January 22, 2025 • 48 mins
Improv Teacher/Performer Cristina Orlando, or as she’s known on stage, Cristina No H is in the house with me. She is my Goddess! From the day I met her in an improv class she teaches, I knew she was someone that I wanted to be best friends with.
She’s funny, a great teacher who cares about her students & puts her all into everything she does, whether it is teaching or performing.
Cristina is also involved with our local theatre organization ACT (Arts Collective Theatre) performing & working behind the scenes.
Find more about Cristina at:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thehouseofmisscristina76/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cristina.calamitaorlando
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@cristinaorlando7561
Also find out about ACT:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/actwindsor/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/actwindsor
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@artscollectivetheatre3512
#podcast #ontariopodcast #yqg #yqgpodcast #cristianoronaldo #actwindsor #artscollectivetheatre #improvteacher #improvcomedy #improvinterview #interview #windsorontario #supportcommunity #supportlocal #localtheatre
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back to YQG In Bloom where we celebrate everything Windsor and Essex County.
(00:05):
Today my guest is Cristina Orlando and when she's on stage she's known as Cristina No H.
Cristina teaches a local improv class. Now whether you're running a shop, managing a team, or recording a podcast,
there's something to learn from the art of improv. So let's dive in, have some fun and start saying yes and...
I have with me today Cristina Orlando. Yes, that's me. She was the teacher and you do improv.
(00:35):
She does one woman's show and you do everything. Not everything but I'm busy. I'm busy. I'm busy. Yes.
I love to do all those things. Yes. Now how long have you been doing improv?
I started training at the second city 20 years ago. So we're 20-25. 20 years ago.
Oh my cow. Okay, first of all, what is improv?
(00:59):
Improv is a type of art that is created out of a suggestion and there are so many moving parts to it.
There's a yes and you have to listen. We don't say no and we build a sketch or a piece or a story based off of a suggestion from an audience member.
(01:26):
And there you go. A lot of people think stand-up comics are improv and they're not the same thing.
A stand-up comic will tell jokes. An improv piece or an improv game helps to build skill in many different facets.
But it brings you along a journey and a supportive one and you come up with a story basically that's never been told before.
(01:53):
And it is just so much fun because it is a risk. It's thrilling and you don't know what's coming.
You show up to do a set. You just don't know. The audience is going to let you know. They want to come along for the ride.
I really believe in it for so many different reasons.
Now I found that you don't have to take an improv class just to get on stage. A lot of people in our class were taking it to kind of learn how to break out of their shell
(02:29):
or get a little bit more self-confidence whether it be in real life, in their job, whatever.
I love it. I couldn't believe that I actually could do that kind of stuff because I'm the type that when I'm with people that I know,
I'm an extrovert but when I'm with people I don't know, I'm an introvert. So for me to go in there that first night and actually participate was just something I don't do.
(02:58):
It's incredible. Even when I started it took me a long time to come off the back line and I had already had a history in doing plays and being on stage and I danced for a long time.
But this was a different ball game. This was a different ball game. There were pieces to learn. There is a way to do it.
(03:19):
I realized along the way the change in myself and the journey that I took both as I teach for the Greater Essex County District School Board.
I'm an early childhood educator. I have been one for 25 years. And who I was as a teacher, who I was as a mother, who I was as a wife, a community member, an employee,
(03:43):
just how I was with the public and I saw people so differently after and I felt so much stronger. I felt stronger. I felt that I wanted to do better by myself and by others.
And it sounds so cheeseball, right? It's so cheeseball when I tell people. But it is so important because improv is a supportive art.
(04:07):
If you are on the back line and you're not listening and you're letting your teammates out there flounder, that's just not the way to play.
You have to be listening. You want to be out there to move things along and raise the stakes and entertain. Could you imagine if every corporate, every business brought improv in as a way to support their employees
(04:28):
and you are all of a sudden yes-and-ing at your meeting and you're thriving because you're building off of ideas and you're learning how to be supportive.
A lot of people are thinking about their answer while you're talking.
Exactly. Now, how long have you been in improv? It's been, I think you said 20 years?
20 years.
(04:49):
Where did you find in this area to train?
So I went to, and I still have the playbill from that day. It was August of 1992 and my husband, the second city was in Hockey Town, right downtown Detroit.
And my husband's like, let's go see a show because I'd read every book I had. He just knew who I was and everything around the house was, you know, an SNL book, history of improv, all these things.
(05:21):
And I didn't think I could ever do it. I didn't think that was ever going to come to fruition.
So he's like, let's go see a show. And I was like, oh my gosh, yeah, I guess.
So when the audience, and there was a woman in the show, her name was Margaret Edwardowski. She was bigger than life. She was so good.
She just drew me right in. I was just at the edge of my seat like, who is this woman, right?
(05:44):
So I kept the playbill and I just had it on the fridge for the longest time and it had the players that were in the show on the front.
So one day my husband came home. The second city lost its, it didn't lose anything. It moved to Novi, Andeamos in Novi.
(06:05):
And my husband happened to be working out there and he was, it wasn't ready yet at the Andeamos, but so they moved into a space in a strip mall.
So my husband happened to be at that strip mall. There was a sign in the door that said second city classes.
So my husband walked in and he's like, what do I do for my wife? The lady's like, fire an intro class.
(06:26):
So he bought me an intro class and from, and he drove me because I had no idea how to drive in the state. I'm already a terrible driver.
I'm already a terrible driver. So he was like, well, you know, I don't want this to be the reason why you die.
So he drove me every week. I took a three hour class and he waited with my two year old for three hours while I trained until I finally learned how to drive myself.
(06:52):
When the GPS came, I was like, thank you Jesus. Okay. Thank you GPS. Okay. What happened? You know, so I started training there.
And I was one of the last to graduate out of the conservatory last classes before the second city shut down in Michigan.
And then, but the great thing was, was the community is pretty big over there.
(07:16):
And I started training. I was playing Monday nights at planet and while I was training at the second city, they had an improv jam after the home team played.
So at 10 o'clock, you could put your name in the jar and they pick your name out and you'd go up with whoever and they'd say, okay, we're going to play this game.
(07:37):
And it was run by one of the seasoned players and you got stage time. You had to meet people. You got to do all these things. So many things happened.
So once the I graduated from the second city, the conservatory, I then went to the planet and an opportunity just, it just took off from there.
Like it was so like I started sketch writing and turning things into turning the sketches into pieces and getting shows up on their feet, both on the writing side and on the performance side.
(08:08):
And that was that that's that 20 years.
You are on stage. You're Christina, no H.
That's the one though the name of the one woman show. Yeah, that's the one moment show. Now is that classified as improv as well? Or is that a stand up?
So half and half. I wrote down all the things that I would want to tell people because the show is based on my own life.
(08:33):
So I wrote down all the things that I would want to tell people. And then I would set up my camera and I would improvise on my own in my basement, the topic, and until I finally had the script.
So based out of sketch comedy, that's how that show was born.
(08:54):
For sure. I took your class, the intro through act, which I never knew we had improv in the city. I see online through Instagram and that there's comedy shows and that.
But I didn't realize that there was classes and stuff. So I saw yours and I took it and now I'm taking one at Cortison Theater.
(09:19):
Yeah, there. And then now the online one, I think it's the writing beginning here in Windsor. No, with the Emery on Zoom. That'll be the world's good.
She was a turning point along the journey. When I took that class, I found her out of nowhere and canceled what I had previously said. I was supposed to go to Los Angeles and train at the groundlings for a week and for my 40th birthday.
(09:54):
But then I found her and I was like something said like just just cancel Los Angeles and just go to her. So I did. I hopped the train after work on a Friday, the May 2 for weekend, got to Toronto super super late.
The city was incredibly busy. The Tiff was going on. There was so many things. I couldn't even sleep. I was so excited.
(10:18):
And then I like that morning I like ran to the second city and we're supposed to be a group of 20. And there were there were five or six of us in that class who she was able to give us attention.
She was born to perform number one. Number two, she knows how to put a show together. She knows she knows it and she punded the pavement. She built herself.
(10:43):
She sold herself. She wrote herself and I knew I said, I didn't even know these things were possible. So after I left her and she was so encouraging in class and informative.
I'll never forget. She said, you have to be like the phoenix rising. And I had never had that image in my head ever once in my life. Yeah. But now that image in my head all the time because it's a hard industry.
(11:13):
If you're taking if you're improvising and training to be on stage. That is it's a very hard industry. Super hard. Oh, I couldn't. I could imagine.
I mean, like I was intimidated just being on that zoom and there was I think there were six of us. There's supposed to be seven one sick. And I mean, okay, I've been Windsor Ontario.
(11:34):
I'm just this little person that does a freebie podcast and there's actresses in there. There's writers in there from Australia, from Europe, from Atlanta.
