Just in time for your VIFF fatigue, here comes an even better V-led acronym festival: the 2015 Vancouver International Improv Festival, or VIIF. From October 6 to 10, catch over 40 different improv shows, including the comedic pairing of Lauren McGibbon and Angela Galanopoulos — also known as L.A. We caught up with Galanopoulos and McGibbon to discuss how duo improv differs from regular ensemble improv, drawing inspiration from real-life characters, and why Vancouverites need to get off their asses and check out more improv shows.
How did L.A. first come to be?
Angela Galanopoulos: It was a text message from Lauren. I barely knew her . . .
Lauren McGibbon: Okay, I just want to talk about this moment. It was love at first sight for me because I was in Vancouver TheatreSports League Rookie League and I wanted on Mainstage badly. It was my last Rookie League and Angie’s first Rookie League and when I saw her perform, it was like in Wayne’s World when he sees Tia Carrere for the first time. I was excited to work with her in Rookie League but then I got pulled up to Mainstage. So there was a place called Rowan’s Roof where you could do amateur and I saw Angela perform there. . .
AG: Later on that week, I received a text message from an unknown number and it read: “Hey, it’s Lauren from improv. I think you’re really great and I think we should work together and if you don’t want to, then you can go fuck yourself.”
LM: As a joke!
AG: I loved it. I remember it was late at night and I looked at it and my heart melted in so many ways and I was like, “Yes, a thousand times yes.” I’d seen Lauren perform a bunch when I was starting out and I loved her style and I knew we just got each other.
There’s a quote about you two: “L.A. creates characters you’d want to be friends with.” How important is character development in improv, with so many fleeting, one-off characters?
LM: Earlier today we were talking about our format and how it’s evolved and what we want to do. For me, the way I hook in and get very present in an improv scene, and by extension the narrative and the storytelling in a scene, is through the character.
AG: The other piece to it is creating characters that are characters you want to see. No one wants to see a total douche on stage for 20 minutes, exploring Douche Town in that story. We play with characters — that are inspired by elements of people we see in our lives and we interact with — that are charming in some way. You see something weird about a person and you try to translate that onstage and make it fun. That’s the part of character that’s also sustainable in a long-form set.
You both come from sprawling improv leagues (Instant Theatre, Vancouver TheatreSports League); aside from more stage time, how is performing as a duo different?
LM: It’s just the two of you. If there’s even a third person, there’s someone who can be the outside eye of the scene and see what it needs. We have to do that while we’re in the thick of it. Duo work has to be incredibly connected to be successful, but since we’ve been doing this for two years we’re coming to the point where we’re so connected that we’re having the mischievous fun now. Like one of us will take a big, weird, non-sensical risk and we’re there for each other and connecting to the craziness of it. But it’s scary, because you don’t have that extra man on the ship; we got a captain and a first-mate and we switch that role throughout the set, but there’s no one else. We have to keep this ship going.
AG: There’s also the balance, too. Our formats follow a character or theme, so for a long time we just got a theme as a suggestion from the audience and explored that theme through different relationships. There’s this constant thing about how long do you stay in the scene for, does it have heat or doesn’t it, do you push through the uncomfortable and silent bits, or do you desert it and move onto the next thing? There’s a shitload going on in your mind while you’re still working at being present. I like it because it’s a different muscle.
How does it feel to be part of Vancouver International Improv Festival 2015?
LM: It feels amazing to be part of it with Ang for the first time. We’ve been together for two years and feels like we’ve just been developing and getting to know each other, and being on stage together and improvising. This is the next chapter or the next phase in our working relationship and friendship, in that we’re hoping this is just the beginning and it’s the launching point to doing more festivals.
AG: I love ensemble work and I love Vancouver TheatreSports League, it’s the best job in the world, but there’s something really special about doing duo work and doing it with a woman who you totally adore.
Why should more people in Vancouver go to improv shows?
AG: We have a wonderful, thriving community right now. I don’t think the improv community has ever been bigger or better than it is. So much of the great sketch comedy you see in town is derived from improvisers doing their work, because there’s a lot of obvious crossover. It’s live theatre that makes you feel good. And every show is unique. You will literally never see the same show twice.
LM: There’s something to be said for enjoying something that has never existed and will never exist again. I know for myself, because I’m seldom present in everyday life, just not in the moment, and a really great shortcut to relaxing and enjoying being completely present is to go and watch an improv show. There’s that magical wonderment of seeing something that’s gone once it’s gone. As improvisers, we get to experience that a lot, and we love it. That’s why we’ve devoted our lives to it.
Catch McGibbon and Galanopoulos perform as L.A. on October 7 at The Improv Centre, just one of the many acts participating in this year’s Vancouver International Improv Festival 2015.
