This is the fifth entry in a series of essays from actor and co-creator of the Superego podcast, Jeremy Carter. He has been performing improv comedy for over 20 years and the Superego podcast, which was started in 2006 and was described by Splitsider as being “really like nothing else out there”.
Like most improvisers, I develop and play lots of different characters. Some of those characters sink in a little and some soak straight through to the bone.
Usually, you get possessed by those “deep soak” characters because you know them like the back of your hand. You’ll start doing them while you’re shopping, while in traffic, or after sex, which isn’t always received well. Some characters leap out of you, and you don’t know where it came from. Some are easy to slip on, like old work boots.
For example, It’s easy for me to play my mother. I’ve seen her at her best. I’ve seen her at her worst… Usually as a result of something I’ve done. The way she says,”Oh, uh-huh” when she isn’t really listening. Or when she stops talking, mid-thought, because she’s had another thought, and you just stand there, waiting for her to finish, but you may as well be waiting for cement to smile.
A few years ago I developed a character named Shunt McGuppin, an outlaw country music star whose heyday was in the 1970s. Often, Shunt will burst into songs that are out right offensive while his sound engineer, Pete, just wants to record a family friendly album to release at Walmart for the holidays. I improvise little ditties often when I’m by myself, making up the hook to a song with the filthiest lyrics.