The Apiary

'INDIE' IMPROV WEEK "What makes improv fun is that it doesn't take much practice, unless you want to be good" --Ben Ragheb, member of Fat Penguin (at UCB's Cagematch) | Photo: Keith Huang

Fat Penguin has been performing as an independent improv team for more than a year. Following a tidy win streak several months ago at the UCB's Cagematch, Fat Penguin has steadily established itself as a dedicated group of improv nerds. For months, they've cut their teeth at the PIT's open-improv jams, and they've consistently set up their own shows. The Apiary discussed the "indie" improv experience with Fat Penguin's Ben Ragheb and Alan Starzinski. Their responses have been edited for space and clarity.

How did Fat Penguin get started? And what is it that keeps you together?
BEN: We all started taking improv classes around the same time and frequently performed at Improdome, the open jam at The PIT. I think most indie teams are formed from a preexisting groups of friends or classmates, but in the beginning we didn't know each other very well. We got together simply because we admired each other as performers. The result has been a very diverse group, which I believe is our primary strength.

Rob Stern & Dave Bluvband | Photo: Brendan McMullen

Do you have to be good friends to be good improvisers?
BEN: At the beginning I was actually worried that we weren't close enough as friends. Then I decided to stop worrying about it. As long as we were committed to the group, it didn't matter. At some point after that, I realized we had become close friends. So I guess the secret to friendship is to focus on some other aspect of your relationship.

ALAN: The thing that keeps us together is our chemistry and our friendship. Every member of the team brings something different and amazing to the table. Each member of Fat Penguin is vital to the team's success. We've had shows where we were missing people that were good but not complete. Also there have been ups and downs throughout the team, but we come back together.

What are your goals as individuals within the group? Would you say that one of them is to get on a house team at a theater?
ALAN: Everyone has different goals, mainly to get better at this stuff. Getting on a house team would be amazing, and any of us would jump at the chance to do it, but I don't think it's the main goal of everyone. My only goal is to have fun, help my team have fun, and have the audience have fun. None of our members are on a house team yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if any one of them ended up on a team. Those guys are fantastic. If anything they belong on one.

BEN: We've never formally talked about goals, but I think we are all serious about getting better and doing the best performances we can. Fat Penguin has been performing for more than a year, and in that time I've seen house teams come and go, and it has given me perspective about what it means to be on one. The big myth is that being placed on a house team means you've made it. You've still got to work just as hard and your team might be dissolved tomorrow. The only substantial difference is that house teams get to perform before a large improv-savvy audience and don't have to harass their friends with Facebook event invitations every week.

What are the challenges you encounter as an unaffiliated improv group?
BEN: I think the biggest challenge is organizing regular practices. Fat Penguin practices on Sundays at noon and, even though we'd all like to party more on Saturday and sleep in a little later, we've been unable to find another time when we're all consistently available. I'm grateful to be on a team where everybody is committed in spite of that.

ALAN: The only challenges are things like finding coaches, find practice space, and finding performances. Stuff the house teams don't really have to worry about because they have places set up for them priority over other teams with coaches and space. They also have a weekly place to perform without having to gather an audience.

Fat Penguin at Cagematch | Photo: Brendan McMullen

Do you consider a certain space to be your home base?
BEN: We definitely don't have a home. We've performed on about 20 different stages in the past year. One of the nice things about New York is there are lots of performances spaces that can be rented for cheap. Every weekend somebody is hosting an improv show and needs another team or two to fill the program. We've been fortunate to perform, on average, one show a week.

ALAN: That's a tough one. We have been hosting our show Mashed Penguin sporadically at the Player's Theatre Loft. Every last one of us has completed the curriculum at UCB, one has completed PIT's and a couple of us have taken classes at the Magnet. But I'd say UCB because I spend more time there than the other theatres, and we have performed there more than any of the other theatres, as well.

Does improv take a lot of practice?
BEN: What makes improv fun is that it doesn't take much practice, unless you want to be good. If you want to be good, that takes years of practice. But that's true of pretty much everything. I think improv has a lot more in common with a sport like football or basketball than with other forms of theatre. We practice regularly with a coach. When we do our thing in front of a crowd, we don't know the what the outcome will be, but we know the rules of the game and how to work together as a team. See how those last two sentences could apply to either football or improv? Neat, huh?

ALAN: Yes, it is essential for teams to practice if they want to develop good group mind and learn more. We practice every week. We've taken classes and also have other teams or practice groups that we take part in. Improv is a muscle that must be flexed to strengthen, so that's what we do.

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• Fat Penguin is Johnny McNulty, Benjamin Ragheb, Rob Stern, Kelly Hudson, Dave Bluvband, Bridget Fitzgerald, Alan Starzinski and Amber Nelson.