IN THE SPOTLIGHT : DAN HERSHFIELD

Interview by Angèle Liane Morgan

A Theatresports alumni, Dan has recently returned from a stint working on a Second City cruise. You can catch Dan improvising in some of Bad Dog's regular shows including Harold Night, Macro Neato and The Happening. Dan's play Billy Stutter: An Irish Play is also going to be part of the upcoming Bad Dog Short Play Festival.

Fun Dan H. Facts!!

• Dan has a younger brother named Evan who is also an improviser.
• The brothers regularly compete over who is the most popular Hershfield at The Bad Dog. Dan thinks he's currently winning.
• Dan is an Aries
• Dan has two piercings in his left ear which may or may not be completely filled in.
• Dan's middle name? (awkward pause) is Ezra. He's not a big fan of it.

How did you get into improv?
I started with The Bad Dog back when it was Toronto Theatresports in 2001. A girl asked me if I wanted to do it, I said "yes," signed up for the course but she never showed up! I still took the course and have been doing improv ever since.

Why improv?
I guess I was funny, in my own little way, and was looking for a place to be funny and meet other funny people. I'd written a play in my last year of university but I hadn't done theatre since junior high. I was pretty much thinking I was going to be a lawyer. In my last year I had a lot of time on my hands, having met most of my course requirements, so I essentially became an English student and wrote a play and it was a lot of fun. So I was looking for some way to do theatre when I got back to Toronto and improv seemed like a good way to jump right into it.

Do you have a favorite improv moment that stands out?
There are bunches. The first one I remember was during Toronto Theatresports located at The Poor Alex. You were invited to do the first half, and if you had a certain level of success you were invited to do the second half. But at some point they switched it to a cast system so they picked 30 or 40 improvisers. I was in that first cast and I was very happy to be picked. The first show I did was with Ian Keeling and Rochelle Wilson, and I remember Lauren Ash was on the opposing team. The scene that sticks out was with Rochelle and it was Ian's brilliance that made it work. I think the ask-for we had was "job interview" so I started the scene pacing and being really nervous, and Ian came in and said "The applicant is ready to see you now." Rochelle came in and we had a very nervous interview and it really worked as a scene. Both of them were teachers of mine and it was one of those big emotional moments where I felt like I'd taken a step up.

Do you have a favourite scene location suggestion?
I always find the more creative and crazy the suggestion the worse the scene. I like an office.

What is the best improv advice you've ever gotten?
I think the best advice I've ever gotten is "have fun." When you're starting out and you're taking so many classes and have so many instructors and so many people that you look up to, it's so easy to just cram your head and forget that improv is supposed to be fun. At some point you have to let go of all that.

If you could improvise with anybody who would it be?
I've improvised with a lot of good people. I'm very glad to have improvised with the people I've improvised with...not that I'm running for improv office. It would've been interesting to do a scene with John Belushi – I figure he'd probably be a pretty good scene partner, when you think of people who seem naturally gifted, and also unpredictable and scary. It'd be interesting. I think that one it would be a good scene and probably a good story.

Catch Dan Hershfield and other great people at The Bad Dog Theatre. Spotlight off!