Teacher Name: Bobby McCosky

 

Hometown: Granite City,IL

 

Training/Experience: 11 years of improv, 7 years teaching. Former head of education at KC Improv Company, and manager of the Improv Shop KC. Learned from teachers from across the country from different schools of thought.

 

What you Teach: I focus mostly on long form improv, with a lot of my formal training being in the UCB school of game, but with a lot of emphasis on committing to our scenes, and caring about the people in them. I also like teaching about the “ripple effects” of our actions in scenes as a way to surprise ourselves with where we can heighten and take our scenes.  

 

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Favorite Local Business: Pryde’s Old Westport(for all your baking needs!)

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Why you teach: Teaching has always been the most fulfilling part of improv for me. I love performing but it’s such an ephemeral happiness, whereas when I can see a student who I helped teach a year ago, now on stage and being more confident, and more free in their play, that just brings me more joy than even my best shows, and again, it shows that when we take care of others in improv, we take care of ourselves.

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Favorite Sonic Food: Do they still make the ice cream slushes? With the shaved ice and ice cream in it? Cause that in bubblegum flavor. 

 

What has improv taught you: So many things, but a lot of humility. I have always loved learning skills, and having hobbies, and I thought, “I’m pretty funny, I watch a lot of comedy, surely improv will be easy for me?” Well, although it has been endlessly fun, it is my no means easy. Letting go of control of an idea I have, and focusing on making my scene partners look great in a scene instead of trying to be a laugh robot took some time, but I am so glad I stuck with it. A TL;DR version would be it has taught me that we do our best, and are at our best, when we try to do our best for others.

 

Favorite Monument: Does this statue of soccer star Cristiano Ronaldo count?
 

 

Who’d win In a Fight Tom Hanks or Anderson Cooper: Silver Fox Cooper all the way(sorry T.hanks)

 

Otter or a chipmunk: Otter. Lazy river-ing little rodents.

 

If you could sing one song and only one song well which one: “I’d Rather Go Blind” by Etta James.