And I'm like, oh my God, she's in New York doing this whole event thing. And I'm like, I just wanted to learn how to do a little bit of and you will.
(11:58):
I was I was it was I was like, I just keep thinking in my head. She said, we're going to have homework and create a fairy tale, kind of like a trailer trash meets Roseanne type thing.
And if it's something that you want to do, it's almost like an addiction. I found that like I'm thinking about it all the time. Oh my gosh, this would be a good skit.
(12:23):
Just a story of John painting that room. I'm terrible. 11 years. I have a whole thing in my head about it and write it down. That's you. I have been I've been writing like crazy.
So is this something that you always wanted to do? Yes, it was just kind of ingrained in you from the time you were born. I was always so I have an older sister.
(12:45):
She's eight years older. I was born. My parents are Italian 100%. They were both immigrants to this country. So that's right there. Not easy.
And my sister was like the studious made all the good choices. You know, she went on to receive her doctorate in education. She's a superintendent.
(13:08):
She's done all these things and like the family so incredibly proud of her. She does all these great things. Me gypsy.
So I always wanted to just perform like I started out in dance classes and I was out there and I just loved it. I can't wait to get there. And my parents are like, Christina, please, can you just do something with your life?
(13:29):
Like, can you just focus? And I'm like, I am born to be a star. Don't you don't you understand? It's like, you know, please, please. What is this university you speak of?
You know, it was so hard growing up like my parents. And I know like when you're going through it, you're like, oh my God, you don't understand me.
(13:50):
What the hell. And but as a girl to understand it was more out of fear. They're like, please just get a study job. Please do something in school.
I went to the University of Windsor. Okay, so here's the kicker. I was always busy in dance and performing and doing things in the city.
And, you know, it was going great. Like it was fun. Right. And I was I didn't know that I was learning like I was just like, oh my gosh, I get to be in this play and I get to do all these things.
(14:18):
And I was so happy. And then I graduated from high school and I applied to the University of Windsor to the BFA acting program.
I, I eventually got in and I flunked out. What I realized later in life, I don't even have a like to stand on now. What do I tell my parents? I want to be an actress, but I just got kicked out of the BFA acting program at the University of Windsor.
(14:46):
And I was devastated. I didn't want to be there. That wasn't what I wanted. But I didn't understand that then. I didn't know. I didn't know myself. I didn't know any of those things.
And so I, I, well, I didn't leave. They kicked me out. And I went to the college and I did sign language and they kicked me out of that.
(15:09):
And then I did early childhood education. And I feel like I excelled in it because like I have my own personal audience on the daily.
They think I'm amazing. Like they just, you know, like, oh my God, it's miso. Like it's a show on the daily for that. Right.
So maybe that's why I excelled in it. And then I landed myself in a full time life, full time work life. I became a mother and I got married. I became a mother.
(15:38):
And, but I realized later in life that I was always so ashamed of being kicked out of the University of Windsor. Like I felt like I just was, I wasn't good enough to do anything.
Like who would even consider me now? But one thing I realized was you, you need to do the right thing for yourself. The BFA acting program was not it. Industry was it.
(16:02):
Once I started training in improv and got a solid foundation on how everything is burst out of that. Then I got clear. I got clear.
And I had some of the best instructors. I admire them to this day. I will honor them for all the live long day until I take my last breath.
(16:26):
They were patient and they were, they had a high bar. And even though I struggled in the beginning, the moment that it changed for me, I felt it. And I was really proud of myself.
And then eventually I'm here now and I was lucky to have received what I got. And I'm just thrilled to be able to do it here and share what I was taught with other people.
(16:57):
Now, have you had a chance to travel around to do your show?
That's what's on the docket now. So it's so close to being to its final edit. I do have a producer interested in the show who's been so incredibly supportive.
And the idea is to, I have to make the pitch, right? I have to make the pitch. And these are the hardships. This is what's hard about industry. Nothing's free.
(17:28):
So I have to make sure that the show is at its best. It did. Christina and OH debuted in Windsor. And then I took it to Detroit and I was able to get it up there.
And then coming out of the pandemic, the Women's Comedy Festival had me do it there.
And so I was thrilled. Like I was thrilled to just take it out of our country and into another country. But then the pandemic just cut me off at the knees and I had to start all over again.
(18:04):
I will continue to strive to do my very best. And I hope one day that I can give opportunity to people like I was given, right?
You are. So I hope, like I just really want to get back. Like it sounds again, cheeseballs, cheeseballs, cheeseballs, cheeseballs. But it is pretty gratifying.
And it is like when I was even this past session at ACT, like we were 20 people in that room.
(18:32):
That was insane. It started off like, I think there was what?
Maybe 12. 10 or 12 people. And by the end of the month, there was like 20 there the last day. And it's like, why even bother coming for the last one?
But it got huge. And it was one thing I noticed too, like being on the instructor side. And I teach improv for the music performance students at Sinclair College.
(18:58):
That is truly one of the best experiences working with these young kids. And they are naturally like, I don't know what it is about this generation, but they're natural supporters of each other.
Right? They are so on board with each other and they're eager. They're eager and they're risk takers. And I get to do that.
(19:24):
I get to be part of that. I graduated from Sinclair College. I'm St. Nation. And now I'm, oh my God, never in a million years, never in a million years.
But I've been like, yeah, I'm part of the faculty of Sinclair College. I was like, do you know many times I tried to graduate out of this place?
But then I was so proud of making, like, you don't go to school to become a professional improviser. Right? Nobody gives you a degree in professional improvising.
(19:55):
You have to do all the work. You have to find the training. You have to get out there. You have to, it's a hustle, right? You have to build. You have to understand.
You have to be humbled. You have to do all these things to move forward and to be able to share it with somebody else. So, yeah.
That's the one thing that has shocked me is I was kind of like you only worse. I quit school when I was 17.
(20:24):
My mom said to me, the day of school for grade 11, she's like, what are you wearing to school? Nothing. I'm not going.
She says, you have a month to get a job, go back to school, or GTFO. It's like, okay, so I got a job and I went four nights a week to the adult learning center.
(20:45):
I just, I wasn't good in school. But could I figure out what I wanted to do? I had dental receptionist training certificate, but couldn't get a job because I didn't have experience.
I had a business common. I have aesthetics, horticulture, everything under the sun.
Basket weaving.
I swear to goodness. I don't know how to knit when I was eight years old and do crafts and I've done craft shows. I do everything.
(21:15):
I can't sit still or else I'll fall asleep.
And now it's like coming home, going to those classes. It's like, I'm nervous, but excited and I'm walking around with these books and I'm writing out.
It's either going to be a really cool one woman show or it's going to end up being an autobiography because it's long.
(21:38):
But it's yours.
It's fun.
It is so much fun.
I was really shocked when you said that improv is a community where you really stand back, help each other out.
And noticing that in some of the different games that you were having us do and where people were screwing up and the other people aren't saying, hey, you screwed up.
(22:02):
They were going along with it and putting it as part of the show and changing it around as we're going around the circle and how it changed because people just weren't letting the other person fall.
No.
It was so wonderful. It was so nice to see.
When I was training, I learned if you feel like there's a mistake, lean into it.
Yeah.
Right?
Come off the back line.
(22:23):
It turns out funnier sometimes.
And people know and an audience can appreciate it. The troop lives longer.
I swear it adds years to your life.
But lean into those things.
And, you know, even when we played the game, the generals cat where you had to, the generals cat is an abby cat.
(22:44):
The generals cat is a booby cat.
The generals cat is whatever.
You know, like remember if someone skips the letter, if someone is just pick up from where they left off, it's important to just listen, stay grounded.
Don't go for the funny.
It'll, if you simply react to what the person is saying, you will be able to build the blocks of that scene and just like that tick, tick, tick, boom.
(23:14):
And there you go.
Yay.
And that's what I like.
And that's probably why I gravitated towards that.
Because even in the podcast, like I literally threw this page together of just in cases this afternoon, I like to meet the people and then it's just a conversation.
We'll see where it goes.
(23:35):
I've tried having a question and answer, but you always tend to veer off.
So I just like to go with wherever it goes.
So it felt really good to actually be in a class where that's actually what you're supposed to do.
And it's like, it turns out better, I think, because you learn more or it'll take the show in a completely different direction than what you were expecting.
(24:00):
And it was so much fun.
I last year, I wrote the social exchange for act for their North of 50 program.
Chris asked me, Chris Babadou, the artistic director, he said, Christina, is there a way that we can build this show with the community?
And I was like, I guess there's no other way to do that, right?
(24:22):
So we had four weeks of workshops and I ran improv sessions for four weeks.
So the first hour and a half, I was playing games and you have to get this room is filled.
This was this was a brand new experience for me.
