Sea Tea Improv Provides Financial Assistance to Foster Inclusivity

We spoke to Julia Pistell, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Sea Tea Improv, as well as Allie Rivera, Instructor and Performer, about their mission to present high-quality, affordable, original entertainment to a diverse audience. By providing opportunities and a home for comedians and performers, they cultivate an inclusive comedy community and springboard top regional talent to a national level.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Community Access. This is Meredith Croppic. You're at iHeartMedia today. We are
talking to Julia Pistel. Pistol Pistel, you got it, okay, the
co founder and managing director of CTin Hartford. It is an improv theater
and we also have Ali rivera instructureand performer. Hello ladies, Hi,
how are you doing. Thanks forjoining me today, Thanks for having us?

(00:23):
Yeah, of course, Well,as you know, I am actually
a student of CT. I've takenwhat four classes now. The last one
was just with Julia. Good experience. It was fun. Tell us a
little bit about CT and what youdo and how it all started. Yeah.
Sure, So CT Improv has beenaround for quite some time. We

(00:48):
started actually as just one small groupof performers. We didn't have a space,
we didn't really have any connections,but we started performing at comedy clubs
or little theaters, or the Southernto an Apple Fest, you know,
whatever she happened. So, throughdoing a lot of shows, we deliberately
garnered a little following, and thenour goal was to eventually start teaching classes

(01:14):
and having a whole improv community here. So we did that and then in
twenty sixteen we opened the CT ImprovTheater, CD Comedy Theater rather downtown Hartford.
So for the last almost eight years, we've been doing shows every single
weekend, teaching dozens of classes ayear, and still performing out in the
community as much as we can withour touring company. How did it get

(01:37):
started? Were you always interested inimprov? What made you want to put
this all together? Yeah? So, I mean I personally had no idea
that improv would take over my life. When I moved to Hartford. I
moved in with a person who isnow my husband, and he was taking
classes at Hartford Stage. So Iquite literally was like, I'm just gonna

(01:57):
come along, and I showed upto the class without registering or paying.
Weich is don't do that as ceeguys, you could try, I have
a shot. But in that classwe all happened to meet a bunch of
other very ambitious, very young Hertfordarea people, some new residents, some

(02:20):
longtime residents, and we just hada drive to perform more and knowing that
downtown Hartford had this gap in itsart scene. It has amazing theater,
amazing stand up comedy, but wewere like, well, there's no improv,
So I guess, if we wantto see it, we have to
do it. So we challenged ourselvesto find other improvisers and perform as much

(02:40):
as possible, and then also thisvery interesting task of like teaching an audience
what improv is, which is stilla big part of what we do.
And then we started teaching classes.Then we met Ali over here, and
Ali, how did you find improv? I was, you know, living
back with my parents and had neverheard of improv, but several people had

(03:00):
said to me, you're funny,you could try and the common CD or
sorry. Yeah, So I justgoogled improv classes and found CT and I
took the Intro to Improv class thatironically, i'm teaching the first week of
that same class. Oh nice,ten years later after I took it myself.
Have you taught that class before?I have? Yeah. I've been

(03:22):
teaching for several years now, andit's been such a joy to bring people
into this community in this art formthat means so much to me, and
that is so fun. Being ableto do that and bring people in has
been such a joy. Yeah,for sure. And what I like about
your classes is, you know,they're set up like college level courses.
One hundred, two hundred, threehundred, et cetera. And they're taught

(03:44):
by one instructor for an eight weeksession, but you bring in a TA
every week who is a different instructorslash improviser affiliated with the theater, which
is really nice for students to getto learn from other people throughout the course
of one single class and get differentperspectives and see kind of people's individual improv

(04:04):
styles. Yeah, part of thereason that we do that well, First
of all, as you can tellfrom this interview right now, we don't
really like to do anything alone.Improv is not, yes, totally team
sports, team sport. It's allabout like listening and reacting and like finding

(04:27):
joy and what other people are doing. So having a buddy to teach is
really fun. But also I thinksometimes people have in their mind this image
of improv as this like hipster youngpeople only seen and we love young hipsters
of course, but also all differentkinds of people do it, and all
different kinds of people benefit from itand love it. So when you have

(04:50):
all these different teaching assistants come through, you know you can see like,
oh wow, this is a totallydifferent kind of person, totally different demographic
in some way, who can bringa perspective to why we're just making comedy
up in a small room. Thatis true? Yeah, all different ages,
men, women, no children yet, Yeah, professions I know.

