Mayor Karen

Have you ever been watching a Mayor Karen show (or Medic, or a jam, or anywhere else you might have seen Nick), and thought “wow, that dude is awesome! Look at how well he peruses that clothing rack!”? Well, that’s cause part of Nick’s magic is his physical work, with space, movement, and yes, imaginary objects. But these tend to be subtle things that might not jump out at you, but are making everything he does so much better. And now he want to teach you how.

“Imaginary Objects” Workshop with Nick Gillette

“Nothing in improv exists because you say it does. It only exists once it is reacted to.” - Louis Kornfeld (Magnet Theater, NYC). Students in the Imaginary Objects workshop will spend the session thinking and working intensively on the skills necessary to create imagined spaces on stage. They can expect to be challenged to add precision and specificity to pantomimed objects and environments, and coached to advance scenework through interaction with the environment, rather than vocally. The workshop will also focus on encourage multiple improvisers to interact with the same imaginary objects while maintaining their reality.

Date: Monday, 2/13/2012
Time: 7:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.
Location: The Adrienne Theatre, 2030 Sansom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103 
Cost: $35 until 2/6/2012, $45 afterwards
Pre-requisites: PHIT’s Improv 201 or equivalent (with Ed. Director’s approval)

Go To PHIT’s site to register

Merry Christmas everyone. Okay, we’ll be PC and say Happy Holidays since it is Chanukah as well. But as the agnostic jew that is writing this, I gotta say, Christmas is pretty damn awesome. And I don’t say it for any religious reasons, as noted by the whole agnostic jew thing, but as a cultural thing. Christmas movies and songs are way better. Christmas episodes of TV shows are great. And I’m getting paid double time to sit in a theater and work spotlight for a bunch of Russians throwing confetti at children. So Christmas is pretty sweet.

But Mayor Karen had an early Christmas. Our present? NEW TEAM MATES. They’re still all new and shiny. Who are these amazing new additions to the team you ask? Drumroll please …..

DAN JAQUETTE
You may recognize Dan from his other projects, Beirdo and Bed Savage. Or perhaps you’ve seen him hosting or co-hosting The Sideshow at the Arts Parlor. Dan plays some weird card game called Euchre with other midwestern natives.

KATIE DAHM
Katie comes to us from Austin, Texas, where she has done improv for many years. She went to school in Ohio, but it is currently unknown if she did or did not learn the bizarre card game known as Euchre.

STEVE SWAN
You’ve probably seen Steve doing stand up or sketch before. Or maybe you saw him in his former improv group Where’s Hillary. Or maybe you’ll see him co-hosting The Theme Show at PHIT. Or maybe you saw Pro-Mania during the Philly Fringe.

ROB GENTILE
Rob does a bunch of stuff. Like playing with Safe Weird, or with the Chicago Improv Festival’s College Improv Tournament’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Champions: Deleted Scenes, from Bucks County Community College. Or as I like to call it: CIF’sCIT’sM-ARC: BCCC’s Deleted Scenes.

We are super psyched to start playing with these guys in the New Year, and hope you guys are just as psyched to see them. Be on the look out for real headshots and bios, rather than the random facebook photos I cropped and the hodgepodge of info I can remember about each of these guys.

In the mean time, I suggest you spend Christmas Night the same way I do every year: get drunk and watch this year’s Doctor Who Christmas Special. Happy Christmas Everyone!

-Hochmanb

In 2011 Mayor Karen has had a ton of fun. We got to play and grow so much, not just at PHIT during weeks at the Shubin, but at a couple of festivals too. We went to the Chicago Improv Festival and played in Philly at both the F Harold Festival and Philadelphia Improv Festival. This upcoming weekend, we’ll be playing down in Baltimore for a show with the Baltimore Improv Group too.

And 2012 is coming fast, but we’re ready for it. We’ve already been accepted into the North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival (so has fellow PHIT house team: King Friday, and our own director/team mate’s duo: Nick and Nathan). And we’re looking forward to hopefully returning to some of last year’s fests, and possibly a couple of other new ones.

With the new year coming, so does some changes for MK. During 2011, our numbers have dwindled a bit. We’ve had to say goodbye to some teammates due to things like obligations to family, work, and education. Ridiculous, we know. But as much as we miss playing with those former Karens, and wish them the best in all their endeavors, we now look forward to playing with some new friends. We’ve recently had auditions, and hope to announce our new cast mates very soon!