Tell us all about the Songs in the Key of You. How might you describe your show to someone who knows nothing about improv?
We want to get to folks in the audience! We’ll interview a bunch of audience members, and sing a personalized song about each person’s story. We’ll do our best to make sure it’s true to your story, and memorable. Hopefully it’ll be so catchy that you’ll be singing it on your way home. And yes, you may record it!
For the more knowledgeable improv crowd, what do you hope they’ll take away from the show.
Instead of a bunch of “scene-to-song” sections, our set has a bunch of “interview-to-song” sections. We get our “base reality” (e.g. CLEAR, Character, Location, Emotion, Activity, and Relationship) from each interview. Then when we have enough material, we’ll sing about it!
What’s the story of how you entered into improv? (Why/When/How etc)
My partner Brian looped me in! I started performing with the Baltimore-based musical improv team Bad Karaoke Experience (BKE) as a shy accompanist, on my accordion. A few years later, I’m confident and having a blast! Over a few years, I took improv classes at Washington Improv Theater (WIT, in DC), Baltimore Improv Group (BIG, in Baltimore) and Magnet Theater (in NYC).
What brought you into running a show? Is there anything you’d like to share about your style, how you work to get the most out of teams, or your experience producing or directing?
I heard about an event that my team BKE did before I joined where they sang for people at a dinner party, one table at a time. That sounded so fun and personal! People LOVE to share stories about themselves. People love to be heard and understood by others. And people love to hear OTHER people’s, too! This show is a conduit for connection.
This structure/format is also a way that newer musical improvisers could get some stage time, even before they get to take a full multi-week musical improv course. We have a bunch of community members who have attended MANY free workshops and they have the basic song structure down so well. I’m so excited to have them on the stage with me!!
What brought you into coaching? Is there anything you’d like to share about your style, how you work to get the most out of teams, or your experience coaching?
I like to have targeted exercises for everything! If there is ever a “note” (feedback) I think about giving, I try to come up with an exercise to target it, for everyone. I don’t have a game or exercise for every micro-skill yet, but I’m working on it!!
What other skills might people in improv develop to further enhance themselves in their craft?
I’d love to see more people and teams focus on more ways to say “yes” (agreeing or restating what a scene partner says). I see a lot of “and” (adding additional ideas). The balance is often skewed towards the “and” side of “yes, and”. Personally, I really like it when people manage to “yes” their scene partner with a bit of variety, saying the same idea but in different words. While it can be helpful to repeat the specific words for emphasis, it can also end up with a monotonous rhythm if overdone. This is a nuanced skill — to be able to “yes” with the right amount of repetition for clarity, but WITHOUT sounding like a broken record.
I’d love to see more people and teams focus on stage presence. Too many people, me included, default to just standing on stage, arms at sides, talking (“talking heads” or “at elevens”). Getting a solid “activity” can help a lot — and that takes practice!
What brought you to Baltimore and Maryland?
I grew up here! I was born and raised in Middle River, Maryland, just East of Baltimore City. I moved back up to Baltimore in 2023 to live with my partner Brian. Before that, I lived in Washington, DC for 7 years. Before DC, I lived in Connecticut for 7 years.
Outside of improv, what do you spend time doing that you enjoy?
I like to play video games! I like my downtime to be interactive, even at the end of a long day my brain wants to be active and my hands want to be engaged. I’ve played hundreds of games so far, and the list keeps growing. That might seem like a lot — but compared to my younger brother, it’s nothing. He’s played thousands!
What show do you wish someone – who is not you – would produce?
I’d love to be a part of a musical improv performance for kids! I could imagine it being very interactive, like the kids shows they have at the Renaissance Festival. I’m down to support this idea! But I don’t have a ton of personal experience working with kids.
What kind of work do you do? How does your work or career influence you as a performer?
My formal day job is as a software developer for the State of Maryland, focusing on making sure our website is accessible to everyone (non-English languages,, screen reader usage, zoomed-in screens, etc). My secret day job is to make the teams I work with happy and effective (they are!!). My lesser-known side job is that I run my own consulting company Happy and Effective, where I’m an organizational culture consultant. My better-known side job is that I teach Zumba with my partner Brian, in Arbutus/Halethorpe where we live.
Any takeaways from improv books or workshops that might be helpful to others? Who was the author or teacher?
I took a workshop with Justin Peters at Camp Improv Utopia East 2022 where we focused on doing slow improv. I love slower improv! Both as a participant AND as an audience member. This is also why I like musical improv so much (other than the music) — is that it’s slower-paced content-wise. We get to know the characters more deeply. I wish we had more slow improv in Baltimore. Maybe we should invite Justin up for a workshop!
What’s your favorite improv game and why?
Brian and I came up with a game called 5, 6, 7, 8 where we step forward on the second-half of the last line of a song section. This is when we step forward to “relieve” the person who is currently singing, signaling that we will take the next section of the song. I really like this as a warm-up, because it helps make sure we have smooth transitions for our set. These smooth transitions make me a lot more confident!
What advice do you have for people looking to do improv?
Try it out! Come see a show and/or attend an intro workshop (some are free even!). The intro workshops are very gentle and fun. Maybe bring a friend for moral support — whether they’re newer to improv, or someone who’s been doing it for a while.