This story was originally published by ArtsATL.
Back in the 1990s, young members of Whole World Improv Theatre could be seen on the corner of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue, holding boots and excitedly collecting money from passersby to support their burgeoning company. With no idea how much the art form would grow and become a mainstay of Atlanta entertainment, the wide-eyed performers were simply focused on chasing the fun they’d discovered.
“I was 25 years old, and I thought we had invented the stuff! That’s how young and dumb I was,” says Emily Russell, admitting that at the time she was not familiar with the Atlanta improv company Laughing Matters founded in 1985.
Credit: Courtesy of Whole World Improve Theatre
Credit: Courtesy of Whole World Improve Theatre
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Whole World Improv Theatre originated from a workshop led by David Webster in late 1993 at Out Proud Theater. He had recently been introduced to the audience-driven art form through classes at Chicago’s iconic Second City and was adamant that improv was the “it” new wave in comedy.
“We all absolutely had a blast together in this workshop, and we wanted to keep that excitement going,” says Russell, who is now the company’s managing director. Primarily recent college graduates, the ragtag group stuck together and formed its own troupe, pounding the pavement to book spaces for rehearsals and performances around town.
The group’s first show was titled “Whole World,” partly to indicate that the “audience helped create the whole world of the story for the improvisers to immerse themselves in,” Russell says.
“We tried to think of other names, but we were in our 20s and couldn’t think of anything that wasn’t X-rated or unprintable!”
By 1994, the comics officially named themselves Whole World Improv Theatre.
Credit: Photo courtesy of Whole World Improv Theatre
Credit: Photo courtesy of Whole World Improv Theatre
One venue they leased in those first few years was space in an old A&P supermarket, with walk-in coolers for dressing rooms. Russell found the less-than-glamorous accommodations awesome, saying, “We thought we’d kind of hit it, you know?”
They filled their 1214 Spring St. location with seats salvaged from the Omni, the coliseum that was the predecessor of State Farm Arena. In what they considered an exciting, modern idea, the team bought couches at a thrift store to serve as premium seating. Sadly, the “premiums” were soon destined for the dump.
“I was somehow assigned to make [the couches] pretty,” Russell says. “So I got white sheets, dyed them different colors, sewed rickrack on them and ironed on patches. And then, one of the parents of one of our performers called us [the day after a show] to let us know that they had gotten fleas. My heart was broken because I worked so hard on those couches!”
Chip Powell remembers hearing of a group that was having the time of their lives with this improv stuff and was told he had to at least try it out. To be precise, Powell, known for antics such as singing “You Give Me Caesar” to the tune of “You Give Me Fever,” was invited by an Einstein Bros. Bagels co-worker.
“I had an amazing time, and I just thought, ‘Oh my God, I could stay here and work here for a while.’” Now the company’s artistic director, Powell says he had no idea that “a while” would turn into 30 years.
Turner Broadcasting even took notice of the troupe in the late ‘90s. The media giant offered a chance to be filmed for a few episodes of “Last Hour Live,” airing after Atlanta Thrashers games on Turner South. For a time, the company had set its sights on moving to Los Angeles to pursue television opportunities. But when Turner said the network could film the troupe in the theater’s own space, its leaders decided to keep Whole World Improv Theatre in Atlanta.
The team has continually “yes-anded” themselves over time to expand its mission to be “a place where anything can happen.” Now open seven days a week, including classes, rehearsals and four nights of shows, Whole World could be called the theater that never sleeps.
Credit: Courtesy of Whole World Improv Theatre
Credit: Courtesy of Whole World Improv Theatre
What has kept it going all this time? A spirit of collaboration.
“[Collaboration] makes us stronger. It makes the shows better, and it makes everybody happy,” Powell says. “So when you’re able to work in conjunction with all these people that really want to give and do their best, [you realize] you’ve built a really great art house.”
Powell and Russell like to say the residents of this “art house” are “locally sourced and organically grown.” That is, they are average community members with day jobs who all start by taking classes at Whole World Improv.
“We went from being a group of just actors to [having] a doctor, then we had a lawyer, then we had an accountant,” Powell says.
Many non-actors have come through Whole World over the years, wanting to build presentation skills — and many of them simply love doing something different. They all have opportunities to keep chasing the fun of improv through various aspects of the theater, from being a student to an apprentice to a main cast member performing for the public.
So what might be in store for the next 30 years?
Powell says they will do what they do best. “It’s improv, so we’ll improvise it, one year at a time.”
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Sally Henry Fuller is a theater nerd and performing arts journalist with a passion for telling people’s stories. Her work has appeared on BroadwayWorld.com, Encore Atlanta, City Lifestyle Magazine and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. When not writing, she works at her dream job as a mother.
Credit: ArtsATL
Credit: ArtsATL
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