Tara DeFrancisco doesn't have a bombing-at-an-open-mic story. A director told her she'd never be the lead - that's where the comedian starts.
She's the first improviser to sit down with Ira Cross on First Mic. Her path runs through an Ohio University professor who taught a stand-up class and told her to go to Chicago; through iO, Second City, and ComedySportz, where she was among the roughly one percent of the city's 10,000 improvisers who ever got paid to do it; and back home to Columbus, where she and Rance Rizzutto built The Nest Theatre, the only dedicated improv theater in a city of two million.
If you're wondering how to get started in improv comedy, she answers it plainly: find a training center, take the class, and understand that it's a team sport before it's a solo act. She settles the wardrobe question too - dress like you're going on a really good first date, where you want to impress each other and you're still yourself.
Plus: why two improv theaters in one town always fight and what a third one fixes, what 400 people in Riga, Latvia taught her about live comedy, and why Columbus being good at everything might be the thing holding its identity back.
Recorded at Rehab Tavern in Columbus, Ohio.
💬 Improvisers and stand-ups — which one is harder to start? Settle it in the comments.
🎙️ Follow Tara DeFrancisco:
Instagram: @taradefrancisco
Web: taradefrancisco.com
The Nest Theatre: nesttheatre.com
🔗 First Mic is part of the Indie Comedy Collective:
YouTube: youtube.com/@IndieComedyCollective
Instagram: @indiecomedycollective
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