was never anybody there to say, “No you can’t do that”.

How has improvisation in Denver changed since you first arrived on the scene?

Early on the only place that was consistent was Comedy Sports. Jon and Sue ran an amazing business, which offered performers great training and the opportunity to perform regularly in front of a large audience, not to mention getting paid. Their great strength has always been their strict focus on short-form and their ability to play the games so well.

Chicken Lips with Bob Wells were doing some improv, but they also ran more traditional comedic theatre shows. Both offered limited classes focused mainly on short-form and an introduction to improv.

For me the biggest change in the Denver Improv scene came when Eric Farone started Bovine Metropolis Theatre. Here for the first time there was a true focus on classes and the embracing of long form. Now hundreds of people have devoted a year studying Improv and the standard of play in Denver has naturally elevated. This has in turn caused new groups to form, greater opportunity for performance and more classes creating a strong and exciting Improv community.

You appeared at The Bovine Metropolis Theater in August for a live audio taping of your upcoming book, Tales of an Englishman. What inspired you to write this book?

I have lived a colorful life and have always had fun reliving funny events that have happened to me and listening to other people’s tales. It was Linda Klein who first started to encourage me to write mine down.

In 2005 when my mother died I found it very cathartic to write about my time with her and this was probably the first time I put pen to paper. When Girls Only became such a huge hit it made sense for A.C.E. as a company to focus on the show which naturally meant (with me not performing in the show) that I had a lot more time on my hands. It was common sense to create a second A.C.E. project and to use this time to commit my stories to paper.

Where can someone read some of your stories now?

I have a blog and website, www.MatthewTaylor.com, where several stories are posted and some podcasts as well. I am also teaching a Thursday four week Story Telling workshop at the Bovine during the month of Sept, where I will work with people to help them find the story within them, dust it off and bring it out into the world for all to hear.

Spotlight on Paul Cross

Paul Cross is originally from Oklahoma, where he received his bachelor's degree in theater. He completed training at The Second City, IO and Annoyance in Chicago, and played on house teams at IO Chicago and L.A. He's the founder and player of the Bovine Metropolis Harold house team Maude, and also coaches The Draw at the Bovine. He coaches the Armando team, Petting Zoo, and runs various improv workshops in town. Paul is currently working on a big project with Gaining Perspective that's set to launch this fall. It's going to be a lot of fun and he's really looking forward to it, so keep your eyes peeled for announcements at http://www.gainingperspective.com/.

How did you become involved with improvisation?

My original goal was to do stand up, and the eventual goal was to be on SNL. That's all I ever wanted to do since I was 12, to be on SNL. I was really nervous about stand up and thought that improv would help me feel more comfortable doing it. I saw an ad in the paper for Denver Theater Sports and got involved in that, because I found out that all these improvisers ended up on SNL. We rehearsed in a library room and performed in coffee shops. Shortly after I started that, I started taking improv classes at Impulse and with Eric Farone's program, which I think was called ACME back then. But he had a cow clock on the wall, so maybe it was the beginning of Bovine Metropolis, I'm not sure. I fell in love with improv and decided to focus on that. I moved to Chicago shortly after and did Second City, IO and Annoyance all at the same time, and later went through Second City's writing conservatory. I loved getting all those different points of views at the same time. I did some stand up and even got a week gig at Zanie's out there, but I just wanted to focus on improv. I got a writing agent through my Second City connections and moved to L.A. And for the record, getting a writing agent in L.A. doesn’t mean anything.

You studied and performed at the IO in Chicago and Los Angeles. How would you compare those experiences?

L.A. had surfing, Chicago did not. A lot of the stereotypes of L.A. people are true, and a lot of them aren’t. There was a big influx of Chicago instructors and performers in L.A. when I moved there. The general consensus of the improvisers in L.A. was like, “Oh, here come the Chicago people, they think they’re so awesome.” I don’t have a lot of positive things to say about IO L.A. Our team would have awesome practices and then our shows would be chaotic because the players would be worried about if there was an agent in the audience and it took away from the magic of doing improv.

How has improv in Denver changed since you first started?

When I took classes with Eric Farone, they were in his home's basement. That was really exciting when I came to visit from Chicago and saw the theater. I think it's great that people graduate from the program and then put teams together. That wasn't happening when I started. Now teams can play at Bovine, whereas before, they had to rent out theaters to play. I also believe that Impulse's longevity and success has heightened awareness of improv in the city. Many people know about Impulse, so it's a good jumping off point when I explain to people what long form is. Like, "Okay, you've seen Impulse, yeah that's a great show. We do something like that too, but different."

