The holiday season is settling in, no matter how much we tweet that it’s too early for Christmas music to play. We can’t stop the future from happening, and we can’t stop stores from pushing egg nog, candy canes and giant inflatable yard decorations in our faces.

We have been talking a lot at the Torch about community over the last few months. We have been so grateful for the support we have from those that have participated so far. We’ve seen growth in all areas of community since we opened our doors:

• Our own improv community of performers, students and volunteers
• The surrounding neighborhood we have joined with amazing places like Hula’s, Stinkweeds, Practical Art and Maizies
• The community of people in Phoenix and beyond that support and participate in the local vibrant arts and entertainment culture

Whether it’s taking a drop-in class, volunteering at the box office, performing on our stage or taking a seat in our audience, this theatre and artform isn’t possible without a community of enthusiastic and dedicated people giving as much as they can every week. We really are stronger together than we are alone.

We want to extend a thank you to everyone that has been involved on this journey, and we want to encourage others to come check out this collaborative and fun world we are building at The Torch Theatre. This month, if you come to a show with friends or family, everyone in your party gets in for $5 each. All you have to do is mention “Giving Thanks” at the box office. You can also use the phrase to pre-order tickets online. You can even check in with friends via foursquare to unlock a deal. Bring a friend, your mom, your knitting club, your calculus classmates and enjoy a night of improv comedy together.

This season is about enjoying time together, and we look forward to enjoying time with you soon!

Guest post by Shane Shellenbarger

In 1971, while attending Frank Borman Junior High, my friend, Bob Limbaugher decided to run for Student Body President and he asked me to be his campaign manager. I agreed and began the work of arranging all of the minutia associated with a political campaign. The day before the election, Bob reminded me that we had an assembly in the Student Hall and that I was required to speak on his behalf. I did not sleep well that night. I prepared a speech, but I catastrophized all evening. The next morning, I made it to school under a cloud of self-doubt. My sense of time seemed out of whack. Classes which had always seemed to drag, flew by as the afternoon assembly loomed ever nearer. The lunch break came and went in a flash and before I knew where the day had gone it was time to speak.

I would like to tell you that I was fine, that the speech went well and that Bob won by a landslide. No, it did not. When it was my turn to speak, I shakily made my way up to the podium, gripped my notes as if they would fly away, stood before the microphone, and froze. I don’t know if it was the size of the crowd, the insecurity of being before my peers and fearing their opinions, or if was the feeling that Bob’s entire campaign hinged on what I said in the next few minutes, but I froze and could not utter a word. Bob lost the campaign.

The memory of that moment haunted me for decades, through high school, through college, and through my vocational career. It wasn’t until 2009, when I took my first improvisation workshop, that I faced my fear head on.

I discovered that the Phoenix Improv Festival http://phoeniximprovfestival.com/ (put on by The Torch Theatre) had workshops, so I signed up for one taught by Chuck Charbeneau. It was a small class, and enjoyed the games and interaction. It was then that I decided to take classes offered by The Torch Theatre.

I originally took classes because I wanted to use improvisation to improve my response, flexibility, and ease of delivery for voice acting. Improv has helped me do that and more. I have discovered a comfort on stage which surprised me. I also was delighted to find a community of intelligent people who are filled with passion for the craft of longform improvisation. These people have pushed themselves out of their comfort zones and out of the pigeon holes they were placed into by others. They are exploring their own vulnerability and what the human experience means to the performer and to the audience.

On September 29, 2009 I took the stage for the sixth time with my fellow Level VI students as our troupe, “What Maslow Needs.” We created a form over the past eight weeks we called “Dali,” a format which uses art created by our audience to inspire performance and scene work. After the show, our instructor, José Gonzalez, presented us with our diplomas as graduates of The Torch Theatre Longform Training Center.

I now have no fear of speaking, singing, or performing in front of an audience, thanks to the instructors and students of The Torch Theatre.

Shane Shellenbarger is a recent graduate of The Torch Theatre Longform Training Center and currently performs with Xchane and Euphonius. Thanks, Shane, for being a part of our community!

Titanic by Eric Constantineau (www.ericconstantineau.com)

Greg Jarvis is a veteran improvisor who’s been a past member of the ComedySportz Phoenix and Apollo 12. He’s probably one of the most interesting people in Phoenix (if not the world) and he has great stories to backup my random claim.

