Last week finally gave me an opportunity to visit the Zorlu PSM, a relatively new entertainment complex in the Zincirlikuyu district of Istanbul. Performing in one of its many massive concert/theatre halls was Ephemerata, an Istanbul-based improv comedy duo performing in English. Ephemerata has been active for about a year now, during which they have been regulars at the YOTA Comedy Stage and Molly’s Cafe, both in Beyoğlu.
Ephemerata, as described by the duo at the beginning of the show, is “a show that has never been performed before and will never be performed again.” Indeed, every performance by the duo is 100% improvised onstage, giving each performance its own unique story and set of characters.
After the hilarious one-hour performance, I had a chance to sit down, in a manner of speaking, with the minds behind Ephemerata, Tyler Denison and Curtis Erhart, for a short interview.
Tell me a bit about the conception of Ephemerata. How was it started and what brought the two of you together?
Curtis: Tyler and I performed together for a Square Peg show a few years back. That group is unfortunately now defunct, but I always remembered Tyler as a fun guy to perform with and also just to hang out with. Later, I was listening to this RadioLab podcast about TJ & Dave, which was a show I watched and loved when I lived in Chicago. I sent out a general appeal to see if anyone was interested in doing something like what they were doing, here in Istanbul. I also made a personal appeal to Tyler, and thankfully he agreed. I was certain it was going to take at least 6 months of workshopping it before it was ready for the stage, but we ended up putting up a show after only one month, and took it to the Izmir Improv Festival only a few weeks after that.
Tyler: So we’ve been working on it a little over a year. To be honest, when Curtis first approached me about doing a long-form improv show like TJ & Dave, I wasn’t sure I could do it. I had been in a few shows with Square Peg Theatre Troupe, but this seemed like a whole other level that perhaps I wasn’t good enough for. To my surprise and delight, however, once Curtis and I started rehearsing we sort of instantly clicked, and it felt really natural.
What is it like to be an English-speaking act in Turkey? What were some of the challenges you’ve faced and what are the advantages, if any?
Curtis: Well, obviously our audience is limited by language and culture, but we don’t want to think so much about our audience having some kind of ceiling. We figure that if we reach everyone in Istanbul who might like our show, that will be an audience big enough for us.
Tyler: Agreed, and in the past year we have been steadily gaining a following, and I know we can reach a lot more people.
Curtis: As far as advantages, well, we’re pretty much the only show in town when it comes to long-form English improv, so if that’s what you’re into, well then you don’t really have any other choice but to come see us!
Tyler: True! Us and the other group we perform on Fridays with, The Clap [also a long-form style show], that is.
What does the future hold for Ephemerata?
Curtis: We’d really like to take our show to some international festivals in the coming year. Other than that, we’re mostly concerned with spreading the word about us. We’re sure there are a lot of people out there who would dig what we do, and we just have to get the word out to them.
Tyler: Right now we have shows every other Friday in Beyoğlu, and it would be great to get other shows in other venues, like the show at Zorlu Center. We would also love for the English improv community as a whole in Istanbul, beyond just our show, to keep growing and growing!
How much (if any) dialog is there between the two of you before you walk on stage? Do you create a basic premise, much like a group of musicians choose a key and discuss rhythm before an improv session, or does it all happen on the spot?
Tyler: We don’t go on stage with any preconceived notions or premises. There are no suggestions from the audience; the entire show is made up as we go, so we are discovering it along with the audience. Before we go on stage, the only things we say to each other are things like, “There is a great show out there; we just have to find it!” or something along those lines. The reason for this is that we believe that the characters are already there in a sense, living their lives, and we are going to inhabit their lives for an hour. When the lights come up, we look at each other, and try to find out who we are, where we are, and what we are doing at that moment. We study each other’s faces and postures, then one of us says something, and it begins!
Curtis: Sometimes it seems like people think it would be easier if we did plan ahead, but I think the opposite is true. Once you get over the initial fear, it ‘s really nice not having those restrictions, not to feel obliged to fit what we’re doing into some preconceived plan.
Thank you both!
If you would like to see a performance, Ephemerata performs with The Clap on the 1st and 3rd Friday of every month, at YOTA Komedi Sahnesi in Taksim, Beyoğlu. Check out their Facebook page for more details.
Photo credit: Sveta Nekrasova
Check out this interview with T and me about our thing!