Like most worthwhile things in New York City, I first happened upon the People’s Improv Theatre by word of mouth. I heard they had free improv shows on Wednesday nights, so I took my boyfriend and sister to check it out.
After passing the place a couple times, under scaffolding we finally found a bright read door that lead to a staircase filed with photos and flyers about anything and everything theatrical. As we entered the lobby, the house staff gave us each a card to save a seat for the next show, which started in twenty minutes. We took the card, grabbed a beer from the bar and had a seat in the lobby where couches and chairs were filled with people hanging out and laughing.
Immediately we all noticed that it felt like we were in a living room, a family living room and everybody was related, except us. It wasn’t unfriendly, everyone was smiling and welcoming, but it seemed as though a bar full of regulars. We must have looked like newbie’s, because a gentleman came up to us, who I later learned was founder and owner Ali Farahnakian, smiled and asked us if we wanted to sneak into the current show going on while we waited. He led us through the side door and we fell straight into a small stage room, on the stage two actors were standing on chairs screaming and the audience was laughing in hysterics. Not too long after we settled into our seats, we were laughing with them. These guys are funny! The show was raw, wild, and smart. Everyone on stage was so comfortable with each other and they looked like they were having a blast. As the show ended, the actors bowed, the audience clapped and cheered, and I realized we have found some place really special. Since my first show at the PIT, I’ve been back several times, and brought friends who have also become regulars to their Wednesday night shows.
I really wanted to learn more about the inner workings of the PIT, so I emailed the address given on the website, expecting to probably hear nothing back only to find only a few minutes later a message from the owner himself saying I could come by anytime and he’d love to help me out. This was my first insight as to what makes the PIT so special, Ali Farahnakian is a truly kind hearted individual that loves to help others.
I met up with him at the PIT early on a Wednesday evening before their apparently popular free evening of improv began. First I noticed that girls were having some sort of bake sale in the lobby this time, selling chocolates and cookies they had made. “A lot of great people work here,” he tells me. Farahnakian, who has been a teacher for almost twenty years, first became involved in improv in college. He watched every episode of Saturday Night Live, which inspired him to do sketches with his fraternity. He went on to become a founding member of the Upright Citizens Brigade, studied at Improv Olympic, became a Second City actor, a writer for SNL, a writer for Law and Order, and a long list of television and film credits. So what inspired this man to open a tiny theatre like the PIT?
He simply wanted to do something different. “I didn’t want to be just another cog in something that was already moving.” Farahnakian describes himself as a teacher who is a small business owner. The PIT, now seven years old, is not only a performance space but also an improv and writing workshop where Farahnakian and other teachers hold a variety of classes he has hired along the way, some of them once his own students. Teaching is his passion and favorite thing about the PIT. “If you’re a teacher, you have that piece inside of you. Above all I want to leave places and people better than I found them.” He admits he loves teaching others how to play make believe and how when we are young that ability comes so naturally to us, along the way we lose it. “The PIT is full of people that simply like to play make believe.” I mention the oblivious family feeling when you enter the theatre. Farahnakian agrees and explains, “People usually have three places in their life,” he holds up three fingers and continues, “ Where they live, where they work, and that third place. To a lot of people, the PIT is that third place.”
Along with the classes, Farahnakian goes to business’s both corporate and private to work with staff, using improv as an ice breaking and team building tool. “I would love to bring improve to the world. Improv cuts through all the bullshit. It builds leadership and a better understanding of self; nobody is trying to be cool. I encourage people to do it, watch it, and study it. It will benefit your life.” This mentality is one of the reasons he makes a point to make sure the PIT has free shows and opportunities for individuals who can’t finically afford to take improv classes. “Do what you want to do! You want to own a business, start a magazine, start a theatre, do it! Money is not the only tool. And what it is – it is just that, a tool. Like thousands of others as well.” Leaving people better than he has found them, Farahnakian makes it a point to allow the PIT to change and become different, better, or mold to those who devote so much time to it. He doesn’t like to micromanage. Farahnakian says he thinks it’s important to say yes more than you say no, or say yes until you have to say no. Mentioning the girls outside with the cookies, “I said sure girls, sell your sweeties. Why not? Have you tasted them, they are really good!”
Inspired by “the man in blue who sweeps the streets” Farahnakian says he thinks it’s important to work hard with the hand you are dealt and again help whoever you can along the way. Farahnakian’s newest project, SIMPLE STUDIOS, located down the street from the PIT is a new rehearsal space that will collaborate both with and separately from the PIT. Excited to see what this rehearsal space grows into, Farahnakian is thankful for everything but also stops to mention that you can spend a lifetime building something and it can fall in one day so he keeps working to make it great and enjoy every laughing moment. As the interview concludes, he walks me out, buys me a cookie and asks if I would like a tour of the new rehearsal space. He shows me a few paint strips and asks me which color I think he should paint the wall. I point to one, he nods, smiles, and says, “and I like to surround myself with creative people.” I laughed and thought again about how special the PIT was and how lucky the people who call it “that third place” are to have Farahnakian, who will always work hard to make it better and better every day.
You can catch a show any evening at 154 W. 29th street. Check out http://www.thepit-nyc.com/index.html for information about classes and performances
