SURREY — Jessica Davis considers herself pretty witty — and she is, given the evidence at a recent Kwantlen Improv workshop.
For the past couple of months, she’s been a regular at the weekly comedy-lessons sessions, held Mondays at KPU’s Surrey campus.
“I like it a lot,” Davis said. “It sort of makes you think on your feet, which is nice, and you can put some twists and turns in.
“It appeals to the manipulator in you,” she added with a smile, “because depending on what you say, it can change the course of where things go. You have to think really quickly.”
The drop-in events are taught by Daniel Chai, a writer and comedian who grew up in Surrey and was a Now reporter in the mid-2000s. Since then, Chai co-founded The Fictionals comedy group and has performed with Vancouver TheatreSports League.
In Surrey, the Kwantlen Improv “club” opens the door to anyone who wants to learn improv performance skills.
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PICTURED: Kwantlen Improv workshop instructor Daniel Chai (left) with participants Jay Reedy, Jennifer Nguyen and Clive Ramroop. Photo: Tom Zillich
When the Now attended a recent workshop, nine participants made use of Room 324 in the Fir building. All arrived for the 5 p.m. start time, but some filtered out before the 6:50 end, due to other commitments.
Among them was Jay Reedy, a business rep on the Kwantlen Student Association, which gave Chai permission to stage the sessions.
“It’s a good student culture-building exercise, for sure,” Reedy told the Now. “There haven’t really been a lot of consistent events on Surrey campus, so having something like this every week is a good thing.”
Halfway through the class time, Reedy was paired with Darlene Isaac for a “Five Sentences” scene, in which they could use just five sentences to tell a story.
Next, Chai asked Reedy and Isaac to do a “First Letter, Last Letter” scene, in which a performer’s sentence must begin with the last letter of the word last spoken by the partner.
At scene’s end, Chai rang a reception-desk bell and led the round of applause.
“In a game like this, there’s no rush,” he instructed. “Unless you get a one-minute time challenge, you have all the time in the world to really listen and connect and find the right words you want to say. It’s OK to just sit in that silence before you find the right word to say.”
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PICTURED: Jessica Davis and Jennifer Nguyen do a scene. Photo: Tom Zillich
Isaac said the workshop is a highlight of her week at KPU, where she’s studying psychology.
“I’ve always had an acting bug, since elementary school,” she said. “I’m an attention-seeker, so this is great. It’s a good group of people, and there’s a feeling of, ‘Everyone’s welcome, c’mon in.’”
The workshop is about more than lessons in comedy performance, Chai emphasized.
“I also teach skills that (students) can put to use in the classroom, the boardroom and beyond,” he noted. “Everything from standing in an open and welcoming body position, to connecting with their team members and their audience with their eyes. Improv isn’t just fun, it’s also useful to have in the tool belt.”
This semester, Kwantlen Improv sessions end on Monday, April 3, and Chai plans to do more of the workshops again next fall. It’s free for students to attend, $5 for KPU alumni and $10 for the general public. For more details, visit Danielchai.com/blog, email kwantlenimprov@gmail.com or follow Twitter.com/kwantlenimprov.
tom.zillich@thenownewspaper.com