The room was filled with seniors, right?
But we made it intergenerational so anybody could come.
(24:45):
But the focus was seniors.
And it was probably one of the most enriching, again, cheese balls, cheese balls.
Like when people talk like this, I'm like, oh, but then I'm here.
I am. I'm like, oh, I'm so enriching.
Wow.
So but it was and the insight was insane.
And there was one woman, Shelly from our class, Shelly Davis, what a wonderful woman, right?
(25:10):
What a wonderful woman.
And one night we were going over the script and she told me this story.
She's like, you know, I've been a nurse for I think it was I can't remember how many years, like 30 years.
And I don't drive.
I've never had a license.
She's terrified of it.
Yeah, she's terrified of it, but there was the bus scene.
(25:33):
And I was in the background at the two babies and that scene was based off of Shelly's experience.
And she's like, nobody, she's like, nobody smiles anymore or like looks up from their phone on the bus.
And she's just talking and talking.
And the show was based on the gap between Gen X and everybody else.
(25:54):
And so and I'm a Gen Xer.
So the show started to morph into the difference in how we can bridge it.
Right.
And, you know, some of the fun things and improv that people do is they like role reversals or age reversals.
Like Robin played the chit-chat.
(26:17):
And he was he just, I really liked working with the seniors.
They helped drive that show.
Like I was writing and writing and writing and writing based off all these workshops that we had had.
And so many different people came to this workshop.
We had women from the house of soft-facing.
(26:38):
That was super impactful.
Yeah.
They were abrasive of the nature of improv.
And, you know, the I've heard so many times improv is for everyone.
And I believed it.
Like on the surface, I was like, I had the basic understanding of it.
But watching the seniors, the women from the house of soft-facing, there were young kids.
(27:02):
There were, you know, the bracket of that 22 to 35, whatever.
And everybody had something to say, but it was a safe place.
And people just shared experience.
And then the last hour, we ate together at a round table.
And we just continued the conversation, except we were eating.
(27:24):
So that was a brilliant idea that I had.
And I was really grateful that they invited me to do that.
And it was crazy.
Before we go any further, that show, how much of it was improvised and how much of it was written?
We improvised to the written scene.
So I took the bullets.
(27:45):
You just gave them, this is what I want and they went with it.
Well, we played games.
And through those games, stories were shared.
And some of them were so funny.
Like there was one woman, we did a scene had morphed into a genie.
Do you remember the genie scene?
Okay.
(28:06):
So that happened in the workshop.
And there was one lady there, she was from the house of soft-facing.
She had shared an incredible journey with us that was, I don't even know sometimes how people hang in there.
Yeah.
Okay.
And I'm just blown away.
But she was sitting in the scene.
She was one of the workers, like the genie appeared in the office and was like,
(28:28):
you guys have to decide what your wish is, but you all have to be at the same place.
They have to be the same wish.
And so the genie disappears and I'll be back to hear your wish.
And so they're talking and talking. She's so quiet and she's just playing a character where she was like,
she has one line, I think we should buy a cabin in the Muscovques.
(28:50):
That's all she said.
And then she just kind of hung out while there was this banter between all the people.
And then it just got quiet for a second and she's like,
so are we getting the cabin in the Muscovques?
Like, she didn't participate in the whole conversation.
It was so grounded and so real.
(29:11):
I was like, this has to be, and it ended up being a three parter.
Like we called it back three times in the show.
And so, and all based on her, all based on that one moment that she just gave that was so grounded.
I was like, that's right.
There's always that person that's like, they're not listening to anybody.
They're just like, so what about that cabin in the Muscovques?
(29:34):
That's my mom.
Unless you're talking about her, she doesn't hear anything.
She's not hearing anything.
No.
And that's, that's, and it helps people learn.
Okay.
There's my one woman.
She just couldn't be my mom and ignore everybody.
Just answer about herself to questions that have nothing to do with her.
(29:55):
Exactly.
It's an insane process.
Love it.
Learning how to approach the sketch writing process in a little bit of a different way and to involve more of the community, which I guess maybe has always been kind of a need of mine to be part of something.
And there it was.
So I'm really grateful to, to Arts Collective Theater between Moyan McAllister and Chris Rapido.
(30:22):
I don't even know.
Like I don't even, I don't even know.
I don't know everything.
There's enough words.
They are amazing with all the programs that they have.
And for the kids, like they're going to be doing Annie.
Yeah.
Pretty soon.
What's wonderful is they are trying to raise money so that inner city kids that can't afford to be part of these programs can still go.
(30:48):
I don't think they've ever turned anybody away.
And I mean, even going to do your, your classes, they keep it so reasonably priced and I noticed Act is just building and you also are an actress for them.
I just got cast in.
I heard you're a bitch in this one.
(31:10):
Badly.
You know, you know, it's funny is he asked me, he's like Christina, will you be the AD on the show?
I had AD guys and dolls that was a crazy experience.
I didn't know that level of production existed in the city.
So I was like, I had no idea.
Josie introduced me to act.
Chris came to one of my improv sessions when I was teaching out at show and he's like, why don't you just come and visit the company?
(31:37):
Why don't you just come and see what it's all about?
So I was like, you know, what a great opportunity because the only time I'm ever backstage is when I'm waiting to go on stage.
That's been my whole thing.
Right.
So he's like, Christina, why don't you come and see what rehearsals are like and what we're all about?
I was like, great, that sounds great.
I went to a production meeting and then I would go to every rehearsal and I would sit at the table and I would just make notes.
(32:02):
They gave me a script and I was just kind of practicing like, what would it be like to be on the other side?
Because I don't know.
I don't know what's going on back.
I never did know.
I know people do all these crazy things with tech, which I am inept.
I know people are pulling things and people are running with everybody else knows what's happening so that the people in the show can be on stage and tell the story.
(32:26):
And they've got 30 arms and they're doing all these great things.
I just never knew.
I knew, but I didn't know.
So then during one rehearsal, he's like, my AD, Christina, and I was like, AD.
So like I went home and I was like, what is AD?
I was like, give the checklist.
And so like we're working at a rapid pace and then guys and dolls and I remember it.
(32:49):
Then I ended up backstage at that.
Like when I say at the midnight hour, they're like, you're going to have to do stage right.
I never saw so many big props in my life.
Like a lamp, like a light post was coming out a whole second stage.
I was pushing out.
They were there.
I don't know how many flies he had in the show.
And I was always like, I've never said this so many times in my life with the hell's that noise?
(33:12):
With the hell's that noise?
With the hell's that noise?
I'm just going to be sure what the hell's that noise.
And so just keeping things together, the pressure was on and it was like thrilling.
I was like, I was like, oh my God, oh my God.
And then he's like, what do you think about coming on to rent?
And I was like, I don't know if I can do that again.
Like it's crazy.
And then I was like, yes, one of the better decisions I made in my life.
(33:34):
That show was beyond amazing.
I was just, I had coffee on Sunday morning with Maya and Chris and the person who played Angel works at the Starbucks.
And that's where Chris found him.
He has this way of just finding people and he heard him singing and oh my God, do you want to do this?
(33:57):
And finding you and like he just has this knack that's insane.
He has a superior knack for it.
And it's so funny.
And they will be like, hey, I just want to learn how to work backstage.
Do you think there's a spot for me?
And they're like, of course, come to rehearsal, come see what we're all about.
And then they're like, okay, that same person.
They're like, could you come and stand in for so and so?
(34:20):
And all of a sudden they're in the show and they are realizing dreams they never knew they had.
I go, it's crazy.
After I did the podcast with them last October, they were having a workshop for kids for Teenagers Net and they had E. Clay.
E. Clay was, he was the guest speaker the afternoon.
(34:42):
Yeah, they let, I'm like, okay, he's going to hate this and he probably won't see it anyway.
But I remember him from when he started as a soap opera star, Ari in the soaps.
He was a teenager.
E. Clay Cornelius?
He was a teenager. He won't put it in his IMDB, but it is on his resume.
I didn't know.
(35:03):
Because we talked about it.
I'm on a new college.
Yeah, he was a teen and I'm like, dude, Lear Hagman could do it and all these famous people can do it.
Be proud of it.
But he is on Broadway now and he writes, he directs, he acts.
He's brilliant, but I asked my interest.
I'm like, oh my God, love this guy.
(35:24):
Can I come?
So I'm with all these kids, all these high school kids.
Oh, I said the audience.
I was there too.
I said up the chair, I did everything he needed.
I got him lunch and then I was like, peace out.
I've been in the audience because I want to hear you.
Yeah, I was sitting there amongst all the kids.
I was so excited and then they branched out and I'm like, okay, I'm going to let the kids have their time.
(35:46):
You know, it was so cool about him.
He said we were, after the kids had all come and gone, it was just a couple of us left in the theater.
