SPOTLIGHT ON LAZARUS HOWELL: iO THEATER INTERN / PERFORMER / STUDENT
IMPROV LEVEL 5 | INSTRUCTOR: BILL ARNETT
LAZ HOWELL, ESSENTIAL & BELOVED FIXTURE OF iO THEATER, SAT DOWN WITH RACH GRANILLO AHEAD OF THEIR RAPIDLY-APPROACHING GRADUATION OF THE WORLD-RENOWNED iO IMPROV TRAINING PROGRAM
Rach Granillo: How did you get involved with iO?
Lazarus Howell: I intern here! And how did I get into the internship [some may ask]. I went to college for comedy at DePaul University. Comedy Arts, it’s a thing. A real thing I did. And now I’m here. I do Box Office interning. I used to be a Production Management intern. What it’s really for though, is to take classes here. I get to take classes for free and that’s a bonus I will cash in.
RG: What has been the difference between DePaul Comedy and taking classes at iO?
LH: The iO program has expanded my learning a lot. Even though I went to a comedy college at DePaul it was a bit surface level and broad. I think iO gives a more in-depth teaching of improv and its philosophies and its styles and everything around it. I really enjoy that. You think about improv and you think about montage […] of course but there is a lot more to learn about improv on many different levels. I appreciate it more for sure.
RG: What is something you’ve taken away from being in the iO program?
LH: I think forms are really important for the progression of improv as an art I’d say. Even between forms, the connection between your troupe is really important. As I see in classes and in shows, it’s not just people being funny impromptu, it’s people connecting their ideas with other people’s ideas. I think there’s a strategic level of improv people don’t even think about sometimes that I enjoy and find fascinating. It’s about the artistic communicative expression of ideas in reaction to uncontrollable forces of other expression of ideas. Improv expands from comedy, into theater, and even into philosophy. I find that admirable in the art.
CHECK IT OUT: Laz produces Funny Funny Fashion, a Fashion Variety Comedy Show!
