Corporate Comedy: Skinny Improv troupe takes its act to work

After working all day in preparation for the center’s grand re-opening, they walked down to the Public Square and into a dark basement.

What followed was stranger still: their boss, CEO Emily Fox, marching around the room, arms flailing, laughter flowing.

It’s all part of a day’s work for the corporate creative services division of Upside Down Creative Group, which operates out of the basement of the Holland Building, 103 Park Central East.

UDCG, which also includes The Skinny Improv, is just one aspect of a large-scale plan to spread the Skinny name across the country.

The corporate division trains, coaches and develops businesses’ communication skills through seminars on a wide range of subjects – public speaking, creative thinking, team building and using humor.

Discovery Center took advantage of the group’s creative juices during its Sept. 5 staff retreat. CEO Fox said the event was an opportunity for her staff to unwind – the center was closed for the week to prepare for the unveiling of its new expansion – and to develop its skills.

“It was a more creative way to look at harnessing the creativity of your staff, and everything was very physical,” she said. “You realize that everyone, no matter what their job is, plays a role in the outcome and reaching goals.”

Skinny Improv Artistic Director and group founder Jeff Jenkins said improvisational comedy and the corporate world have a direct connection.

“With improv, you make it up as you go along, you have no idea how it will work out, and you make it up entirely based on the suggestions you get from people around you,” he said. “Business is the same way.”

Skinny Improv performed interactive seminars earlier this year at Noble Communications and Gospel Publishing House.

Behind the scenes

Jenkins has big plans for the not-for-profit organization.

The four-year-old group is completing a move from the Holland Building into the former Adult Tendercare building at 301 Park Central East. The move doubles the space for the improvisational comedy troupe to perform.

Jenkins said the group should be in the new space by the beginning of November.

The plans also include a national presence with a Skinny Improv touring company.

“In the last year or so we’ve been making a more aggressive push,” he said. “We’re trying to establish a touring company that goes to colleges or corporations or church events, so we want to have a team doing that full-time.”

Recent shows include an Assemblies of God conference with 10,000 attendees in Orlando, Fla., and a church service in Oklahoma City.

The group’s come a long way from its start on Evangel University’s campus.

Jenkins, an Evangel graduate, started Skinny Improv in December 2002 and moved it downtown in 2004 after developing a large following. The group prides itself on its PG-rated comedy – there is no cursing, and the subjects are generally family-friendly.

300 shows a year

Jenkins hopes the touring company – a rotation of the group’s 32 members – would be up and running in six months to a year.

The plan also includes possible franchises in other cities with demographics similar to Springfield, establishing theaters in those cities to perform similar shows. The corporate training aspects of the company, he added, would follow.

Upside Down Creative has expanded into seven performance groups. Jenkins wants to turn the Springfield theater into a regional destination for improvisational comedy training.

“We feel like we have a good product – it’s clean, with good people, and we want to showcase that,” Jenkins said. “Everywhere we’ve gone, it’s been received well. We do 300 shows a year for 20,000 people all over the country, and we want to keep increasing that.”

With all the plans for growth and name recognition, Jenkins said he has thought about turning the company into a for-profit business – the group is currently funded both through fees for services and silent investors – but the future is uncertain in that area.

“If things keep going the way they are, we’ll stay nonprofit,” he said. “Right now, it’s more about investors coming in and making donations to keep us going.”

Upside Down Creative’s Performance Groups

The Skinny Improv – the main stage group

Improv Sportz – a second group that performs in a competition format

Betty – an all-female group

Three long-form groups – each improvises on a single idea for each performance

Children’s theater – a cooperative effort with Springfield Little Theater

Auditions for Improv Sportz will be held at 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at the group’s downtown location. For more information, call (417) 831-5233.