You wrote, produced and directed Iraq War, the Musical! which featured a number of local improvisers. What did you take away from that experience?

I used quite a bit of improvisers in that show, and there were several things which came from improvising in rehearsals and during performances. My Second City experience was really helpful with that. Second City trains you to write from your improv. I knew that the bones of the scenes were there, and that those scenes would come to life when the actors owned what they were doing. I trusted them enough to let them take things where they felt their character would go. It gave a lot of improvisers who hadn't been in a normal theatrical production the chance to try something like that. The best thing I took away from it was that it was something I wanted to do, I felt really strongly about the audacities of that war, and I put that on stage. The Denver Post gave me a great review, and I think that's all I really wanted, was to put something up that I wrote, directed and produced that got a good review. It will be quite a while before I tackle something like that again, I had always wanted to do something extraordinary, and fortunately I had the funds to do it. Those funds came from me making a mega-load of money from the oil industry, so it seemed fitting that I should use that for a musical about the evils of the oil industry.

You currently perform with Maude. What is it about the Harold form that you find the most appealing?

I missed playing the Harold so much. That's what we played at IO. I don't like playing just montages which don't tie anything together and don't economically use the ideas put out on stage. It's not rewarding to me or the audience. Doing a Harold is not easy, so I love the challenge. You have to learn it as a team and you have to really pay attention to each other. Hyper-awareness of everything done is crucial. The Harold involves group mind and trusting each other. It's not about going on stage and doing jokes and not really caring about what's going on. It's about relationships and creating something amazing. I love that we put something up where it's possible for the audience and the players to react to like, "Wow. I've never seen anything like this." We go on cabin trips together and really know how to screw with each other. We give each other permission to push each other's buttons. That builds trust in a team. You can't have a good Harold team unless you are all committed and trust each other. I love Maude. Long live Maude.

Please tell our readers about The Draw on Thursday nights at the Bovine Metropolis Theater.

The Draw is a great way for the improv community to come together. It gives people the chance to play with a great team. It's a long form show. I've put people on the team, the "Aces" we call them, who are great at supporting. It's all about support, support, support. The "Wild Cards" are those who sign up at 7, then we do a drawing at 7:15 for the people who get to play. If a wild card brings 4 paying people to the show, they are guaranteed a slot. It's a long form show, it's relatively new, and I give the wild cards detailed notes after the show, so they get to play and get feedback on their playing. The Aces have cards which I put gold stars on when they give awesome support to the wild cards. I just want to make sure it’s all about support. I'm really excited to be involved with it and look forward to it's future success.

Spotlight on Jessica Haas

Jessica Haas is a Denver improviser who performs with the short form troupe "The Wigs". The Wigs were formed in 2008. If you would like more information about The Wigs and Jessica, go to their website at http://www.thedenverwigs.com/.


How long have you been improvising?

About a year and a half. No joke!

Have you played with any other groups other than The Wigs?

No! I joined the Wigs without any prior experience with improv.

How did you get involved in improv?

I was hatched from an egg a fully formed improv genius! Actually, it was by accident, or fate, really! I took an acting class for fun one winter, and our final night of class we did a performance for friends and family. I was in a scene from Paul Simon's The Odd Couple with two other actors. It was only a 5 minute scene and we really got into it. costumes, fake accents, props! Turns out, I love comedy! I was approached by a friend after the show about meeting Steve Loukas (who started The Wigs). The rest...is history!

Where is your favorite place to play in Denver?

Well, I am biased because we've been fortunate enough to play many regular shows at The Avenue Theater on 17th. They've been so great and supportive of us. I think my second favorite place is the rec room where we practice every week! :)

What should someone expect at one of your shows?

Free pie! And you can expect to laugh alot...with us OR at us! You can also expect at least one bad French accent too. I dont' want to give too much away, but we have a "Wheel of Consequences" (cue spooky music), that puts our players through a battery of ridiculousness. Good stuff!

What are some of your favorite improv games to play and why?

My favorite game is called Audition - where 2 players audition for 2 theater directors. I also like The Wigs version of Password, and Jeopardy. Oh, and I really like "Prequel", where you can take a scene back in time as much as you like...5 minutes...50 years....2000 years!

What are you doing when you aren't improvising?

Saving the world! I'm a Training Specialist by day, and I dabble in public speaking, and play kickball. Some would say I'm a renaissance woman!