His latest project is The Apologists. This Saturday, September 10th, The Apologists perform an improvised one-act play as part of The Torch Theatre’s weekly showcase, The Revolver (Flip opens).

—

A message from Phoenix’s own Greg Jarvis:

I saw the film Revolutionary Road the other day. It’s a really good 1950s drama with Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, and I was about halfway through the movie before I realized that I was watching LEONARDO DICAPRIO and KATE WINSLET from Titanic.

It was a little wierd. Titanic, love it or hate it, was a pretty big deal and these two actors were pretty well known for the characters of Jack and Rose, but here they were, in a serious drama doing some pretty impressive performances.

That’s kind of what I’m trying to do in my little improv show The Apologists.* I take well known, seasoned improv actors and recast them into one-act plays.  Sometimes they’re serious plays, and sometimes they’re silly, but we try to give more depth to our characters by giving them a little more time to breathe.

This Saturday (9-10-11) at 7PM at the lovely Torch Theatre I’ve lined up two well known Phoenix favorites to play along side me; Sam Haldiman of the Improvised Bookclub & Skewed News Hour and Jon Jahrmarkt of Apollo 12 & Galapagos have been entertaining for years, but never before have all three of us shared a stage. It should be great. I hope you can join us.

* I realize that in this metaphor all improv is the Titanic, and my improv group is a moody, depressing period piece that nobody saw. But hey, writing a good metaphor is like writing a good … I don’t know. Writing is hard.

—

Unicorns are a hot topic at 4721. Our own troupe Unicorn Warpath is a little obsessed with them, and our friends Bob and Jessica Marquis have been bringing unicorns to the forefront with their current project, Unicorn-Art-Mix. Bob is an instructor and improvisor at The Torch and an active member of the Phoenix film community. We asked Jessica to tell us how she became such a unicorn expert and what the current project is about:

There are several accounts of how I came to be Chief Unicornomicist at Unicornomics. I will share here the most awesome version.

I met Farmer McGlitter on an afternoon when rainbows sliced through the sky, leaving cornflower ribbons in their wake. He was a veteran unicorn farmer with a knack for social media, I an aspiring cryptid researcher who was winding down my dinosaur fighting days. McGlitter saw in me something I could not yet: The ability to quantify and analyze whimsy.

And so we trained. Every day, every hour, from the moment the sun left the horizon to the last glimpse of it as the earth gobbled it up for the night. I ran, ate, and laughed with the unicorns. I discovered this was the majority of what they did, although they also enjoyed playing Rock Band and granting wishes. By day, I was always with pen and calculator in hand, and by night I was poring over the age-old annals of unicorn research.

One evening, McGlitter and I sat upon the lavender-infused banks of the sparkling stream that ran through his farm. We began dreaming aloud, exploring the possibility of franchising operations, of helping the world realize the marketability of unicorns.

I rushed home to tell my husband, Bob Marquis, a brilliant filmmaker and teacher who was indifferent to unicorns but still appreciated my passion for them. And from that conversation, Unicornomics, a multi-zillion-dollar unicorn farm and research-and-development firm arose, with satellite farms around the globe.

And now Unicornomics is donating the proceeds of the book I have written, Raising Unicorns: Your Step-by-Step Guide to Starting and Running a Successful – and Magical! – Unicorn Farm (Adams Media, 2011), to establish Sailbear Labs, a Phoenix-based nonprofit that encourages youth to use their imaginations to tell creative stories in writing and through film. Yes, the unicorns are helping kids, as it has been, and as it should be.

Founded by the aforementioned brilliant filmmaker, as well as myself and our favorite Community Enthusiast, Ms. Tonia M. Bartz, Sailbear Labs is already gathering a following on Facebook of students who have participated in various writing and film-related workshops and projects led by Bob.

Raising Unicorns will be released at the beginning of August, and I and my fellow Phoenician and illustrator, Kevin Hedgpeth, are already lining up book-signing dates throughout the Valley.

In addition, to celebrate the book’s release, Unicornomics is hosting Unicorn-Art-Mix, a unicorn-themed family-friendly charity art show at Co+Hoots on North 7th Street, South of Roosevelt in Phoenix, to benefit Sailbear Labs. Farmer McGlitter may make an appearance, although his well-documented agoraphobia will likely keep him at home tending to the unicorns and Twitter.

