Joel M. Dale

Born May 28, 1973
Height 6'4"
Weight 198 lbs
Eyes: brown
Hair: brown

I was born in Ohio but don't really remember much. I spent a lot of time in the Midwest where I started on my journey of telling jokes all the time. Not really sure why, but it's what I did. When I hit high school people started telling me that I was really funny and I should do standup. The real problem was I didn't have the guts. Trying out for my first drama club play was a harrowing enough experience. I did every play I could in high school—actually gave up basketball to do theater. But it wasn't until my senior year that I began to experiment doing comedy in a more formal sense.

That year I wrote the script for all the emcees for the Vestal Senior High Talent Fest. It was a tradition at Vestal Senior High (in Vestal, New York) to have a talent show at the end of the year. Another tradition for some reason was to have 4 people emcee the event and make sure that their script was as annoyingly "un-funny" as possible. I decided that I wanted to truly up the level of what the emcees did, so I auditioned for the role of an emcee, got the part, and proceeded to write a different piece for each act in the show. Now admittedly the stuff I wrote by my standards currently is immature, but it's different than what proceeded it. I also cringe a little at how my script shines the spotlight on me too much where there are four of us, but I stand proud of that accomplishment and believe that I raised the bar (heck I won an honorable mention from the judges and emcees aren't even competing).

I realize this is self-congratulatory, but I also feel it's the experience that set me down the road of improv comedy. In college I chickened out of doing plays until my last two years where I performed in two original pieces. But I didn't do any improv at that point: just freeze tag and such: theater games in my drama class (Oh yeah—I have a theatre minor to accompany my math degree).

When I left Michigan State University to live in Washington, I set out with the goal of being a Math and Theater teacher. I spent two years in that endeavor. Teaching math and helping with the school plays. My sister, who lived in Seattle at the time told me that I needed to do something to get involved. She suggested I use my comedy skills and audition for an improv troupe. It sounded like a neat idea, but as such I was intimidated.

I remember walking by Tacoma Little Theater a few months after I had moved to Washington and read an article about a late night improv troupe performing there: Fools Play Improv. It kind of got my wheels turning.

Okay—fast forward about 4 months and I'm a teacher at Decatur High School in Federal Way, helping with the school play. One of the students was in an improv troupe in Tacoma and said they were having auditions. She said their name was Fools Play (DOH! How ironic. It's the only improv troupe I had heard of.) Well, another student who wanted to audition and I went down to try out. Only problem is that we were told to show up 3 hours after auditions actually happened. But the real luck is that we arrived when Fools Play was showing up for rehearsal. They graciously held a short audition and soon after I found myself a member.

I ate this improv stuff up and found myself as a stayed performer with a small fan club. You know... it's weird having cars drive up to you in the middle of a parking lot and scream your name (or follow you home... which also happened). But I had a blast. Fools Play had a huge cult following and were known up in Seattle even. Through them I had my eyes opened to new concepts and was able to perform at fairs and festivals. What a great thing. But after two years my best friend Josh and I decided that there was a specific direction calling us in improv and that Fools Play had a different path. So we moved to Seattle and formed "Improsia: Comedy of the Gods."

Through this troupe I have found myself expanding in amazing ways. It's still rough going and not everyone has enjoyed their stay in my presence, but I'm learning and growing still. I don't know what Improv Nirvana is, but through Improsia I have found a new spirit and don't get tired even with all the difficulties the troupe has gone through. I am working hard to get better and better at this game and I hope the work pays off for all of you who support Improsia. I truly appreciate it.

Thank you,
Joel M. Dale

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