And he's like, Christina, what do you do?
And I was like, I pound the pavement.
That's what I do.
I'm like, that's what I do.
I said, if these kids only knew how hard it is or how hard it was, like for, you know, you could say like, I didn't have YouTube.
(36:09):
I didn't have social media.
I couldn't just get on a zoom and do an audition or whatever.
I had to look in the paper and get an agent and do all these things where now kids are like, make a TikTok and all of a sudden they got 3.5 billion followers.
And they've, you know, and all they're doing like right now, I think the thing is like they eat into the camera and they shove as much as they can in their mouth.
(36:36):
And I'm like, well, I'm glad I work as hard as I do to, you know, I spend, I don't know how much money crossing the border and risking, you know, all the time.
I was like, I was like, all I had to do was fill a bowl of Chipotle and eat it and let it drip down my chin.
And that are going now only chance to start at the feet.
(36:57):
Start at the feet.
Just started.
But I know I met him before they started doing some, the individual workshops.
He's like, well, why didn't you ask any questions?
I'm like, our kids and Windsor for some reason are insanely brilliant.
All of those questions.
Great.
The questions that they were asking.
It's like, I didn't need to.
(37:18):
I'm a 54 year old and they were catching it all for me.
They're really good.
Yeah, I was impressed.
We are going to have a magical artistic group of kids turn in adults here and hopefully they stay with it because even some of them are would be really good as directors or producers because they were asking some tough questions about money and design.
(37:43):
And I'm like, wow.
It's a hustle.
Even right now on the price of freedom, there was a few that came in and they just really proved their ground.
We had one BFA graduate come in last night and he did one of the physical scenes where there's an altercation and he took them out of the room.
(38:07):
We had moved on onto something else and he brought them back.
But that wasn't why he was there.
He just happened to have that in his repertoire and Chris was like, just give it a shot.
So he went and he did it and he came back and it's the scene.
It's the scene.
I have to work with him one Sunday because I have an altercation in the show.
So I'm very, very, very, very nervous because this is completely outside.
(38:33):
I don't typically play.
I don't audition for leads because I just, I don't think that's who I am.
That's not who I am.
I love a good supporting role.
Even if that, even if she just has three lines, I'll take it.
My title with the school board is support stuff.
Like this is just who I am.
(38:56):
But sitting beside Chris as an AD on the show, having been with Carlos, the writer of the price of freedom and watching the show morph through workshop has been quite impressive.
And now being in the show is, I'm not going to lie.
I'm a lot nervous.
The first, the two out of the two, the one character, she's more like me.
(39:22):
Robin's going to play my husband.
And, but the second one, I'm the overseer's wife and I don't like.
Well, the overseer's wife doesn't like what she sees.
So that's going to be a lot out of my room.
Just so you guys know, I'm going to be having some future podcasts coming up during Black History Month in February.
(39:44):
And we're going to be talking about the price of freedom, which is written by a gentleman in the Windsor-Essex County area directly for act.
So they're producing it.
Now, what is it about?
So the story is of John Anderson who fled to Canada in 1853.
(40:07):
He fled because he killed a slave owner in Missouri and or about that area and protecting himself and knew he had to leave his wife.
He had to leave his children.
He was born into slavery, crossed over into Canada.
And for about seven years, he kind of was able to stay under the radar until he told the wrong person the story and that person outed him.
(40:34):
And the bounty hunter found him, then he was put on trial and he was found guilty the first time.
But due to a particular act that had because the altercation that resulted in murder happened while he was a slave.
He then was that it was overturned and he, I think he, I think in the end he ended up in England.
(41:04):
But the show wraps around his story.
It always comes back to him, but the characters that he's met along the way, there was a there were people that helped on the Underground Railroad.
So he crossed into Windsor, but the trial and where he ended up was in the Brampton area.
So it is pretty powerful how Carlos brought it to life.
(41:25):
So to be part of it, huge privilege.
When I did Christina Noh and one of the things I like to do, I like to race to the lobby as soon as I bow and I say thank you to everybody for coming to the show.
I race out there because I just want to say thank you to people.
I'm like, thank you for taking time buying a ticket, supporting me.
And they're like, oh, my, you know, some people said to me, oh, my God, like, I feel like I'm going to be a slave.
(41:49):
I feel like I can do something now too, because I am, I'm 48 years old.
I, you know, my family comes first.
So like when you, when I think about my day, I get up, I make sure like everybody's got a water, a lunch and whatever they need.
And I'll try to get the wet laundry to the dryer before I leave for work, right?
(42:11):
And I'm doing all these things and I get to work and I'm focusing on the kids and I'm writing on my lunch, you know, as soon as that clock switches over, I just, I write, I write and I write and I write and I write until the bell rings again.
And then I, after school, I got to get someone to soccer.
I got to get to a doctor's appointment.
(42:32):
I got to pick up some groceries.
I got to do all these things that I, I'm like, oh, okay, these are the things I need to get done, right?
And then I get home and I'm like, oh, let's get the dishes done.
And I got to be here.
I'm teaching.
I got to do this.
I got to do that.
I have rehearsal.
I have to do this.
The kids need something.
And like then I was like, oh, quality time, right?
Husband, husband, how are you husband?
(42:55):
Husband, did you have a good day at work?
Husband.
And then, you know, everything like all of a sudden it's like 11:30, 11:45 at night consistently.
And I'm like, okay, I will, like there's been plenty of times my husband has found me on the kitchen table.
What I want people to know, and if I offer anything or anything to whatever I've ever done in my life is just don't give up.
(43:22):
Don't give up.
And no matter what it is, no matter where you land, like it all matters.
It all matters.
The parts that made you cry, the parts that made you laugh, the parts that made you think you just can't do this.
What was I thinking?
It all matters.
It's like, people think it's this mad dash to the end, but it's not.
(43:45):
It's like, take everything for what it is and do your best.
And that is possible.
Like in the end, Christina Noyes just spoke to a woman who had a big dream and decided that I had everything I need here.
Like I had this family, there's a theater community in this city where border city, so much more can happen in this city.
(44:07):
And I'm so grateful to the people who try really hard.
The Shadow Box Theater, Cortisone Theater, Arts Collective Theater, Windsor Light Opera.
Everybody, I think it's, I know I'm forgetting someone, but all the theaters that exist, all the art based programs that exist.
Just try, just try, be perseverant.
(44:30):
And there are days, I was talking to my mom the other day and I was like, Mom, I don't even know.
Like, I don't know, I don't know.
What do I do? What do I do?
And she was the one that's always like, could you just get a full time job and with benefits and be done with it?
Please.
But now she's, you know, my dad's like, you're crazy.
Christina, why do you do these things?
You're crazy.
(44:51):
I don't understand.
And now I'm like, Daddy.
Like, don't you, don't you get it?
Now he's like, oh, I am too old.
Do what you want.
And I'm like, I did, I did along the way.
Pick yourself up every day.
The dust will clear.
And if you are passionate, whatever you want to do, whether you want to be a doctor, you want to be an actress or an improviser, just do it.
(45:14):
Find out about it.
Study it.
Read the book.
Take the class.
Travel.
Try it.
And so I encourage everybody.
I feel like improv should be part of everybody's life.
I think so too.
I really do because I, it's, I know it's changed me in a lot of ways in a short amount of time.
Yeah.
(45:35):
And if you're in the Windsor-Oscar County area, Christina is still teaching these classes and we're finally getting at the next level from beginner.
Right.
So in February, we'll start.
We're going to go.
We've played the games.
We've played the games.
We always will always play the games.
(45:56):
Always, always, always.
But I'd like to see the backline form now.
I'd like to see the ensemble piece come together.
People swiping the scene, getting the suggestion and building and raising the stakes on it.
So I'm really excited to move forward with it.
And I hope you come and take the class.
I hope you come and take the class or take a class.
(46:17):
Take any class.
I mean, even court of zone theater has classes, online classes.
It really honestly helps you to get out of your own shell, get out of, break out of your comfort zone.
One of the things they say is when you're improvising is what makes a stay different.
And you will use it.
(46:39):
Like even, I remember when I was early studying and I was working at Shoppers Drug Mart and customers are, can be hard sometimes.
Some are easier to like than others.
But I used to, before taking improv and learning all these things, I used to be like, you're a jerk.
Like, literally, you don't watch.
I make like, I make nothing working behind this counter.
(47:03):
And I'm not sure why you're yelling at me as I evolved as an improviser.
I started to appreciate people way more than I ever did.
And even more so to the people who struggled and maybe were yelling at me, that I'm wondering what brought you to this point and to care a little bit more.
I'm like, you know what?
(47:24):
I'm sorry, let me help you out.
Seeing calm, playing the part and improvising and just diffusing things.