(05:13):
Whenever I'm teaching the classes, Ilike to ask why they signed up,
and you get such a range ofanswers from people being told, oh,
I'm funny, I want to doit as an art form too. I
need to be better at public speakingwhen I'm at work, and I heard
that this could help. So hearingall of the different reasons why people came
to it, I often will pickwhich tas I have working with me based
on that of sure, this personstarted off for the same reason and here

(05:35):
they are now they can be agood person for you to say, yeah,
that's great. What are some ofthe most interesting reasons I know?
Actually, Julia, in our lastclass, we had someone who was there
sort of for trauma therapy, whichis interesting. What are some of the
other more uncommon reasons people sign up? One that made me laugh was I
had somebody who said that he watchedMichael Scott on the Office to improv and

(06:00):
thought that it was funny and wantedto emulate that sure, and so day
one I was like, Okay,well that's actually not what you should be
doing, but thank you for sharing. Yeah. I mean, I think
some of the common reasons are wantingto perform and wanting to write sketch comedy.
A lot of these sketch comedians ormainstream comedians that we all know,

(06:20):
like Tina Fey for example, youknow, they're really improvisers who have learned
how comedy works through improvising. Sothat's really common. But I would say
we get a shocking amount of peoplewho sign up because either they are kind
of lonely or want to meet peopleyeah, or the opposite, where they

(06:44):
like love trying new things and theylove people and they're like, this is
just the next thing I'm signing upfor. And both of those reasons are
really fascinating because they don't necessarily careabout comedy, but they can turn into
some of the most interesting people becausethey have such a vulnerability when they're coming
in. And one of my favoritethings that I see happen is people find

(07:05):
their their friends, their friend group. I'm really passionate about friendship in general,
and you know, third spaces andthings like that, and there aren't
as many ways anymore to just likebe out in the world in a completely
analog way, hanging out with people. And in this way, you come

(07:27):
in, you take a class andno phones, no nothing, and you're
just you have to listen to peopleor it doesn't work. So you've experienced
this, Meredith, like it getsreally pretty real, but real without necessarily
being heavy. So it's kind offacilitating fun. So yes, people who

(07:47):
come in with that mindset, theygenerally like have a really good time,
like, Oh, I'm just hereto meet people and have fun, and
then they're like, Oh, Iguess I'm really funny. I guess this
is just a joyful thing to do. Yeah. To your point, I
think, you know, as especiallyafter college or those situations where you're thrust
among people you become friends with,that is hard these days to outside of

(08:09):
work, you know, meet otherpeople. And I think what I found
about CT is it's such a likeminded community and you guys really foster these
support and judgment free zones and inclusion, intolerance and diversity in a way that
is very prominent. You go aboveand beyond to do that. Can you
talk a little bit about that andhow you create that kind of environment.

(08:31):
Yeah, I mean, something that'sbeen a huge part of my journey here
with CT is I since joining CTcame out and met my partner at CT
and we recently had a pride showwhere we had fifteen members of the LGBTQ
community doing improv together. We hadothers who wanted to join but couldn't.

(08:52):
Since then, I've had multiple communitymembers come to me and say, just
so you know, I'm a memberof the community and would love to be
asked, which I didn't know.So that was a lovely thing as well.
And to think when we started,the first time we did a pride
show, we only had six peoplein it, and to see that aspect
of the community growing because so manypeople feel safe to just be themselves in

(09:13):
this environment. I mean, thething I always tell my students is we're
adults playing pretend. The stakes reallycould not be lower. So it doesn't
feel like that all the time,but it's true. A lot of times
it doesn't feel that way because weput a lot of pressure on, like
trying to be funny or trying tocreate these things. But at the end
of the day, you know,we're adults gathering to play make believe,

