All this month we are talking to acts that are performing at the Liverpool Improv Festival which takes place between May 7th – 10th. We will be speaking to acts every Wednesday and Thursday at 6:30pm on the run up to the festival. Today we speak to T.J. Mannix in LimboLand.

Tell Us about:

Your latest improv show you are bringing to Liverpool Improv Fest ? 

T.J. Mannix in LimboLand

Your favourite suggestion you have been given?

“Sin”

Your favourite venue to perform at:

Radio City Music Hall – Pretty life changing at 21.  

Improv hero:

The Godmother of Improv, Viola Spolin

Describe the feeling you get when you walk on stage to do a show:  

It’s the most dangerous sport.  There is nothing like walking on stage with a blank look in your eyes because you have no idea what you are going to do out there.  

The hardest improv suggestion to perform and why:  

I played a series of spring break shows on a cruise ship while touring with the Second City.  Our very first audience suggestion was a drunken yell of … let’s just call it … “a previously utilized feminine hygiene item”.  Sigh.  We played it as smart as we could, but those drunk college kids wanted blood.  

Essential items you always take with you to a show?  

A tie.  Gotta keep it classy.  Even if you rip it off a few minutes in.  

Describe your fans in three words:  

Passionate.  Honest.  Fans of LimboLand usually love the raw, genuine, earned  moments – the small moments that are just human.  

What we can look forward to from you this year: 

I have no clue.  At the start of every LimboLand show, I get a suggestion and then turn it over to my music director.  They improvise something brilliant, inspired by the suggestion, and I wait on the backline listening to the music until “someone” makes themselves known.  Usually every character is inspired by someone in my past – at least for the first few minutes until the character breaks away from the original and charts their own course.

Thank you again for all your support in reading and engaging with the website.

If you want to help support the website then you can! You can buy Holly a cup of tea (and a biscuit!)