So it just does.
Take the class.
Any class, just take the class.
Christina, thank you so much.
This was so exciting.
It was so much fun.
And again, my name is Tracy.
(47:45):
I want to thank you so much for staying with us and watching this episode of YQG In Bloom.
Make sure that you support your arts, your creative theaters, everything you have in wherever you are.
Because that is the base of everything I think.
(48:07):
And I hope you will.
How much you believe.
It's true.
And I hope you all have a wonderful day.
Welcome back to YQG In Bloom where we celebrate everything Windsor and Essex County.
(00:05):
Today my guest is Cristina Orlando and when she's on stage she's known as Cristina No H.
Cristina teaches a local improv class. Now whether you're running a shop, managing a team, or recording a podcast,
there's something to learn from the art of improv. So let's dive in, have some fun and start saying yes and...
I have with me today Cristina Orlando. Yes, that's me. She was the teacher and you do improv.
(00:35):
She does one woman's show and you do everything. Not everything but I'm busy. I'm busy. I'm busy. Yes.
I love to do all those things. Yes. Now how long have you been doing improv?
I started training at the second city 20 years ago. So we're 20-25. 20 years ago.
Oh my cow. Okay, first of all, what is improv?
(00:59):
Improv is a type of art that is created out of a suggestion and there are so many moving parts to it.
There's a yes and you have to listen. We don't say no and we build a sketch or a piece or a story based off of a suggestion from an audience member.
(01:26):
And there you go. A lot of people think stand-up comics are improv and they're not the same thing.
A stand-up comic will tell jokes. An improv piece or an improv game helps to build skill in many different facets.
But it brings you along a journey and a supportive one and you come up with a story basically that's never been told before.
(01:53):
And it is just so much fun because it is a risk. It's thrilling and you don't know what's coming.
You show up to do a set. You just don't know. The audience is going to let you know. They want to come along for the ride.
I really believe in it for so many different reasons.
Now I found that you don't have to take an improv class just to get on stage. A lot of people in our class were taking it to kind of learn how to break out of their shell
(02:29):
or get a little bit more self-confidence whether it be in real life, in their job, whatever.
I love it. I couldn't believe that I actually could do that kind of stuff because I'm the type that when I'm with people that I know,
I'm an extrovert but when I'm with people I don't know, I'm an introvert. So for me to go in there that first night and actually participate was just something I don't do.
(02:58):
It's incredible. Even when I started it took me a long time to come off the back line and I had already had a history in doing plays and being on stage and I danced for a long time.
But this was a different ball game. This was a different ball game. There were pieces to learn. There is a way to do it.
(03:19):
I realized along the way the change in myself and the journey that I took both as I teach for the Greater Essex County District School Board.
I'm an early childhood educator. I have been one for 25 years. And who I was as a teacher, who I was as a mother, who I was as a wife, a community member, an employee,
(03:43):
just how I was with the public and I saw people so differently after and I felt so much stronger. I felt stronger. I felt that I wanted to do better by myself and by others.
And it sounds so cheeseball, right? It's so cheeseball when I tell people. But it is so important because improv is a supportive art.
(04:07):
If you are on the back line and you're not listening and you're letting your teammates out there flounder, that's just not the way to play.
You have to be listening. You want to be out there to move things along and raise the stakes and entertain. Could you imagine if every corporate, every business brought improv in as a way to support their employees
(04:28):
and you are all of a sudden yes-and-ing at your meeting and you're thriving because you're building off of ideas and you're learning how to be supportive.
A lot of people are thinking about their answer while you're talking.
Exactly. Now, how long have you been in improv? It's been, I think you said 20 years?
20 years.
(04:49):
Where did you find in this area to train?
So I went to, and I still have the playbill from that day. It was August of 1992 and my husband, the second city was in Hockey Town, right downtown Detroit.
And my husband's like, let's go see a show because I'd read every book I had. He just knew who I was and everything around the house was, you know, an SNL book, history of improv, all these things.
(05:21):
And I didn't think I could ever do it. I didn't think that was ever going to come to fruition.
So he's like, let's go see a show. And I was like, oh my gosh, yeah, I guess.
So when the audience, and there was a woman in the show, her name was Margaret Edwardowski. She was bigger than life. She was so good.
She just drew me right in. I was just at the edge of my seat like, who is this woman, right?
(05:44):
So I kept the playbill and I just had it on the fridge for the longest time and it had the players that were in the show on the front.
So one day my husband came home. The second city lost its, it didn't lose anything. It moved to Novi, Andeamos in Novi.
(06:05):
And my husband happened to be working out there and he was, it wasn't ready yet at the Andeamos, but so they moved into a space in a strip mall.
So my husband happened to be at that strip mall. There was a sign in the door that said second city classes.
So my husband walked in and he's like, what do I do for my wife? The lady's like, fire an intro class.
(06:26):
So he bought me an intro class and from, and he drove me because I had no idea how to drive in the state. I'm already a terrible driver.
I'm already a terrible driver. So he was like, well, you know, I don't want this to be the reason why you die.
So he drove me every week. I took a three hour class and he waited with my two year old for three hours while I trained until I finally learned how to drive myself.
(06:52):
When the GPS came, I was like, thank you Jesus. Okay. Thank you GPS. Okay. What happened? You know, so I started training there.
And I was one of the last to graduate out of the conservatory last classes before the second city shut down in Michigan.
And then, but the great thing was, was the community is pretty big over there.
(07:16):
And I started training. I was playing Monday nights at planet and while I was training at the second city, they had an improv jam after the home team played.
So at 10 o'clock, you could put your name in the jar and they pick your name out and you'd go up with whoever and they'd say, okay, we're going to play this game.
(07:37):
And it was run by one of the seasoned players and you got stage time. You had to meet people. You got to do all these things. So many things happened.
So once the I graduated from the second city, the conservatory, I then went to the planet and an opportunity just, it just took off from there.
Like it was so like I started sketch writing and turning things into turning the sketches into pieces and getting shows up on their feet, both on the writing side and on the performance side.
(08:08):
And that was that that's that 20 years.
You are on stage. You're Christina, no H.
That's the one though the name of the one woman show. Yeah, that's the one moment show. Now is that classified as improv as well? Or is that a stand up?
So half and half. I wrote down all the things that I would want to tell people because the show is based on my own life.
(08:33):
So I wrote down all the things that I would want to tell people. And then I would set up my camera and I would improvise on my own in my basement, the topic, and until I finally had the script.
So based out of sketch comedy, that's how that show was born.
(08:54):
For sure. I took your class, the intro through act, which I never knew we had improv in the city. I see online through Instagram and that there's comedy shows and that.
But I didn't realize that there was classes and stuff. So I saw yours and I took it and now I'm taking one at Cortison Theater.
(09:19):
Yeah, there. And then now the online one, I think it's the writing beginning here in Windsor. No, with the Emery on Zoom. That'll be the world's good.
She was a turning point along the journey. When I took that class, I found her out of nowhere and canceled what I had previously said. I was supposed to go to Los Angeles and train at the groundlings for a week and for my 40th birthday.
(09:54):
But then I found her and I was like something said like just just cancel Los Angeles and just go to her. So I did. I hopped the train after work on a Friday, the May 2 for weekend, got to Toronto super super late.
The city was incredibly busy. The Tiff was going on. There was so many things. I couldn't even sleep. I was so excited.
(10:18):
And then I like that morning I like ran to the second city and we're supposed to be a group of 20. And there were there were five or six of us in that class who she was able to give us attention.
She was born to perform number one. Number two, she knows how to put a show together. She knows she knows it and she punded the pavement. She built herself.
(10:43):
She sold herself. She wrote herself and I knew I said, I didn't even know these things were possible. So after I left her and she was so encouraging in class and informative.
I'll never forget. She said, you have to be like the phoenix rising. And I had never had that image in my head ever once in my life. Yeah. But now that image in my head all the time because it's a hard industry.
(11:13):
If you're taking if you're improvising and training to be on stage. That is it's a very hard industry. Super hard. Oh, I couldn't. I could imagine.
I mean, like I was intimidated just being on that zoom and there was I think there were six of us. There's supposed to be seven one sick. And I mean, okay, I've been Windsor Ontario.
(11:34):
I'm just this little person that does a freebie podcast and there's actresses in there. There's writers in there from Australia, from Europe, from Atlanta.
And I'm like, oh my God, she's in New York doing this whole event thing. And I'm like, I just wanted to learn how to do a little bit of and you will.
(11:58):
I was I was it was I was like, I just keep thinking in my head. She said, we're going to have homework and create a fairy tale, kind of like a trailer trash meets Roseanne type thing.
And if it's something that you want to do, it's almost like an addiction. I found that like I'm thinking about it all the time. Oh my gosh, this would be a good skit.