(09:35):
and so if that can't be afun and welcoming environment, then why do
it? Yeah, And I thinkimprov it just like naturally, has to
be inclusive. I mean, I'msure there are people in other improv communities
who are like no, yeah.I find that it has to. Like
it lends itself that way because theabsolute baseline to in an imprepp scene is

(10:01):
to accept. So if someone's sayingyes and yeah exactly so we've all heard
the phrase, well a lot ofpeople out there in the world now have
heard the phrase yes, and sothe yes is accepting. So of course
if you're like, oh, we'retwo nights fighting over a mote, a
good scene, we can understand howyou would say yes, like, yes,

(10:22):
we are two nights. But italso comes into this sort of meta
quality where if someone says like,look, I am not in a good
economic situation right now, I can'tafford this, Like we can't say no,
you know, like no, getout of our community. We have
to say, Okay, yes,I accept this, and how can we
get this person in the door becausewe really value them. So that is
just one example of how inclusivity kindof permeates everything we do, because everyone

(10:48):
who's teaching and performing regularly, theirdefault mode is acceptance. So we don't
want to be overly exclusive or competitive. I mean, they're there's also very
talented people, and there's an elementof we're doing the best shows that we
can do. But at the endof the day, we really do believe
in provice for everyone, and wewant to find a way for people to

(11:09):
benefit from that. So you dofinancially assist at times, Yeah, we
do. We have scholarships and wehave payment plans, and if let's say
it's the girlfriend of someone registered walkedin I see that this has happened before,
we would we would always try tofind a way to figure it out.

(11:31):
M M. That's nice, that'sit. Yeah. And then we
also have this great program at ourtheater that called the pay It Forward program
where people can purchase tickets in advance, so we just hang them up on
the corkboard in the box office,and so if anyone wants to see a
show but money is a problem,they can just take one of those tickets
off the board, no questions asked, and come in and see a show.
Oh that's great, I didn't noticethat, what is it let's give

(11:52):
your information before we before we goany further. C T. Where are
you located in Hartford? And wherecan people find you online? Yeah?
Sure, we're on fifteen Asylum Streetin Hartford. It's right by the old
State House. If you're Hartford nerd, you can find us at ctmprov dot
com. The way that we arespelling that is s E A T e

(12:16):
A like the ocean and the drink. But where did that come from?
Oh my gosh, Meredith, Iwish maybe that's another interview. It race
this night from my mind. No, it's really fun. When we were
deciding to be a group, weliterally made a giant list of puns.
There was probably like fifty puns,and then we eliminated all the ones that

(12:39):
we hated, and it's you know, it's a fun. Of course,
it's a pun on Connecticut. Ishouldn't say of course because some people it
takes them years. He figured outis it on your license plate? By
the way, someone asked me,is they live because they saw your car?
Yeah? I that wasn't my choice, but that cars here out in

(13:01):
front of iHeartRadio today right now,that's my identifiers. Sorry, you're gonna
it's so fanny, but no,we have fun with our boat themed stuff,
and the inside of our theater lookslike it has some nods to looking
like the inside of the ship,which is really fun. So that is
how you find us ctmprov dot com, and you can always find us on

(13:22):
Facebook and Instagram and all that stuff. Amazing because I'm a narcissist. How
did you feel about my performance lastweek in the showcase? I thought you
did it so well. I wasso happy. Okay, So what we
should explain here is that if youtake our classes. I think this will
initially deter some of the listeners,but I promise that it is so wonderful.

(13:46):
If you take our classes, youdo a show at the end,
after the last day in our theater, on our stage. I always say,
it's like a little kids like dancerecital. Yeah, pretty much.
Look what I and you guys alldressed up this time. You guys look
nice. It was very noticeable.So yeah, so we did a basically

(14:09):
an intermediate improv show and it waswonderful. I mean, at that point
in the class experience, what we'retrying to learn is how comedy actually works,
how we're structuring our ideas and scenesso that they heighten and get funnier
as they go and things like that, whereas the earlier like intro and one

(14:30):
on one classes, it's just aboutlike being brave enough to speak. Actually,
yeah, I tell my students,class shows are the best because everyone
in the audience is there to seeyou succeed. Yes, that is why
they came as opposed to just anormal Friday night audience. It's like entertain
me. Class shows. They're like, I want you to be great,
right, definitely, But yeah,Meredith, I think having your radio experience,

