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In the spring of 2005, Loyola Chicago officially started "getting messed with" when Susan Messing became the improvisation professor for the theatre department. Before coming to Loyola, the only opportunity many had to become students of Messing's was by taking classes with her at either of Chicago's two premiere improv theaters: The Annoyance or iO. The Northwestern University-educated Messing brings with her more than 15 years of improv performance experience and training from her beginnings with MetraForm (a young Annoyance) all the way to the Main Stage of The Second City. She is not just a stage actor either; she has been taking roles in major motion pictures recently as well. She can be seen alongside Jennifer Aniston in the recent film "The Break Up" as well as in Bob Odenkirk's latest release, "Let's Go to Prison," where she plays a stripper in a head brace.
Few colleges or universities in Chicago push the rich history of improv that has been cultivated on stages around the city, including The Second City, iO and The Annoyance. Since Messing has become a staple on each one of those stages, she makes for the perfect candidate to usher in a new generation of improv teaching. Taking the knowledge gained over her years in those institutions and bringing it to the university level, she has not only found success at Loyola but has recently taken over teaching the third- and fourth-year theater students at DePaul as well.
Despite all of her additional classes, Messing still finds time to perform in the city. You can catch her every Thursday at The Annoyance Theatre in her show, "Messing With a Friend." Each week, Messing brings another of her "friends" onto the stage with her to get "messed with" for 40 minutes. Messing's friends in the past have included Chicago improv staples such as Mick Napier, TJ Jagadowski, Joe Canale and well-known comedians such as Andy Dick and MadTV's Ike Barrenholtz.
The Phoenix had the chance to sit down and talk with Messing about what she had accomplished thus far in her career and about what it has been like having to adjust to teaching at a university level.
Phoenix: What was life like for you as an actor in college?
Messing: I was always getting cast, but I was a "bad actor." They'd give me the stuff that was too crazy or old for anyone else to play, and they'd have me wrap my head around it. I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else though; it was a broad-based liberal arts program. I actually just held my 20-year reunion with my theater department this past week. It was great seeing everyone again. Stephen Colbert was there for awhile; he graduated with me.
Phoenix: When did you get interested in improv?
Messing: I auditioned for a "college team" for Charna [Halpern, artistic director, owner and co-founder of iO] my junior year and didn't get in. It didn't stop me though; I had a passion for it. Something in me just sent me to iO, and it changed my life. I just don't have a passion for Shakespeare or a lot of other theater like some actors do. I just love improv because I get to type myself and I can do whatever I want. I really respect those people that make Shakespeare their life and do it great, but it's just not where my passion lies.
Phoenix: What was MetraForm?
Messing: When MetraForm started, it was kind of awesome. We had this thing called "Nimbus," where we'd put up a new form every night. Noah [Gregoropoulos] would be the director and Mick would come out and say something like, "clown." And then we'd all run off for a little while and come up with the form "clown" and then perform it that night. I was playing at iO at the same time on teams and it wasn't like it is now, where all the teams would just present a Harold (a form of improv developed at iO). It used to be judged, like they do the Cage Match shows now. And the audience would vote on a "winning" Harold. It was very competitive; MetraForm had no competition. Something made Mick snap and he just started The Annoyance, and that was it.
Phoenix: When did you start at Second City?
Messing: Well, in 1988 I was involved with iO and The Annoyance very heavily, performing regularly at The Annoyance in the longest-running Chicago musical, "Co-Ed Prison Sluts." I was Alice. I never really saw myself on the stage of Second City because it was very typed for women, and I didn't really fit their type. In 1998, Mick asked me, "What would keep you in town?" And I told him, "An artistic challenge." And that's when he asked me to play on the main stage. It was awesome.
Phoenix: Do you prefer to play at one theater over another?
Messing: No. They all have aspects to them that I like. The Annoyance allows me the freedom to be the true me, completely uncensored. With iO I get to uphold the dignity of that theater and the forms that have come out of it. Del [Close, late co-founder of iO] was a real visionary. And of course I respect the hallowed halls of Second City; I respect Second City a great deal. It's just about finding my place in each of the theaters. I am just glad they haven't kicked me out yet. Sincerely, no ass kissing.
Phoenix: What are your thoughts on short-form improv, like "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"
Messing: When I am required, I have fun. I don't seek it out, but it has its own integrity. I respect people that are wonderful at it. It's like Shakespeare - there are just some people who have a passion for it.
Phoenix: When did you start teaching?
Messing: [In the] mid-'90s. It was at the Annoyance. Mick wanted a class for women, so he put myself and Jodi Lennon in charge of it. "A 'women's' class" is what he said, and I was like, "I don't want to teach 'women,' I want to teach 'people.'" It was obvious, though, that a class like this was needed in the city at the time, so I did what Mick said. So I taught the "women's class" and I "empowered" them, I guess. A few years later, I asked Charna to teach at iO and she told me to coach first. And I did, diligently, for a year and a half. I coached three teams in that time and then she finally caved. I showed her what I wanted and why my curriculum needed to be used at iO. So now my class is the standard level two class at iO, my curriculum is in stone. At the Annoyance when I teach it is much more loose; I do what needs to be done from day to day. It's smaller, you get to know everyone.
Phoenix: What's it like now teaching at a college level?
Messing: It's interesting. Bernie Sahlins and Del Close had a running debate going. Del said that improv was an art form unto itself, and Bernie said it was just more or less a means to an end. I think it's great that a university like Loyola can embrace the idea of improv as art.
Phoenix: Is there a difference in your teaching style depending on where you're teaching?
Messing: Not much. I mean, the students are the real difference. Loyola has a very free environment and the DePaul kids are just a bit more regimented. It's just the difference between a liberal arts school and a conservatory.
Phoenix: What's your advice to people just starting out on the scene?
Messing: Improv is about celebrating everyone. When was the last time there was ever real "ensemble" in the theater? You have your leads and your chorus members and it's just not all equal. It's about the group finding that tiny element and seeing where it goes.
Phoenix: What do you think of Loyola's improv scene?
Messing: I think it's going to evolve how it will. The fact that one exists and is thriving is enough said.
Phoenix: Do you have any goals from here?
Messing: Yes, I do. It's very simple: Keep growing. The day I stop growing is the day I start dying, and I don't want to die.
Messing will be teaching an improv workshop this semester on campus as part of the theatre department's Loyola improv educators program and will be teaching an improv class again this spring.
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