Connection Conversations - with Ally Shea - Improv Student

The TCC Connection

Hosted by Tyrus Grooms This episode of Connection Conversations features special guest, Ally Shea, a fellow TCC student currently enrolled in the Theatre program based at the Southeast Campus. Topics range from her improv origin story, academic career at TCC, participation in Die Laughing, the improv troop, as well as a segment featuring her improv skills. Connection Conversations is an ongoing series by the TCC Connection, TCC's student newspaper based at Tulsa Community College in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Edited by Sam Levrault Music by The Odyssey, "75 to Ramona" Check out The TCC Connection online at http://tccconnection.com/ The TCC Connection is a student newspaper based at Tulsa Community College in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Transcript by Sam Levrault Welcome to Connection Conversations, a series apart of the TCC Connection podcast. Today’s host is Tyrus Grooms, West Editor for the TCC Connection. Today’s episode covers a recent interview with Ally Shea, a theatre student at TCC as well as a member of Die Laughing Improv Troop hosted by TCC. Welcome to Connection Conversation, my name is Tyrus Grooms, and I am the West Editor. I am Ally Shea, I am a student here at TCC with the theatre department, so I am a theatre major. I do various things, mostly I am involved with the improv troop here at TCC, Die Laughing, which is pretty exciting, I’ve been involved with that for a couple of years now. I’ve been in productions here at TCC as well, and I graduate this semester. So, when did you recognize you like/had talent in improv? I was younger, I was in seventh grade and I remember it, we were doing, I went to Union for school, and we were doing this fine arts wheel, you know… you take a class for eight weeks then you switch over. I took this drama class, that eight weeks came up, and we were doing these silly improv games and I realized I can make people laugh, and I liked the feeling of making others laughed. So, I kind of always stuck with that. That’s like thirteen or so. So how did your mentors/parents/teachers sort of help you with this path? I really just stuck with it. It struck a chord back in seventh grade and I started getting more information on it. In eighth grade I decided to stick to drama for one full year. My freshman year I auditioned for some classes, some higher-level classes, and I got in. I just stuck with it throughout high school and then I decided I wanted to do some school for it as well. So how do you feel on stage? Are you just swept up by some sort of energy or, like, what happens? Oh, absolutely! It’s energy, it’s palpable, you know, you get this feeling not only from the crowd, whether its three people or seven hundred people. You get swept up by this energy, you just, and an adrenaline you can’t explain. So where do you draw inspiration from? From so many places, I could be having a conversation with anyone. I could be in a coffee shop and I’m like, this is funny… There’s small mannerisms that they happen to be showing that could inspire me to make a silly character later. I think I get most inspired just by sitting back and people watching. I love people watching. [yeah!] It’s a great experience, right? I was at a driller’s game and just watch people…. I don’t watch the game, I watch people watch the game. [exactly!] and it’s much better that way. Oh, it’s so much fun! Or, like going to the mall, it makes the most mundane chores so much more fun, just watching people in their natural habitat. And you never really notice that they are very interesting… All the while someone could be sitting back, watching us, watching people. Inception right there… Inception…. [laughs…] So, how do you prepare yourself for any improvisational set? When I know I have a show coming up, one thing I like to do is stay up to date with pop culture. So, what’s going on in the news, what’s trending right now, cause that’s something good you always want to have in your back pocke