“I have become more able to think on my feet and more sure of my choices in spur-of-the-moment decisions,” Garcia said. “Improv is a part of everybody’s life, no matter if you’re involved in theater or not. Every conversation you have is thought of on the spot unless you script all your conversations. The only difference with Fat Tuesday Debutantes is we take those interactions and use them to try to make people laugh.”
Heaton also emphasized the art form’s ability to help people learn to interact and connect with each other.
“The main things you can get from improv are thinking quickly on your feet, adapting to situations, interacting with other people,” Heaton said. “It’s not a lone wolf type of thing. When you’re up there, you’re there with other people, and you have to learn how to adapt to their performance style, their humor style, which may be different from yours.”
A few students involved in the improv troupe have gone on to pursue training at Second City in Chicago, have created their own improv groups elsewhere, or have transitioned their experience into the world of stand-up comedy.
“Some of them really love having an audience,” Heaton said. “They do fine in class every week, but once they have a live audience, some of them I’ve seen are like, oh, this is what it’s like to have an audience that’s not just our class. They get more into it once they get a response from people.”
Heaton keeps the interests and needs of the students at the forefront of the group’s direction. He describes the group as “student-run, student-directed, student-focused.”
“It’s mainly what the students want,” Heaton said. “It’s not what I want. If they say, look, I just want to come here and laugh for an hour and then go about the rest of my life, that is fine with me. … What do they want to get out of it? One of my students is in the Conservatory, and she said that the hour that she comes to improv is her favorite hour of the week because it is low-stress. She’s able to de-stress a bit, laugh and have a good time with people.”
Garcia encouraged anyone interested to set their anxieties aside and see what the group is about.
“I think that if someone was looking to join Fat Tuesday Debutantes, they totally should,” Garcia said. “It’s very beginner friendly. We have done situations where we have gone through divorce hearings, a car breaking down, and even delivering livestock. Each person comes in with their own experiences, and we’re all able to learn from each other.”