FIST 2019 Round 2 Recap - Comedic Pursuits

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We’re back! This is the Comedic Pursuits Podcast bonus episode covering FIST round 2. We hope you’ve been watching. If not, you’re missing it all.

What’s going on in FIST 2019 round 2?

There’s still a one-person show in the mix. Josh Rachford is in the Sweet 16 with his show where he pulls someone from the audience to improvise with him. A lot of FIST is getting the audience on board with you. And what better way to get the audience on board than to bring the audience into the show?

Some of the teams we interviewed last week have moved forward to the Sweet 16. Ramen Hood and Love Language are still in it. Geoff Corey did a backflip in Love Language’s show. We gave him a standing ovation because we could not handle what happened in front of us. I Don’t Know Her is still in it and going strong. If you got invested after our first interview, you’re in luck.

After round 2, we interviewed FIST team Bat on a Hot Tin Roof, 2018 FIST champion Nina Hsu, James Jelin from FIST team Members of the Audience, and Mary Lauren Hall of FIST team 1-800-555-HIYA. Mary Lauren is also a previous FIST champion.

The responses below have been edited for clarity. To hear everyone’s full interviews, listen to the podcast episode.

Nina Hsu, former FIST champion

I tell myself every year that I’m not going to do FIST. Then Joe Randazzo reached out to me last year and said he was putting together a FIST team with Chris Ulrich and Jane White, and I decided to join.

It’s funny because it’s the kind of thing where you try not to put any stakes on it. I just wanted to have a fun show. Our format was similar to a Pretty Flower. It was two couples on a double date, and then we’d cut to the waitstaff, or the history of the couples, or any follow-the-fun kind of thing. We also tossed in a multi-casting element where we could play other characters that were on the date.

Who came up with that format?

Jive Turkey, Chris and Joe’s duo, does that format. When we rehearsed, we hadn’t really introduced the multi-casting element. I think it just came up spontaneously in one of our first shows. We realized we could use it to make fun of each other, so we made it a thing going forward. The idea of a Pretty Flower in a double date context came up organically through all of our rehearsals, and it stuck.

Was there any point where you thought you might win FIST?

No.

Not even in the last show?

No, especially because we’re the first FIST championship team that entered through the Comeback Brawl. We were competing to be in the Finals, and we lost in the Final Four. We’d come so far, and we knew we had to play again the next day in the Comeback Round. But the exhaustion had hit. We kind of felt like it didn’t matter anymore.

Playing the next day was such a quick turnaround. But I think it ended up taking all the pressure off the show. We just wanted to go out and have fun with each other, make each other laugh, and see what happened.

Then we won in the Comeback Brawl, and I think that was because we forgot the audience and the expectations and focused on having fun with each other. I think that adrenaline rush carried us through because after the Comeback Brawl, we had to turn around an hour later and play in the Finals.

I remember being in the chute and hearing our competing team, The Prosecution, on stage. Just from hearing the audience, I felt like they’d won FIST. So we just wanted to go out and have fun. I was very shocked when we won. I never thought we were gonna win the whole thing.

For Joe and Chris, who have been in the tournament every year for maybe 10 years, I think it was extremely rewarding for them. But Jane was like, “Oh, I knew we were going to win.” And she’d just gotten into the scene pretty recently and crushed it—continues to crush it whenever she does improv.

I love the magic of FIST and the beauty of how it’s a thing that we all got to experience and remember.

How do you feel now, watching FIST 2019?

I’m so glad I’m not in it this year! I was talking to somebody earlier about how much luck is involved in where you are in the bracket and who you’re up against. Then you see these teams, and everybody is amazing. It becomes arbitrary when there’s a winner because everybody’s amazing.

Do you have any favorite teams?

I was at the first round match with I Don’t Know Her and Shalimar, and I thought both of those teams were fabulous. I love the energy from I Don’t Know Her. I love the combination in Shalimar of Sabrina’s piratey-ness and Mark’s “justify, justify, justify.” I feel like it works really well for them. I loved Love Language’s show tonight when Geoff Corey did a backflip. I love all the teams!

James Jelin, Members of the Audience, FIST 2019 competing team

Essentially, this team started because there were a few players that had a mutual interest in getting to play with one another. We had seen each other perform or heard great things or been in auditions together. We decided to take this opportunity and use FIST as the chance to do a show together.

I have a huge improv crush on Jason Walther, and I have been looking for an excuse to play with him for the longest time. So I reached out to him and asked if he wanted to play together. He said yes, so we brainstormed some players we were obsessed with. We thought about Mary Ann Badavi and Patrick Murray, and we brought them on.

