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.
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