'People want new voices': How inclusivity has shaped the local comedy scene this decade

Greg Hohn has been with Transactors Improv for 30 years. As the group’s director since 1996 and professor of Applied Improv at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business School for 20 years, he’s personally seen the local comedy scene change.

“When I joined the company, we were the only improv group in Chapel Hill and one of maybe a couple in the whole area,” Hohn said. “Now, there are many groups, and lots of improvisers are in numerous groups, and we’ve got The PIT Chapel Hill on Franklin Street, where a lot of groups are appearing regularly. Improv is featured there, as are other comedy forms. We occasionally perform there.”

Hohn said the improv scene has changed in a couple of significant ways in the last decade. For example, more people are involved than ever before.

“The other thing I would say that is really big is that, when I joined Transactors Improv, improv in general was predominantly male to a vast degree,” Hohn said. “I think it is still a male-dominated form, but there are so many more women who are involved and who are working as teachers and directors, and that is something that is near and dear to my heart, so it’s really great to see that.”

Transactors Improv has eight members in its company, including four men and four women. Hohn said when he joined, it was three men and one woman. They went through a phase where it was all men, but Hohn shook it up when he took over as director.

“I just think it’s great to have more representation, and increased diversity in general is just great because it’s a great way to connect with people and see into other people’s cultures and minds and lives,” Hohn said. “That’s been a big change.”

Josh Rosenstein is the vice chairperson of Chapel Hill’s Cultural Arts Commission, a Chapel Hill Town Council advisory board. Rosenstein joined in 2015 and has seen the faces of performers come and go in the last few years. 

Some of those new faces appeared through Eyes Up Here Comedy, started in 2015 by Erin Terry. The goal was to provide a platform for female-identifying comedians in North Carolina, with most shows taking place in Durham and Raleigh.

“There have been a lot of shows where it’s just a bunch of white dudes over and over again,” Rosenstein said. “Some people want a different experience. The success of her shows proves that there is an absolute market for different kinds of comedy shows; those shows sell out all the time.”

Shifting demographics in comedy over the last decade is also making a difference for campus comedy groups. Mihir Shah is a senior at UNC who joined CHiPs, a student improv and sketch comedy group, in spring 2017. He is the current director. 

“This is the first year that I can remember where we have more women than men, which is really cool.” Shah said. “It’s five to four right now.”

Shah also pointed to his own identity as an Indian-American as a sign of the changing scene. Shah said that when he started doing improv at UNC, there was no one else that looked like him.

“Improv is definitely a white game,” Shah said. 

Shah said an incident inspired him when he had to write his first sketch for CHiPs. He said he had trouble taking inspiration from the sketches his peers were performing, as they were not experiences that he related to.

When CHiPs traveled to Chicago a couple years ago, Shah was chosen by airport security to be randomly searched. It ended up being the basis for his first comedy sketch. The dark humor got an audible reaction from the audience, Shah said.

“That was sick,” Shah said. “That didn’t happen when I wasn’t on CHiPs. Getting your voice out there and not being afraid to be heard and just be you is a cool realization.”  

Deadpan Comics Society is a new comedy group in the area and performed their first show at The PIT on Nov. 14. Russell Goodwill, a former UNC student, is one of Deadpan’s three members. 

Goodwill said that the more inclusive nature of comedy gives him more fellow comedians to compete and collaborate with. 

“It’s honestly a really good opportunity, in my mind,” Goodwill said.

Goodwill praised Jonah Lewis, one of his Deadpan collaborators, for his performance at The PIT. 

“He had the audience continuously roaring,” Goodwill said. “He is an absolutely hilarious guy.”

Lewis is a junior at UNC and member of the house team at The PIT. Lewis started attending open mics there after two auditions for the UNC comedy troupe False Profits didn’t lead to anything. Lewis, who uses a wheelchair to accommodate his cerebral palsy, said the local comedy scene has introduced him to a variety of comedians.

“I go to open mics and see all kinds of people,” Lewis said. “There is more than one person in a wheelchair like me. There’re multiple women that I perform with that are amazing. I think it just makes for a better show if there’s more than one perspective on the stage.”

The PIT (The Peoples Improv Theater) itself is something that didn’t exist a decade ago. Will Purpura, artistic director for the venue, moved to Chapel Hill two years ago to help establish the theater. Purpura said it’s just one example of how comedy is growing.

“It’s become much more accessible,” Purpura said. “The mystique has been taken away from it, not in a negative way. People who were afraid to do it and didn’t think they could ever do it are now doing it, and it’s definitely more diverse. I think audiences want that – people want new voices and to hear from different kinds of people.”

@JohnnySobczak

arts@dailytarheel.com