Today we’d like to introduce you to Gary Kramer.
Gary, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I graduated from Emerson College in Boston with a BFA in theatre back in the 80’s, after an intense study of all forms of theatre, from Greek to Shakespeare to vaudeville to contemporary. My family was always very funny (it’s a New York Jewish thing…), and so I was always attracted to comedy and seemed to have an inherent built-in timing. I would frequently get in trouble in class for finding so many of the overly serious acting exercises to be funny. Apparently, that was frowned upon.
Upon graduation, I immediately moved to Los Angeles to pursue film/television work, and I was in that race for 25 years. Over the years, I had a few actual paying jobs, a few commercials, local theatre, a really bad film, and some TV work, but nothing to write home about (although I did write home about them).
Shortly after I first arrived, and before all the huge offers from Spielberg started coming in, I became aware of the fledgling industry (at the time) of improv comedy and was formally introduced to it by my older brother, Jeff, who had done it in grad school. It was very similar to the type of sketches we used to make up for our parents while growing up, and I took to it very quickly.
I studied and got hooked up with a group called ComedySportz in Bakersfield, of all places, making the commute from LA twice a week to do comedy near the oil fields. A couple of years, and many shows later, I had the opportunity to co-direct my own production in Santa Barbara, and we created a show there that lasted almost 10 years with more than 1200 performances. It was the best learning experience of my life – to actually create a type of show that hadn’t been seen before in that city, and to design and implement our vision both artistically and from a business sense.
And to do it in a town that really didn’t seem to want us, or have the right population and demographics. Maybe it was just stubbornness, or not knowing any better, but we were able to keep the show together for almost a decade. I had to learn to think completely out-of-the-box to keep the business running, which just so happens to be a skill we teach in improv training.
In October 1999, we opened our San Diego location, and have been in the same venue on India St. for the past 19 years. Within 3 months of opening, we were doubling our Santa Barbara attendance, so we officially moved operations here. In 2004, I had the brilliant idea of opening a second location in New York City and somehow managed to live a bi-coastal life for 10 years. The idea of creating an off-Broadway show (and we built the theatre too) was completely ridiculous, but that seems to be an ongoing theme in my life. We performed over 2000 shows in New York City. If you can make it there…
We also opened a third location in Phoenix in 2008, and that show continues to run today, with shows every week.
One of the things I’m most proud about is the fact that we are now the longest-running show in the history of San Diego. We’ve performed over 5000 shows over 19 seasons and our cast is absurdly talented. I’ve been very lucky to find people who share my sense of the absurd and can bring more depth to each performance than you would find at a typical comedy show.
The entire operation, from the cast to the artistic management and support staff all share the same artistic mission, which is to create a world-class comedic experience for our audience. That’s something that I smile about every day.
Has it been a smooth road?
Producing and directing theatre is never a smooth road. If it was, you’re not doing something right. We perform over 300 shows every year, so we’re going to have cast changes, scheduling issues, natural disasters, and the weird things that happen during a live performance. That just comes with the territory. A typical show at a small theatre runs for 6 weeks. We are currently on week 965 as of June 2018, which is just crazy. There’s a big challenge that comes with marketing a show over that period of time.
We try to make the show accessible to all audiences, while also attempting to push the envelope and constantly innovate. The audience doesn’t always go along on that journey, for a variety of reasons, and they let you know right away. That’s both the thrill and the challenge of live theatre.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with National Comedy Theatre – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We have two major products that we produce. Our improvised comedy show is performed every Thursday through Sunday night and is a fast moving, interactive comedy performance that appeals to all audiences. The show is completely improvised based on audience suggestions, so every performance is completely different and presented with no script.
In addition to our public performances, we also perform at dozens of corporate and private events every year and have even taken the show on tour with the military to places such as Iraq, Turkey, Spain, Italy and about a dozen more countries.
I might be biased, but the show is seriously great, and it still makes me laugh after all these years. I think the best part of the production is that we try to create an emotional connection with the audience and to find the commonality of the human experience and to do it in a comedic way. There’s something very profound about a theatre full of people all laughing together and sharing a moment that we can all relate to.
Our cast is selected from the very best improv performers in the city (and some from outside the city) and are all comedy professionals. They make me look good every night by exceeding their training and bringing a subtlety and nuance to their performances.
The second major product, which is based on the same lessons that we teach to our cast members and in our improv classes, is called WITS and is a corporate team building program. Using the principles of improv, we teach organizations to use collaborative thinking, teamwork and saying Yes to ideas to increase their productivity and employee morale. It’s a very cool program and has taken us all over the country to hundreds of corporations and groups…
There’s something very cool about working within a corporate environment and introducing employees to the concepts of improvised thinking and to apply it to their business. Helping a roomful of engineers, for example, create and to think with a different part of their brains is a very gratifying experience.
Lastly, we have a very robust series of improv classes for both adults and teens. We’ve taught thousands of individuals over the years and introduced them to this particular quirky art form. People who have never given a thought to stepping on stage, find themselves suddenly performing a show with no script just a few months later. The look of joy and surprise on their faces, when they discover that they can do this, is absolutely priceless.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
Although I’ve worked here since 1999, I didn’t officially move here myself until 2010.
Every day that I look out the window and see how beautiful the city is, I wonder why I didn’t move here earlier.
It’s almost not fair to other cities…
Contact Info:
- Address: 3717 India St. San Diego, CA 92103
- Website: www.nationalcomedy.com / www.witsteambuilding.com
- Phone: 619-295-4999
- Email: sandiego@nationalcomedy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nctsandiego/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NationalComedyTheatre/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/NCTSanDiego
Getting in touch: SDVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