For more info on the book (and to watch the book trailer): http://www.amazon.com/Jessica-S.-Marquis/e/B005CADOH4
For more info on Sailbear Labs: http://sailbearlabs.org
For more info on Unicorn-Art-Mix: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=164225696978406
For the official Unicornomics blog: http://unicornomics.com

Sparkle on, 4721 & friends!
–Jessica S. Marquis

Many Wrong Ways: A Raising Unicorns book trailer

There is an improv warm up called “Clams are great.” The group stands in a circle and someone steps in the center and begins to list all the reasons clams are great until someone tags them out and takes over. The list could include factual things like “Clams are great because they burrow into the sand with a muscular foot” or “Clams are great because they taste so good in a white wine” or ridiculous things like “Clams are great because they hung out with me after my boyfriend broke up with me” or “Clams are great because they totally reorganized my shed.”

Whatever your actual opinion about clams, this warm up gets your brain moving. Whatever comes out of your mouth becomes a fact in the world of this warmup, and we accept and support it. It also is a way to practice support through action: you don’t want to leave people in the center alone for too long talking about clams. You need to step up and take a turn.

In the spirit of clams, I brainstormed a list of reasons why I think The Torch Theatre is great. If a clam had really reorganized my shed I would be thrilled, I would think they were great. Unlike clams, The Torch Theatre delivers.

The Torch Theatre is great because…

We are about to open our own stage dedicated to longform improv comedy & theatre

There are lots of tattoos. There are some non-tattoos as well. If you come to Grand Opening there may be a little surprise…

Improv changes lives. Scratch the surface of any improvisor and you will find a journey through the art form to greater understanding.

We help build communities. Our work with Lodestar Day Resource Center, CenPho Camp, Scottsdale Camp, Rapid Refresh, Phoenix Design Week and other community projects help support and enrich programs in Phoenix.

Support goes beyond the stage

Troupe names are fun to think up. Unicorn Warpath, Mail Order Bride, Light Rail Pirates, Searching for X. Why wouldn’t you want to form a troupe?

Improv teaches people to listen and collaborate


Emotional intelligence should be cultivated – “skills learned in arts classes ‘are basic to the maintenance of a healthy democracy’” seems like a pretty good reason to practice and teach the art of improv.

Creativity inspires more creativity. We have some amazing folks doing all kinds of amazing work on our stage and off.

Creativity inspires better business. The effects of a creative culture on business are kind of a big deal.

Passion should be voiced and acted on. No matter what the topic.

Life needs to be dangerous.

We need to laugh more.

Risk is our business.

Phoenix deserves more original art and entertainment. We continually have to build and support it to make it happen.

So that is my list. If you agree with me or have your own reasons, show your support to The Torch Theatre. Every donation before July 31 gets us closer to unlocking a challenge grant of $750. It is your turn to step into the circle.

Donate to CAREFREE WRITE PRODUCTIONS INC at Razoo

Post by Nina Miller.

We are officially, legally, completely, absolutely certified for occupancy.

After a long road, including hours and hours of volunteer hours, lots of donated dollars and goods, we are open for business! Shows are happening, people are laughing and the dream is a reality. Longform improvisation has a home in Arizona at 4721 North Central Ave in Phoenix.

Thank you so much to everyone that donated some of the over 1800 hours of time to make this happen. We are primarily a volunteer run organization, and the dedication and focus from everyone that came in to sweep, paint, mop, build, and organize is truly what improv is about.

When you walk into 4721, you may not see all the work that went into transitioning this from a barber shop to a fully operational theater. It looks like it has always been this way. But it was a lot of work.

Our matching challenge went off fantastically, we raised $1321 and our lovely anonymous donor is matching each of those dollars donated, doubling the total donation to $2642. Thank you to everyone that donated online or in person, and to the troupes and individuals that ran fundraisers in our name. We are so excited to be nearly at our fundraising goal overall for 4721.

How are we going to reach that overall goal? We have another challenge: if we get 100 people to donate by July 31, 2011, we will receive a bonus of $750 from a friend of The Torch. We are so lucky to have people that are willing to step up like this, so help us take this opportunity and maximize it. There are still bills to be paid and features to be added, so any donation is appreaciated. The culture of Phoenix thrives only with your support: http://www.razoo.com/story/Torchphx

All of the people that dreamed this up in 2007 are excited and amazed. Your support has been both necessary and inspirational down this long road. And we are happy to take this new one with all of Phoenix!