(12:23):
Just a story of John painting that room. I'm terrible. 11 years. I have a whole thing in my head about it and write it down. That's you. I have been I've been writing like crazy.
So is this something that you always wanted to do? Yes, it was just kind of ingrained in you from the time you were born. I was always so I have an older sister.
(12:45):
She's eight years older. I was born. My parents are Italian 100%. They were both immigrants to this country. So that's right there. Not easy.
And my sister was like the studious made all the good choices. You know, she went on to receive her doctorate in education. She's a superintendent.
(13:08):
She's done all these things and like the family so incredibly proud of her. She does all these great things. Me gypsy.
So I always wanted to just perform like I started out in dance classes and I was out there and I just loved it. I can't wait to get there. And my parents are like, Christina, please, can you just do something with your life?
(13:29):
Like, can you just focus? And I'm like, I am born to be a star. Don't you don't you understand? It's like, you know, please, please. What is this university you speak of?
You know, it was so hard growing up like my parents. And I know like when you're going through it, you're like, oh my God, you don't understand me.
(13:50):
What the hell. And but as a girl to understand it was more out of fear. They're like, please just get a study job. Please do something in school.
I went to the University of Windsor. Okay, so here's the kicker. I was always busy in dance and performing and doing things in the city.
And, you know, it was going great. Like it was fun. Right. And I was I didn't know that I was learning like I was just like, oh my gosh, I get to be in this play and I get to do all these things.
(14:18):
And I was so happy. And then I graduated from high school and I applied to the University of Windsor to the BFA acting program.
I, I eventually got in and I flunked out. What I realized later in life, I don't even have a like to stand on now. What do I tell my parents? I want to be an actress, but I just got kicked out of the BFA acting program at the University of Windsor.
(14:46):
And I was devastated. I didn't want to be there. That wasn't what I wanted. But I didn't understand that then. I didn't know. I didn't know myself. I didn't know any of those things.
And so I, I, well, I didn't leave. They kicked me out. And I went to the college and I did sign language and they kicked me out of that.
(15:09):
And then I did early childhood education. And I feel like I excelled in it because like I have my own personal audience on the daily.
They think I'm amazing. Like they just, you know, like, oh my God, it's miso. Like it's a show on the daily for that. Right.
So maybe that's why I excelled in it. And then I landed myself in a full time life, full time work life. I became a mother and I got married. I became a mother.
(15:38):
And, but I realized later in life that I was always so ashamed of being kicked out of the University of Windsor. Like I felt like I just was, I wasn't good enough to do anything.
Like who would even consider me now? But one thing I realized was you, you need to do the right thing for yourself. The BFA acting program was not it. Industry was it.
(16:02):
Once I started training in improv and got a solid foundation on how everything is burst out of that. Then I got clear. I got clear.
And I had some of the best instructors. I admire them to this day. I will honor them for all the live long day until I take my last breath.
(16:26):
They were patient and they were, they had a high bar. And even though I struggled in the beginning, the moment that it changed for me, I felt it. And I was really proud of myself.
And then eventually I'm here now and I was lucky to have received what I got. And I'm just thrilled to be able to do it here and share what I was taught with other people.
(16:57):
Now, have you had a chance to travel around to do your show?
That's what's on the docket now. So it's so close to being to its final edit. I do have a producer interested in the show who's been so incredibly supportive.
And the idea is to, I have to make the pitch, right? I have to make the pitch. And these are the hardships. This is what's hard about industry. Nothing's free.
(17:28):
So I have to make sure that the show is at its best. It did. Christina and OH debuted in Windsor. And then I took it to Detroit and I was able to get it up there.
And then coming out of the pandemic, the Women's Comedy Festival had me do it there.
And so I was thrilled. Like I was thrilled to just take it out of our country and into another country. But then the pandemic just cut me off at the knees and I had to start all over again.
(18:04):
I will continue to strive to do my very best. And I hope one day that I can give opportunity to people like I was given, right?
You are. So I hope, like I just really want to get back. Like it sounds again, cheeseballs, cheeseballs, cheeseballs, cheeseballs. But it is pretty gratifying.
And it is like when I was even this past session at ACT, like we were 20 people in that room.
(18:32):
That was insane. It started off like, I think there was what?
Maybe 12. 10 or 12 people. And by the end of the month, there was like 20 there the last day. And it's like, why even bother coming for the last one?
But it got huge. And it was one thing I noticed too, like being on the instructor side. And I teach improv for the music performance students at Sinclair College.
(18:58):
That is truly one of the best experiences working with these young kids. And they are naturally like, I don't know what it is about this generation, but they're natural supporters of each other.
Right? They are so on board with each other and they're eager. They're eager and they're risk takers. And I get to do that.
(19:24):
I get to be part of that. I graduated from Sinclair College. I'm St. Nation. And now I'm, oh my God, never in a million years, never in a million years.
But I've been like, yeah, I'm part of the faculty of Sinclair College. I was like, do you know many times I tried to graduate out of this place?
But then I was so proud of making, like, you don't go to school to become a professional improviser. Right? Nobody gives you a degree in professional improvising.
(19:55):
You have to do all the work. You have to find the training. You have to get out there. You have to, it's a hustle, right? You have to build. You have to understand.
You have to be humbled. You have to do all these things to move forward and to be able to share it with somebody else. So, yeah.
That's the one thing that has shocked me is I was kind of like you only worse. I quit school when I was 17.
(20:24):
My mom said to me, the day of school for grade 11, she's like, what are you wearing to school? Nothing. I'm not going.
She says, you have a month to get a job, go back to school, or GTFO. It's like, okay, so I got a job and I went four nights a week to the adult learning center.
(20:45):
I just, I wasn't good in school. But could I figure out what I wanted to do? I had dental receptionist training certificate, but couldn't get a job because I didn't have experience.
I had a business common. I have aesthetics, horticulture, everything under the sun.
Basket weaving.
I swear to goodness. I don't know how to knit when I was eight years old and do crafts and I've done craft shows. I do everything.
(21:15):
I can't sit still or else I'll fall asleep.
And now it's like coming home, going to those classes. It's like, I'm nervous, but excited and I'm walking around with these books and I'm writing out.
It's either going to be a really cool one woman show or it's going to end up being an autobiography because it's long.
(21:38):
But it's yours.
It's fun.
It is so much fun.
I was really shocked when you said that improv is a community where you really stand back, help each other out.
And noticing that in some of the different games that you were having us do and where people were screwing up and the other people aren't saying, hey, you screwed up.
(22:02):
They were going along with it and putting it as part of the show and changing it around as we're going around the circle and how it changed because people just weren't letting the other person fall.
No.
It was so wonderful. It was so nice to see.
When I was training, I learned if you feel like there's a mistake, lean into it.
Yeah.
Right?
Come off the back line.
(22:23):
It turns out funnier sometimes.
And people know and an audience can appreciate it. The troop lives longer.
I swear it adds years to your life.
But lean into those things.
And, you know, even when we played the game, the generals cat where you had to, the generals cat is an abby cat.
(22:44):
The generals cat is a booby cat.
The generals cat is whatever.
You know, like remember if someone skips the letter, if someone is just pick up from where they left off, it's important to just listen, stay grounded.
Don't go for the funny.
It'll, if you simply react to what the person is saying, you will be able to build the blocks of that scene and just like that tick, tick, tick, boom.
(23:14):
And there you go.
Yay.
And that's what I like.
And that's probably why I gravitated towards that.
Because even in the podcast, like I literally threw this page together of just in cases this afternoon, I like to meet the people and then it's just a conversation.
We'll see where it goes.
(23:35):
I've tried having a question and answer, but you always tend to veer off.
So I just like to go with wherever it goes.
So it felt really good to actually be in a class where that's actually what you're supposed to do.
And it's like, it turns out better, I think, because you learn more or it'll take the show in a completely different direction than what you were expecting.
(24:00):
And it was so much fun.
I last year, I wrote the social exchange for act for their North of 50 program.
Chris asked me, Chris Babadou, the artistic director, he said, Christina, is there a way that we can build this show with the community?
And I was like, I guess there's no other way to do that, right?
(24:22):
So we had four weeks of workshops and I ran improv sessions for four weeks.
So the first hour and a half, I was playing games and you have to get this room is filled.
This was this was a brand new experience for me.
The room was filled with seniors, right?
But we made it intergenerational so anybody could come.
(24:45):
But the focus was seniors.
And it was probably one of the most enriching, again, cheese balls, cheese balls.
Like when people talk like this, I'm like, oh, but then I'm here.
I am. I'm like, oh, I'm so enriching.
Wow.
So but it was and the insight was insane.
And there was one woman, Shelly from our class, Shelly Davis, what a wonderful woman, right?
(25:10):
What a wonderful woman.
