Off the cuff

Recently, David Grissom and the Positively Funny Improv ensemble were hired to do a corporate session with 12 heating and air-conditioning repair men and women, where they played the game “Nuclear Chicken.”

“I had everyone acting like a chicken, and I was like, ‘You need to be a chicken. You need to be all the chicken you can be,’ and these guys were clucking and flapping their wings and pecking at the ground,” Grissom said — all in the name of improv.

Even though all the chickens began to panic when he started counting down to the nuclear bomb, there was one chicken that just kept pecking at the ground, he said. When Grissom asked him why he didn’t react, he responded that chickens didn’t know what nuclear bombs were.

“I was like, ‘You got the concept. You have no clue what a nuclear bomb is,’” said Grissom, the chief creative officer of Positively Funny. “It doesn’t matter what’s coming at you each day. You just continue to do what you have to do. You just be a chicken.”

For the last eight years, Positively Funny Inc. has been offering workshops in companies across Birmingham, teaching improv-based learning in elementary schools and performing shows at places like the Stardome, Hyatt Regency Birmingham – The Wynfrey Hotel, the Rare Martini and others.

“The concept of improvisation — it’s about acceptance,” Grissom said. “... It’s about thinking on your feet. It’s about spontaneity. It’s about making each other look brilliant.”

After a summer hiatus, Birmingham’s best-known improv group is back to making the city laugh, this time at a permanent, new location: Birmingham Improv Theatre (BIT) at 2208 Seventh Ave. S.

Grissom, who studied at Second City and lived in Chicago for 23 years, said there was an improv team around every corner of the city, but when he moved to Birmingham, he quickly found out it was still a largely undiscovered form of art. Once someone sees it for the first time, they’re hooked, he said. But at first they’re not sure what improv really is.

“For people down here, improv is still such a mystery,” he said.

What improv is all about, he said, is the concept of expecting failure and having no clue what’s going to happen on stage, but trusting that they’ve never failed and that “there’s no mistakes in improv, which creates a huge safety expectation zone.” Each show, the ensemble gets up on stage, takes direction from the audience and simply performs in whichever way it turns out.

In the corporate sphere, a lot of what they teach company groups is all about communication and team building through experiential learning, Grissom said. Improv, in essence, is when they “go and make up things in front of people, and it’s funny,” he said.

“Everybody is up on their feet. There’s no death by Powerpoint, they’re just simply there to learn, but they do not realize they’re learning because it’s presented in a very funny way,” Grissom said.

The point is to go into workplaces and teach people they can laugh and work. Grissom said the basic tenets of improv carry over to the workplace, which can be powerful for people to realize. 

 “We’re the only organization in Alabama that does all of this. … We are thrilled to do it,” he said.

The Positively Funny umbrella contains Positively Funny Improv, the comedy group that performs and offers comedy training in Birmingham, and as of this year, Tuscaloosa; PFI Solutions, a company that offers improv-based corporate workshops; and the nonprofit Perform-4A-Purpose, where improv is taught in nearby schools to encourage communication and positive life choices for youths.

Several times a year, schools around Birmingham also have Grissom and his team come in to work with students to use improv comedy as a means to tackling issues like bullying, teen violence and suicide. In addition, Positively Funny also offers comedy classes, which will now be offered at BIT in Lakeview.

Artistic Director Kris Genschmer works heavily with students in the comedy classes. Over the years, he said the class format has stayed largely the same. However, they’ve noticed many students are staying for all the levels with the goal of becoming a performer, rather than just taking a class or two to conquer fear of public speaking or become more conversational. 

“So we get to spend a lot more time with these students as they progress through all the levels,” he said. “Every time we get new students in, witnessing that zest and fascination and lust for the performance is reinvigorating.”

After going through an improv class, Genschmer said, it squelches fear of public speaking because they learn not to fear what other people are thinking, and gives participants more confidence and creativity. 

In total, there are eight levels of classes that can be taken before “graduation.” Several of the graduates have gone on to perform in the Positively Funny Improv ensemble and elsewhere, he said.

BIT currently has a kickstarter set up through January 2019 to raise money for the building costs so that they can start classes and do performances for audiences near the beginning of the year. Positively Funny Improv shows are welcoming and usually include participation and suggestions from the audience, Genschmer said, which appeals to a lot of people.

“Some shows are so amazing [that] it may take a couple of shows before we can re-touch that super synergistic energy we had that particular night,” Genschmer said, adding that all the shows are good, but some just stick out to certain crowds.

“It’s a blast. There’s nothing like it,” Grissom said. “Our audiences love us.”

For updates, go to positivelyfunnyinc.com.