Performances.

I started taking classes while working a very 9-to-5 government job and needing a creative outlet. I’d signed up for a stand-up writing class, but I had to wait several months for it to start, and I’d just finished Tina Fey’s Bossypants, so I decided to take some improv classes in the meantime and see if it was for me.

It was. I loved the community, the listening, the teamwork. Plenty of people bombed, but those of us who really listened found each other and had a lot of fun performing. Several of us eventually started troupes, performing and competing regularly.

We turned that into something bigger, forming an organization to showcase the performances happening all around DC and to support the talent coming out of the Washington Improv Theater and the DC Improv comedy club.

It became a real scene: a place for people to find their footing, build an audience, and keep each other sharp.

I eventually took that stand-up class, Five Minutes to Funny at DC Improv, and wrote my five minutes. That was over a decade ago now, and what it really taught me is how hard writing is. You have to practice the craft, and you still have to read the room and understand your audience, except now you’re doing it alone instead of with a team behind you.

I also watched what happens when people run dry: doing the same bits over and over, then lashing out when nothing new lands. I wanted to stay away from that, and improv kept pulling me back because it was collaborative. You build the moment together instead of defending it alone.