5 of 5: Short Essay Answers: Performance

There is one area in particular in which I feel my interests and talents could truly enrich my students' experiences, both in the classroom, and in extra-curricular activities. Throughout most of my adult life, performing on stage has been a routine part of my life. In addition to playing trombone, piano, and singing and songwriting for several school bands and orchestras--as well as my own college bands--I participated in many plays, and in a couple of improv comedy troupes while I was in Kalamazoo, Michigan. After school, I came to Chicago having developed keen interests in comedy, music, and stage performance. I took classes in improv comedy at Improv Olympic in Wrigleyville, studying under the likes of T.J. Jagodowski and Noah Gregoropoulos. I graduated from Improv Olympic in the summer of 2002, and have been performing in one way or another around Chicago ever since.
My experiences in the Chicago performance community have been varied, but have come with some consistency, since then. I have performed at Improv Olympic, the Playground, ComedySportz, the Speakeasy Happy Hour Club, and the old WNEP Theater, among other places. I quickly learned after my experiences in Improv Olympic that I was not particularly interested in pursuing acting, but I did find that I enjoyed comedy, and that my long history of performance and writing my own material, along with my musical skills in singing, song writing and my ability to play the piano, allowed me many opportunities for performance that my cohorts in improv comedy classes at I.O. didn't have. In the summer of 2002, I became involved with a small, independent production group that called itself the Speakeasy Players, and performed regularly on Fridays at a venue called the Speakeasy Happy Hour Club, in the basement of the historic Green Door Tavern in the River North neighborhood. I have been performing regularly with this group ever since. Sometimes I play piano, while other times I mount my own shows, in particular the Downtown Dave Show, a scripted cabaret act that includes songs, comedy, some storytelling, and even some dancing, on occasion. I'm proud to say that we're in our sixth season at the Speakeasy, and my creative endeavors there have lead to limited engagements at ComedySportz, and Subterranean, as well as some truly fun creative work as a sort of Master of Ceremonies at both public and private events.
In terms of performance, I could rightly describe myself as something of a jack-of-all-trades, although I may have to faithfully admit that I am perhaps master-of-none as well. On some functional level, my basic skill set includes, writing scripts, running rehearsals, writing and even recording music if necessary, stage direction including blocking, some lighting design skills, playing the piano, teaching and rehearsing improv comedy, and performing improv comedy, scripted comedy, song and even dance. I'm passionate about the performing arts, and hope to include plays and public speaking as much as possible into my classrooms, especially since I believe that performing on stage can be a fundamentally transformative experience for a student, for I've experienced it myself. English classes have a long-standing and natural link to drama, and I believe I have many creative resources to bring to bear upon this transformative art form. When I find a project in which I can be creatively involved, I find that my levels of energy and motivation expand greatly, and that I truly have something to give back to those around me. I hope, one day, to share this passion I have for performance with my students.