“I’ll never tire of making people laugh!” Megan Boyle
Move over The People Improvisation Theater and Upright Citizens Brigade! Megan Boyle, a rising star of the New York Improv scene is taking the genre viral at The eGarage!
Improvisation is perhaps the most challenging performing art form. With no rehearsals everything happens off the cuff and on the spot. Improv actors are not only fast and inventive, but also intelligent and well-versed in everything from science to politics and from history to the newest sitcoms. They pull jokes out of non-existing hats, invent plots in nanoseconds, and master accents they never studied.
Despite the vibrant NYC indie theater scene, few houses host Improv – the two well-known Manhattan patriarchs are The PIT and UCB. With Megan’s Improv Nation at eGarage in Long Island City, only a stop away from midtown Manhattan, this quick-witted genre escapes the city, heading onto the Web.
Megan Boyle studied Improv at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. Later, at ComedySportz Houston, the longest running stand-up comedy show in Texas, Megan really took improv from an amateur to professional level while studying with Frances Callier, an actress and comedian. Her next serious improv gig was at Oasis of the Seas, the Royal Caribbean largest cruise ship with a 6,000 passenger capacity, where she was one of a 3-people improv act titled “Throw Me a Line.” “This was an awesome experience,” Megan recalls. “Not only was I doing three improv shows a week but I was also playing Velma in Hairspray.” She sailed for six months, entertained about 30 cruises and over 150,000 people, and decided it was time to return to her favorite mainland, New York.
Born and raised in Texas, Megan discovered she was really a Gotham girl when she had received a scholarship to The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York. She moved, or, in her own words, made the mega-leap from a white Christian suburbia to the ever-controversial, politically incorrect, and endlessly diverse Big Apple mêlée. But, unlike Dorothy, she’s never wished to go back home.
With green eyes and flaming red hair, Megan neither looks nor speaks like a Texan. Neither did she have a typical mid-American upbringing. She was home-educated for five years and graduated from a college-prep boarding school. “I have amazing parents,” she says, “and even though we may disagree on politics and religion, they are really supportive of everything I do.”
Megan’s mother held a Master’s degree in Musical Theatre and spent her career as a theater teacher and director. She steered her daughter into acting. “I grew up on the stage,” Megan recalls. “Whenever my mom needed a kid in a school production, she pulled on me and my brother. In high school I participated in multiple acting competitions and won several awards. And when I received the AMDA scholarship, it was academic.”
Once she landed in New York, she pursued acting with a vengeance. “I studied every gambit of it, from hardcore Stanislavsky’s scene study to classical acting to film and TV.” Later, she went to LA to study film. When she returned from her sea voyages, she resumed studying – took three level of improv classes at Upright Citizens Brigade. “UCB is a good place to have on your resume,” she explains. “A lot of well-known comedians come here, including folks from Saturday Night Live and writers from 30 Rock.”
What sets Megan apart from all the other New York artist is she picked an unorthodox path to success. She didn’t follow the traditional route of auditioning for small roles in big productions, but chose to create her own venue. And even then, she didn’t go for the established theaters but opted for a startup. “eGgarage was the perfect place for launching a show,” she explains. “It’s open to new ideas and will work with artists. It’s much harder to get noticed in a large company. Here the whole world sees us!”
A unique fusion of classic theater and a web TV studio, eGarage gives artists a unique opportunity: every performance gets professionally recorded and published on the eGarage’s web site where the spectators can comment, Facebook and Tweet. If they miss a live episode they can see it on the web. If they are an ocean away they can watch their favorite shows regardless of time zones. It keeps the regulars engaged and interested. And shows can truly go viral.
“I was attracted by the idea of reaching a broader market,” Megan explains why she jumped on the startup opportunity. “With eGarage’s social network the possibilities are endless.” She also loved the fact that she had unlimited freedom to make her own decisions. She was essentially handed the key to the studio and told to run with it. “It would’ve never happened in a big company.”
Megan placed ads in Backstage, Actors Access, Improv Sites, Facebook, and Craigslist. She wanted to build a well-rounded team of performers with a balance of characters. “Improv is very much based not only on being quick-witted and funny, but on a meshing of personalities,” Megan says, explaining the principals of the craft. “People need to be able to play off of each other and click with each other. Not just on stage but also socially.”
After two rounds of auditions at eGarage, Megan’s found her balance – her troupe spans a gamut of fascinating individuals. April Body is a professional comedian who brings “the jokester mentality” to the team. Alex Levi-Gardes went to McGill and has an encyclopedia-like brain, “there’s nothing this guys doesn’t know.” Megan Loughran has an acting degree from Yale, Jonah Dill-D’Ascoli trained in classical theater in London and possesses a Shakespearian look. Athos Cakiades, a linguist with a UPenn diploma, had traded his corporate IT perks for the limelight of the stand-up comedy. A street-smart New Yorker Jenice Mathias has no formal education but nothing stops this enigmatic 60-year old mom and grandma, who barely looks 45 and creates the most outlandish characters with her exuberant energy.
“I was lucky to find so many talented and determined people,” Megan says. “From passing out flyers to hanging up posters, Improv Nation has some of the most dedicated people in the comedy world. And the funniest!”
Besides her acting talents, Megan proved to be a good entrepreneur. She convinced the Brooklyn Beer company to sponsor her Improv Nation. “I’m quite a beerholic and enjoy trying different microbrews. So I emailed Brooklyn Beer because I really like the brand and thought it would be great to have such a cool sponsor – and they could not have been nicer! So now, during our show, we sell the five-dollar Brooklyn Beer for two bucks! This alone is a good reason to come.”
When she is not improvising and tweeting her shows at eGarage, Megan stars in other productions. She is all geared up for the upcoming production of Salamander Stew which will run as part of New York International Fringe Festival. She has the Lead Salamander role. Improv remains her favorite, though. “Your focus is instantly put to the test, you constantly have to create things out of nothing,” she explains. “The feeling is quite addictive and never gets old. I’ve performed for well over 500,000 people in my career but I’ll never tire of making people laugh!”
Woman Around Town’s Six Questions
Favorite Place to Eat: I love food, so this is a hard one for me but Vynl is one of my favorites. Brunch and dinner are both awesome there for vegetarians.
Favorite Place to Shop: I know it’s a chain, but I love H&M. I’m always trying to find inexpensive ways to recreate looks I see in magazines. They’re perfect for that!
Favorite New York Sight: I can never get enough of the skyline. I love being in Brooklyn because I can see the bridge and the city. I love fire escapes. It’s what makes New York so unique to me. It reminds of old New York and what life back then must have been like.
Favorite New York Moment: My first winter here and the first snowfall of the season. Being from Texas, this was absolutely beautiful to me. I played in the fresh snow in Central Park with my friends; no one was there so the world was our oyster. Walking home with Christmas decor made me realize I had found my home I’d fit in in this world.
What I Love About New York: The energy of this city keeps me moving forward, especially with my career. I adore the romanticism of walking and being engrossed by the architecture, sounds, and even the smells.
What I Hate About New York: I miss central cooling/heating. These window A/C units are driving me nuts!
For Megan’s Improv schedules check the eGarage website
For Salamander Stew Fringe performances check Fringe NYC
