Improv group ‘speaks before thinking’

A group of Chapel Hill natives is bringing the town back to the 1990s — when the members were in junior high and the comedy scene started booming.

The Transactors — who are performing their first show since June, “Way Back to School,” tonight at the Carrboro ArtsCenter— is the oldest comedy group in the south, said member Nancy Pekar.

But the Triangle has since blossomed into a feed city for larger comedy scenes.

Zach Ward, executive producer and artistic director for Dirty South Improv Comedy Theater in Carrboro, said Chapel Hill trains more than 1,400 students, most of whom end up in Los Angeles, New York or Chicago.

“The comedy scene as it has developed in the last couple years has been an incredible opportunity for comedians to develop themselves as comedians,” he said.

“They hit the ground running when they come out.”

Madeline Walter, a 2007 UNC graduate now working as a comedic writer and actress in Los Angeles, started as a member of comedy group CHiPs during her time at UNC.

She said she has used the improv she learned there throughout her career.

“There is a certain muscle that improv helps build,” she said.

Walter calls improv the art of learning to speak before thinking, allowing performers to tune in to the reactions of others — most importantly the audience.

“It taught me to very quickly identify what is funny about the situation,” she said.

The Transactors only know how “Way Back to School” will begin — the audience determines where it will go and how it will end.

The group formed about 30 years ago as a short-form theater group, but has since transitioned into long-form improv.

Rather than performing sketches, the group works from a suggestion that evolves into a 30 to 90 minute performance, said Dan Sipp, a group member and artistic director for “Way Back to School.”

The Transactors live by the motto, “If you’re laughing, we’re doing comedy. If you’re not, we’re doing drama.”

“Although we are mainly a comedy group, we aren’t afraid to explore more serious emotional things,” Pekar said.

Walter, who recently wrote and starred in a one-woman show called “I’m Doing Great!” at the Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles, said Chapel Hill provides a lot of room to self-start.

“It’s so easy to translate ideas into something tangible,” she said.

“If you want to do something, make something, … just do it. The resources are there, just follow through.”

Arts Editor Katelyn Trela

contributed reporting.

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