(14:54):
your open mind, and I meanwe've talked about this offline, but
your own point of view and kindof vibe like we like that in improv.
We don't want everyone to be exactlythe same. That would be really
boring. So yeah, I thoughtyou did great. Thanks. I love
a compliment, solicitation, it's kindof my thing. I will say,

(15:15):
though, I noticed in our lastclass that just kind of speaks to I
think your talent as an instructor.I'm not going to lie to you.
Like the first couple of days classes, I was like, this is an
interesting group. I'm not I'm surewhat's gonna happen with this, but I
think like maybe the fourth to lastclass, there was a at least for

(15:37):
me, there was a big turningpoint all of a sudden where everyone just
kind of it clicked and people startedcoming together like very suddenly. Yes,
I totally agree. I didn't planthat. I totally same thing though.
I think, look, when you'reteaching, when you're teaching in general,
but especially when you're teaching an artform, you're kind of teaching two different

(16:02):
things. You're teaching how to doit, but you're also like stripping away
all this personal stuff that people arebringing. And look, no hate to
the personal stuff. Everyone is comingin with bagging something, and so to
say like, Okay, these coupleof people need to be more confident,

(16:23):
these couple of people need I dothink that is something that I have just
become more and more aware of astime goes on. And it's very interesting.
A lot of not in this particularclass, but a lot of gender
and identity stuff feeds into that too. So for some reason in your class,
like it all sort of leveled out. Is the folks who were a

(16:48):
little more reticent felt supported enough tokind of jump out there, and then
the folks who were like taking upa lot of space started listening better,
and that's like all you can askfor, you know. So yeah,
I think any teacher in any disciplineneeds to be aware that, like,
you're teaching human beings, right.I have this super vivid memory of,

(17:11):
oh, so long ago, thisis before you were around, Alley.
We went to teach at a itwas like seventh grade private school. Yeah,
seventh grade private school, that's allI'm gonna say. And they like
weren't listening and they're being super rowdy, especially the boys, and I was
like, I don't know what todo. We were at a break in
the in the and this other guywas with His name is Lad another one

(17:37):
than our founders. He turned tome and Who's like, they're just trying
to hook up with each other.He was like that's all you need to
remember, Like je do not care, you know, like they don't want
to be embarrassed. They want toimpress each other. And he was like
cracking out, and I was like, oh yeah, yeah, so coming

(17:57):
in of like how can I makeseventh grade boys feel really cool but also
learn how to listen better? Itreally shifted my mindset on teaching because one
of the main things in improv veryimportant is like people should not feel embarrassed,
and yet almost everyone feels doing it. So it's very thin about a

(18:22):
lot a lot teaching. How aboutyou, Ali, do you shame people?
Yeah? That's my mo. Yeah, I mean, like that's one
of the things that it's so easyto forget that the people. Because I've
been doing this for ten years,it's easy to forget that for people just
be like, oh, just say, like anything that comes to your mind
is a scary thing to say.And so being able to remember that and

(18:44):
like pull it back and and gofrom there and remember that it's a scary
thing for most people, and remindthem that. The last couple of classes
I've taught have started mocking the factthat I'm always saying the steaks couldn't be
lower. When they do their classshows, they've named their teams like the
Stakes. So you know, hopefullythat message gets across in the time that

(19:06):
they're with me. Yeah, forsure, remind us again where we can
find you. This has been JuliaPistell, co founder and managing director of
CT and Hartford, and Ali Rivera, an instructor and performer Where can we
find you, ladies, Sure ctimprovdot com and you can also find us
on Facebook at ctmprov, Instagram atctmprov where you can just wander around Hartford

(19:26):
till you see our sign on asilude. Yeah, just pop on in.
Well, I will be in yourthree oh two level class, so I
will be seeing you soon and personallypersonal experience, highly recommend ct It's fun,
it's a great way to meet people, but also, like Julia said,
it's life skills. It's listening,it's being confident, it's reacting.

(19:47):
So couldn't say enough good things andthanks again for joining me today. This
is Meredith Kroppic with Community Access