And one night we were going over the script and she told me this story.
She's like, you know, I've been a nurse for I think it was I can't remember how many years, like 30 years.
And I don't drive.
I've never had a license.
She's terrified of it.
Yeah, she's terrified of it, but there was the bus scene.
(25:33):
And I was in the background at the two babies and that scene was based off of Shelly's experience.
And she's like, nobody, she's like, nobody smiles anymore or like looks up from their phone on the bus.
And she's just talking and talking.
And the show was based on the gap between Gen X and everybody else.
(25:54):
And so and I'm a Gen Xer.
So the show started to morph into the difference in how we can bridge it.
Right.
And, you know, some of the fun things and improv that people do is they like role reversals or age reversals.
Like Robin played the chit-chat.
(26:17):
And he was he just, I really liked working with the seniors.
They helped drive that show.
Like I was writing and writing and writing and writing based off all these workshops that we had had.
And so many different people came to this workshop.
We had women from the house of soft-facing.
(26:38):
That was super impactful.
Yeah.
They were abrasive of the nature of improv.
And, you know, the I've heard so many times improv is for everyone.
And I believed it.
Like on the surface, I was like, I had the basic understanding of it.
But watching the seniors, the women from the house of soft-facing, there were young kids.
(27:02):
There were, you know, the bracket of that 22 to 35, whatever.
And everybody had something to say, but it was a safe place.
And people just shared experience.
And then the last hour, we ate together at a round table.
And we just continued the conversation, except we were eating.
(27:24):
So that was a brilliant idea that I had.
And I was really grateful that they invited me to do that.
And it was crazy.
Before we go any further, that show, how much of it was improvised and how much of it was written?
We improvised to the written scene.
So I took the bullets.
(27:45):
You just gave them, this is what I want and they went with it.
Well, we played games.
And through those games, stories were shared.
And some of them were so funny.
Like there was one woman, we did a scene had morphed into a genie.
Do you remember the genie scene?
Okay.
(28:06):
So that happened in the workshop.
And there was one lady there, she was from the house of soft-facing.
She had shared an incredible journey with us that was, I don't even know sometimes how people hang in there.
Yeah.
Okay.
And I'm just blown away.
But she was sitting in the scene.
She was one of the workers, like the genie appeared in the office and was like,
(28:28):
you guys have to decide what your wish is, but you all have to be at the same place.
They have to be the same wish.
And so the genie disappears and I'll be back to hear your wish.
And so they're talking and talking. She's so quiet and she's just playing a character where she was like,
she has one line, I think we should buy a cabin in the Muscovques.
(28:50):
That's all she said.
And then she just kind of hung out while there was this banter between all the people.
And then it just got quiet for a second and she's like,
so are we getting the cabin in the Muscovques?
Like, she didn't participate in the whole conversation.
It was so grounded and so real.
(29:11):
I was like, this has to be, and it ended up being a three parter.
Like we called it back three times in the show.
And so, and all based on her, all based on that one moment that she just gave that was so grounded.
I was like, that's right.
There's always that person that's like, they're not listening to anybody.
They're just like, so what about that cabin in the Muscovques?
(29:34):
That's my mom.
Unless you're talking about her, she doesn't hear anything.
She's not hearing anything.
No.
And that's, that's, and it helps people learn.
Okay.
There's my one woman.
She just couldn't be my mom and ignore everybody.
Just answer about herself to questions that have nothing to do with her.
(29:55):
Exactly.
It's an insane process.
Love it.
Learning how to approach the sketch writing process in a little bit of a different way and to involve more of the community, which I guess maybe has always been kind of a need of mine to be part of something.
And there it was.
So I'm really grateful to, to Arts Collective Theater between Moyan McAllister and Chris Rapido.
(30:22):
I don't even know.
Like I don't even, I don't even know.
I don't know everything.
There's enough words.
They are amazing with all the programs that they have.
And for the kids, like they're going to be doing Annie.
Yeah.
Pretty soon.
What's wonderful is they are trying to raise money so that inner city kids that can't afford to be part of these programs can still go.
(30:48):
I don't think they've ever turned anybody away.
And I mean, even going to do your, your classes, they keep it so reasonably priced and I noticed Act is just building and you also are an actress for them.
I just got cast in.
I heard you're a bitch in this one.
(31:10):
Badly.
You know, you know, it's funny is he asked me, he's like Christina, will you be the AD on the show?
I had AD guys and dolls that was a crazy experience.
I didn't know that level of production existed in the city.
So I was like, I had no idea.
Josie introduced me to act.
Chris came to one of my improv sessions when I was teaching out at show and he's like, why don't you just come and visit the company?
(31:37):
Why don't you just come and see what it's all about?
So I was like, you know, what a great opportunity because the only time I'm ever backstage is when I'm waiting to go on stage.
That's been my whole thing.
Right.
So he's like, Christina, why don't you come and see what rehearsals are like and what we're all about?
I was like, great, that sounds great.
I went to a production meeting and then I would go to every rehearsal and I would sit at the table and I would just make notes.
(32:02):
They gave me a script and I was just kind of practicing like, what would it be like to be on the other side?
Because I don't know.
I don't know what's going on back.
I never did know.
I know people do all these crazy things with tech, which I am inept.
I know people are pulling things and people are running with everybody else knows what's happening so that the people in the show can be on stage and tell the story.
(32:26):
And they've got 30 arms and they're doing all these great things.
I just never knew.
I knew, but I didn't know.
So then during one rehearsal, he's like, my AD, Christina, and I was like, AD.
So like I went home and I was like, what is AD?
I was like, give the checklist.
And so like we're working at a rapid pace and then guys and dolls and I remember it.
(32:49):
Then I ended up backstage at that.
Like when I say at the midnight hour, they're like, you're going to have to do stage right.
I never saw so many big props in my life.
Like a lamp, like a light post was coming out a whole second stage.
I was pushing out.
They were there.
I don't know how many flies he had in the show.
And I was always like, I've never said this so many times in my life with the hell's that noise?
(33:12):
With the hell's that noise?
With the hell's that noise?
I'm just going to be sure what the hell's that noise.
And so just keeping things together, the pressure was on and it was like thrilling.
I was like, I was like, oh my God, oh my God.
And then he's like, what do you think about coming on to rent?
And I was like, I don't know if I can do that again.
Like it's crazy.
And then I was like, yes, one of the better decisions I made in my life.
(33:34):
That show was beyond amazing.
I was just, I had coffee on Sunday morning with Maya and Chris and the person who played Angel works at the Starbucks.
And that's where Chris found him.
He has this way of just finding people and he heard him singing and oh my God, do you want to do this?
(33:57):
And finding you and like he just has this knack that's insane.
He has a superior knack for it.
And it's so funny.
And they will be like, hey, I just want to learn how to work backstage.
Do you think there's a spot for me?
And they're like, of course, come to rehearsal, come see what we're all about.
And then they're like, okay, that same person.
They're like, could you come and stand in for so and so?
(34:20):
And all of a sudden they're in the show and they are realizing dreams they never knew they had.
I go, it's crazy.
After I did the podcast with them last October, they were having a workshop for kids for Teenagers Net and they had E. Clay.
E. Clay was, he was the guest speaker the afternoon.
(34:42):
Yeah, they let, I'm like, okay, he's going to hate this and he probably won't see it anyway.
But I remember him from when he started as a soap opera star, Ari in the soaps.
He was a teenager.
E. Clay Cornelius?
He was a teenager. He won't put it in his IMDB, but it is on his resume.
I didn't know.
(35:03):
Because we talked about it.
I'm on a new college.
Yeah, he was a teen and I'm like, dude, Lear Hagman could do it and all these famous people can do it.
Be proud of it.
But he is on Broadway now and he writes, he directs, he acts.
He's brilliant, but I asked my interest.
I'm like, oh my God, love this guy.
(35:24):
Can I come?
So I'm with all these kids, all these high school kids.
Oh, I said the audience.
I was there too.
I said up the chair, I did everything he needed.
I got him lunch and then I was like, peace out.
I've been in the audience because I want to hear you.
Yeah, I was sitting there amongst all the kids.
I was so excited and then they branched out and I'm like, okay, I'm going to let the kids have their time.
(35:46):
You know, it was so cool about him.
He said we were, after the kids had all come and gone, it was just a couple of us left in the theater.
And he's like, Christina, what do you do?
And I was like, I pound the pavement.
That's what I do.
I'm like, that's what I do.
I said, if these kids only knew how hard it is or how hard it was, like for, you know, you could say like, I didn't have YouTube.
(36:09):
I didn't have social media.
I couldn't just get on a zoom and do an audition or whatever.
I had to look in the paper and get an agent and do all these things where now kids are like, make a TikTok and all of a sudden they got 3.5 billion followers.