More Torch 4721 photos available on flickr.

Tonight is the first night of the 10th annual Phoenix Improv Festival!

In addition to being the performers, teachers, and administrators of The Torch Theatre, many of us are the organizers and volunteers behind PIF. We essentially plan for nearly a full year before each festival which includes taking and evaluating video submissions from all over the country, fundraising, working with the Herberger Theater (the home of PIF since 2008), welcoming out of town guests, organizing event and Den Mother (our guides for out-of-town troupes) volunteers, and, ultimately, helping put on a great series of shows throughout the weekend.

It’s a great time for the community and it happens all too fast. The Phoenix Improv Festival is a way to celebrate the improv scene and its growth over the years. We get to share the stage with valley compatriots like The Jester’Z, NCT Phoenix, and Chaos Comedy. We also get to expose Phoenix audiences to some of the best improv performers from across the United States. (And, we enjoy seeing them just as much as anybody!)

Another thing that makes PIF great is that we’re lucky to garner a lot of media attention for such a huge event and, hopefully, it all raises awareness of the type of work that is going on here in town:

- Downtown Phoenix Journal (PIF’s official media partner for 2011, who will also have continuing coverage throughout the weekend especially via their Twitter account!)

- Phoenix New Times (plus this great Jackalope Ranch interview with Mack Duncan!)

- The Arizona Republic / AZCentral.com

- 944 Magazine

- Raising Arizona Kids Magazine

- The College Times

- an interview on KTAR 92.3

- ASU’s State Press

(Plus, you can find what people — performers, volunteers, friends, and audience members — are saying on Twitter about PIF by searching for the #PIF10 hashtag.)

The opening of our theater space at 4721 North Central Avenue is still coming along (we’re so close!), but it’s great to have this weekend energize us by having us all together with our fellow improvisors to perform in front of appreciative audiences who understand that what we create is fun, special, and the best that improv has to offer in the realm of comedy and theatre. We try to keep that spirit with us every time we hit the stage and we can’t wait to bring that spirit to 4721.

Last weekend, amidst all of the Phoenix Improv March Madness Playoff tournament (congrats to Juban!) and our on-going Cagematch (congrats to last week’s winners, Die Puppet Die), the good folks of Apollo 12 put themselves and their respective skills up for bidding to help raise money for 4721.

Mack Duncan steps in with an account of just how things went down:

On Saturday, March 26, the gents of Apollo 12 placed themselves on the auction block to bring in a few more bucks for the Torch Theatre‘s 4721 build.

First up, spicy Latino Arturo Ruiz offered a Spanish lesson to one lucky bidder, bringing in $17.50.

Arturo was followed by cuddly giant, Rick Larsen. Lunch with Rick and his newborn baby, Blueberry, snagged $13 for the Torch.

Jon Jarmarkt offered a unique package combining a back massage and a singing telegram, a total bargain at $11.

Mack Duncan‘s a la carte offering of a guest appearance in Vincent & Me and/or a personal puppet show and/or a movie took in $12.

The big score of the evening was Bill Binder‘s computer repair services.  Since Bill was out of town for the Dallas Comedy Festival, a teddy bear resembling octogenarian Leonard Nimoy stood in proxy.  In absentia, Bill went for $20.75.

Finally, a command performance from the entire Apollo 12 crew was perchased for $26, bringing the evening’s grand total to $100.25. Not bad for an improvisor bachelor auction, especially since 3 of the 5 gentlemen are no longer bachelors.

One more inspection down. The structural inspection went through with flying colors.
What is the structural inspection? Mostly what it sounds like; making sure that any physical additions we’ve made to the space are structurally sound. In our case, that meant the stage, the walls in the theatre and the bathroom wall. Fortunately, none of our walls are load bearing, so they primarily just had to show that they were sturdy and could hold up. The stage had an additional requirement. Since the inside of the stage involves lumber directly touching the floor, we had to properly coat the inside of the stage with a special termite unfriendly stain that looked like The Incredible Hulk and smelled like The Devil.

Now that the inspection has passed, we can seal the stage (along with your loving envelopes) and drywall the bathroom.

This weekend the painting begins.