I think we’re all people who are into dumb, stupid things, not trying to be cool or impressive and just having fun together. I think we have a shared comedic sensibility of having fun, following our impulses, and going to crazy places. We came up with a ridiculous, stupid bit for our improv team name without having fully figured out how that would actually exist. Then we decided to pretend we were members of the audience at FIST for our format.

We went into this show saying, “Let’s just have fun and enjoy playing together.” And I think that’s exactly what we did. I think the audience could see that we were having fun, and they responded.

In fact, there were some moments where I wondered if I was being too lax about the show. But the audience kept laughing, so I felt like they were with us. I think it’s just about communicating where you are. And I think the audience could see that we were just there having fun with each other. People respond to that.

And now you’re headed to the Sweet 16.

Yes, I’m amazed. I got eliminated before the Sweet 16 last time, and I think we’re just grateful for the chance to have another fun show together. We have no expectations. As long as we enjoy spending time together, maybe the audience will be with us. And who really cares after that?

Mary Lauran Hall, 1-800-555-HIYA, FIST 2019 competing team

Mike Hendrix and Dan Milikin had a duo last year. They had a really fun time playing with each other and got a lot farther than they expected to. They started talking to Dan Miller about forming a FIST group together. I knew that was going on, and I was trying not to be jealous. Mike and I are partners, and we live together, so I know a lot of the things that go on in his life. But they asked me to be on the team, and I was very flattered.

Did Dan set you and Mike up?

Mike and I have known each other through the improv scene for several years. I actually remember standing backstage at a show at Source and being super frustrated about being single and not liking any of the dudes in the improv scene. Then I saw Mike onstage and was like, “Except for that guy.”

But then nothing happened. Fast forward two years later: I had just broken my arm, and I was super sad, and Dan invited me to his dog adopt-iversary barbecue, and Mike was there. I remembered him and that I’d been intrigued by him in the past. We chatted, and then after the barbecue, I texted Dan to ask if Mike was single. Dan happened to know that he was, and he responded, “And ready to mingle!”

So then I emailed Mike and said, “Hey Mike, it was really great to see you at Dan’s barbecue last week and really nice to talk to you. I was wondering if you’d like to go get a drink sometime. This is not a platonic request. I’m asking you out on a date.” And fortunately, he said yes. And then we started dating. And now we’re engaged, and that’s been great.

How far have you gone in FIST previously?

The farthest I’ve gone is winning the whole thing in 2012. But I’ve also gotten out in the first round before, so it totally varies.

What team were you on when you won?

The team in 2012 was called Pals Are Pals with two improvisers who are no longer in DC. I really think the secret to FIST success is love. We just loved each other so much. And I think there’s a lot of love on this team, too.

What else would you tell people as a former champion and someone who’s headed to the Sweet 16?

I feel like it’s hard to give advice because I’ve also gotten out in the first round. You just never know how it’s gonna go. But choosing a group you feel really safe and close with and have a lot of love with is a really important part of it. Also, I try not to pay attention to the bracket and not overthink it. The audience is so energetic in FIST and so ready to support you.

Bat on a Hot Tin Roof, FIST 2019 competing team

Bat on a Hot Tin Roof is David Byrd, Elizabeth Cutler, and Adam Rosenthal.

Is there a story behind your name?

We were matched by Dan Miller’s matchmaker. At the end of his email, he said, “Here’s your team name if you want it.” We’d never met before, and we had a phone call the day before the deadline and decided to stick with the name. I think for everyone he matched, he suggested a team name. We like to imagine that he has a dartboard he uses to put team names together.

It’s a bold move to do a monoscene for three people who haven’t done improv together and never met before.

One of the nice things about it is that it forces you, both as characters and performers, to really sit and get to know each other. Our practices have been almost group therapy-esque with the sort of revelations we’ve had, even as characters. We’ve walked away saying, “Oh my god, that was so real and so enlightening to get through.” And a lot of that is because the format forces that.

Do you have a coach?

We practiced a lot by ourselves. Then we worked with Jordana Mishory before round one, but we just did one session. She’s amazing and super in-demand. Then we worked with Ryan Brookshire before round two.

Adam and Elizabeth also did Ben Taylor’s awesome monoscene workshop a couple of days ago, which was perfect timing. We’ll work with someone before our next show, but it’s been a fun way to work with different people and learn from each other.

What advice would you give to future FIST teams?

Just be comfortable and commit fully to whatever your idea is. Try to do a simple thing well. That’s all you really need. You don’t need any of the other bells and whistles.

Connect with your teammates. The first time we met up in person, we didn’t practice at all. We just got coffee and hung out and got to know each other. During a rehearsal, Ryan taught us the phrase, “I know you and I love you.” Now we say that before every performance.

That’s it for round 2!

Round 2 is over, but we’re still here. See you next week!