And they've, you know, and all they're doing like right now, I think the thing is like they eat into the camera and they shove as much as they can in their mouth.
(36:36):
And I'm like, well, I'm glad I work as hard as I do to, you know, I spend, I don't know how much money crossing the border and risking, you know, all the time.
I was like, I was like, all I had to do was fill a bowl of Chipotle and eat it and let it drip down my chin.
And that are going now only chance to start at the feet.
(36:57):
Start at the feet.
Just started.
But I know I met him before they started doing some, the individual workshops.
He's like, well, why didn't you ask any questions?
I'm like, our kids and Windsor for some reason are insanely brilliant.
All of those questions.
Great.
The questions that they were asking.
It's like, I didn't need to.
(37:18):
I'm a 54 year old and they were catching it all for me.
They're really good.
Yeah, I was impressed.
We are going to have a magical artistic group of kids turn in adults here and hopefully they stay with it because even some of them are would be really good as directors or producers because they were asking some tough questions about money and design.
(37:43):
And I'm like, wow.
It's a hustle.
Even right now on the price of freedom, there was a few that came in and they just really proved their ground.
We had one BFA graduate come in last night and he did one of the physical scenes where there's an altercation and he took them out of the room.
(38:07):
We had moved on onto something else and he brought them back.
But that wasn't why he was there.
He just happened to have that in his repertoire and Chris was like, just give it a shot.
So he went and he did it and he came back and it's the scene.
It's the scene.
I have to work with him one Sunday because I have an altercation in the show.
So I'm very, very, very, very nervous because this is completely outside.
(38:33):
I don't typically play.
I don't audition for leads because I just, I don't think that's who I am.
That's not who I am.
I love a good supporting role.
Even if that, even if she just has three lines, I'll take it.
My title with the school board is support stuff.
Like this is just who I am.
(38:56):
But sitting beside Chris as an AD on the show, having been with Carlos, the writer of the price of freedom and watching the show morph through workshop has been quite impressive.
And now being in the show is, I'm not going to lie.
I'm a lot nervous.
The first, the two out of the two, the one character, she's more like me.
(39:22):
Robin's going to play my husband.
And, but the second one, I'm the overseer's wife and I don't like.
Well, the overseer's wife doesn't like what she sees.
So that's going to be a lot out of my room.
Just so you guys know, I'm going to be having some future podcasts coming up during Black History Month in February.
(39:44):
And we're going to be talking about the price of freedom, which is written by a gentleman in the Windsor-Essex County area directly for act.
So they're producing it.
Now, what is it about?
So the story is of John Anderson who fled to Canada in 1853.
(40:07):
He fled because he killed a slave owner in Missouri and or about that area and protecting himself and knew he had to leave his wife.
He had to leave his children.
He was born into slavery, crossed over into Canada.
And for about seven years, he kind of was able to stay under the radar until he told the wrong person the story and that person outed him.
(40:34):
And the bounty hunter found him, then he was put on trial and he was found guilty the first time.
But due to a particular act that had because the altercation that resulted in murder happened while he was a slave.
He then was that it was overturned and he, I think he, I think in the end he ended up in England.
(41:04):
But the show wraps around his story.
It always comes back to him, but the characters that he's met along the way, there was a there were people that helped on the Underground Railroad.
So he crossed into Windsor, but the trial and where he ended up was in the Brampton area.
So it is pretty powerful how Carlos brought it to life.
(41:25):
So to be part of it, huge privilege.
When I did Christina Noh and one of the things I like to do, I like to race to the lobby as soon as I bow and I say thank you to everybody for coming to the show.
I race out there because I just want to say thank you to people.
I'm like, thank you for taking time buying a ticket, supporting me.
And they're like, oh, my, you know, some people said to me, oh, my God, like, I feel like I'm going to be a slave.
(41:49):
I feel like I can do something now too, because I am, I'm 48 years old.
I, you know, my family comes first.
So like when you, when I think about my day, I get up, I make sure like everybody's got a water, a lunch and whatever they need.
And I'll try to get the wet laundry to the dryer before I leave for work, right?
(42:11):
And I'm doing all these things and I get to work and I'm focusing on the kids and I'm writing on my lunch, you know, as soon as that clock switches over, I just, I write, I write and I write and I write and I write until the bell rings again.
And then I, after school, I got to get someone to soccer.
I got to get to a doctor's appointment.
(42:32):
I got to pick up some groceries.
I got to do all these things that I, I'm like, oh, okay, these are the things I need to get done, right?
And then I get home and I'm like, oh, let's get the dishes done.
And I got to be here.
I'm teaching.
I got to do this.
I got to do that.
I have rehearsal.
I have to do this.
The kids need something.
And like then I was like, oh, quality time, right?
Husband, husband, how are you husband?
(42:55):
Husband, did you have a good day at work?
Husband.
And then, you know, everything like all of a sudden it's like 11:30, 11:45 at night consistently.
And I'm like, okay, I will, like there's been plenty of times my husband has found me on the kitchen table.
What I want people to know, and if I offer anything or anything to whatever I've ever done in my life is just don't give up.
(43:22):
Don't give up.
And no matter what it is, no matter where you land, like it all matters.
It all matters.
The parts that made you cry, the parts that made you laugh, the parts that made you think you just can't do this.
What was I thinking?
It all matters.
It's like, people think it's this mad dash to the end, but it's not.
(43:45):
It's like, take everything for what it is and do your best.
And that is possible.
Like in the end, Christina Noyes just spoke to a woman who had a big dream and decided that I had everything I need here.
Like I had this family, there's a theater community in this city where border city, so much more can happen in this city.
(44:07):
And I'm so grateful to the people who try really hard.
The Shadow Box Theater, Cortisone Theater, Arts Collective Theater, Windsor Light Opera.
Everybody, I think it's, I know I'm forgetting someone, but all the theaters that exist, all the art based programs that exist.
Just try, just try, be perseverant.
(44:30):
And there are days, I was talking to my mom the other day and I was like, Mom, I don't even know.
Like, I don't know, I don't know.
What do I do? What do I do?
And she was the one that's always like, could you just get a full time job and with benefits and be done with it?
Please.
But now she's, you know, my dad's like, you're crazy.
Christina, why do you do these things?
You're crazy.
(44:51):
I don't understand.
And now I'm like, Daddy.
Like, don't you, don't you get it?
Now he's like, oh, I am too old.
Do what you want.
And I'm like, I did, I did along the way.
Pick yourself up every day.
The dust will clear.
And if you are passionate, whatever you want to do, whether you want to be a doctor, you want to be an actress or an improviser, just do it.
(45:14):
Find out about it.
Study it.
Read the book.
Take the class.
Travel.
Try it.
And so I encourage everybody.
I feel like improv should be part of everybody's life.
I think so too.
I really do because I, it's, I know it's changed me in a lot of ways in a short amount of time.
Yeah.
(45:35):
And if you're in the Windsor-Oscar County area, Christina is still teaching these classes and we're finally getting at the next level from beginner.
Right.
So in February, we'll start.
We're going to go.
We've played the games.
We've played the games.
We always will always play the games.
(45:56):
Always, always, always.
But I'd like to see the backline form now.
I'd like to see the ensemble piece come together.
People swiping the scene, getting the suggestion and building and raising the stakes on it.
So I'm really excited to move forward with it.
And I hope you come and take the class.
I hope you come and take the class or take a class.
(46:17):
Take any class.
I mean, even court of zone theater has classes, online classes.
It really honestly helps you to get out of your own shell, get out of, break out of your comfort zone.
One of the things they say is when you're improvising is what makes a stay different.
And you will use it.
(46:39):
Like even, I remember when I was early studying and I was working at Shoppers Drug Mart and customers are, can be hard sometimes.
Some are easier to like than others.
But I used to, before taking improv and learning all these things, I used to be like, you're a jerk.
Like, literally, you don't watch.
I make like, I make nothing working behind this counter.
(47:03):
And I'm not sure why you're yelling at me as I evolved as an improviser.
I started to appreciate people way more than I ever did.
And even more so to the people who struggled and maybe were yelling at me, that I'm wondering what brought you to this point and to care a little bit more.
I'm like, you know what?
(47:24):
I'm sorry, let me help you out.
Seeing calm, playing the part and improvising and just diffusing things.
So it just does.
Take the class.
Any class, just take the class.
Christina, thank you so much.
This was so exciting.
It was so much fun.
And again, my name is Tracy.
(47:45):
I want to thank you so much for staying with us and watching this episode of YQG In Bloom.
Make sure that you support your arts, your creative theaters, everything you have in wherever you are.
Because that is the base of everything I think.
(48:07):
And I hope you will.
How much you believe.
It's true.
And I hope you all have a wonderful day.
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Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!