ALUMNI STORIES
Le Chat Noir is located at 304 8th St. in downtown Augusta. (Photo by Gabi Moore)
16 | #WeArePamplin · Spring 2019
“We provide a space where people can
discover things about themselves—maybe
discover that they can laugh about some
things they didn’t think they could laugh
about.”
In fact, openness and discovery are central
to the form.
“The core tenet of improv is ‘Yes, and...,’”
Holley explains. “Basically, when you’re on
the stage with someone and they make what’s
called an ‘offer’—when they define the reality
of the stage—you say ‘yes’ to them. You accept
their reality and you add something to it. And
then when the next person talks, they move
the scene forward using that information.
So you’re constructing a reality between
the people on stage, and the only way it is
successful is if everybody on stage is saying
yes, and adding to it. If you say ‘no,’ then
you’ve crushed the reality and the audience
loses its ‘I believe’ button.”
The price of participation is that one has
to be willing to leave ego at the door, which
some people find hard to do.
“A lot of people think it’s about being the
class clown, but that’s not what improv is,”
says Holley. “Improv isn’t about being the
funniest guy in the room. It’s making the
other person the funniest person in the room.
Because if everybody’s trying to do that, then
everybody’s the funniest person in the room.”
As usual, there’s more to the story. Besides
the cooperative antics that play out on
stage, Holley believes the truthfulness of
the comedy—and thus the efficacy of each
performance—really depends on the diversity
of its voices. That’s where he sees the greatest
potential for growth in the group’s art.
“We were predominantly male when we
started and now we’re about half female. The
influx of female voices has really shaped our
group in ways that have made us stronger,
that have filled out our points of view and
added dimension to our overall voice. The
more different folks you get in the room, the
more complete your voice is as a comedian. I’d
like to see the diversity of our cast continue
to grow. Our audience is very diverse—our
audience looks like Augusta—but our cast
doesn’t completely look like Augusta. It’s
getting there though.”
Schrodinger’s Cat holds open rehearsals
every Tuesday after the First Friday of each
month. For more information, contact Patrick
Boylan, Director of Schrodinger’s Cat, at (803)
480-4495 or [email protected].