Ending on a high note: iMusical improviser Matt Berman reflects back on 18 years with the group

WIT: Let’s start with the obvious question: Why are you leaving iMusical?

Matt: Well, I’ve been doing this a long time, you know? I got into iMusical in 2008. That’s the start of the Obama era! Sometimes it’s just time to move on. But there are a couple reasons this feels like the right time to me. The big one is that I have two kids and they’re both getting older, and I’d like to have more time to enjoy being around them before they get too old to want me around at all. Having rehearsals and shows almost every Monday night and a lot of Fridays eats up a lot of carpool time!

The other one is that it’s hard to leave when things are really clicking, because that’s when it’s the most fun, but it’s also hard to leave when they aren’t, because you feel an obligation to leave the troupe in a strong place. So there’s never been a perfect time to do it. Our founding and musical director Travis Ploeger stepped away last summer, and it left a lot of things in flux in terms of how we put the show together that we had to sort out as a group. It took a while to do that, but it feels like we’ve reached a solid place again. We have a great new coach in Kristina Martinez, a great cast, some really gifted new accompanists, and a direction for the show going forward. iMusical is primed to do some cool new things and that just seems like a natural jumping off point. I’m gonna miss being part of it, but I am excited to see where they take the show!

WIT: What will you miss most about being part of this incredible group?

Matt: I’m gonna miss the people. There’s nothing like being part of a troupe, getting to work with people who make you laugh a lot, who do crazy, unexpected things and take scenes to places you never thought they’d go. It really is the most fun. And I’m gonna miss singing and harmonizing on the fly. That’s going to be a hard one to replace. Every time you go out on stage in an improv show, it’s like you’re collaboratively building an airplane while simultaneously learning how to fly it, and when you all somehow bring that plane in for a landing at the end of the show and don’t just crash it into a mountain or something, that’s just the best feeling.

WIT: What is the greatest lesson that being an improviser has taught you? 

Matt: Improv has taught me to trust my instincts and to react in the moment. It’s made my brain process things so much faster. It’s taught me to trust my partners in scenes and in life. When I started with iMusical, the people in the group were so good, I was hesitant to put myself out there lest I mess it up. I remember early shows where I would have an impulse and I’d sit on it, and then someone else would do the thing I was just thinking and it would “kill,” and I realized if I trusted my instincts and did the thing myself, it was gonna be great. Playing with those people forced me to trust that I could add something to this show and it made me become a better, faster, and more confident improviser. So I guess trusting in my idea of what’s funny and knowing I can trust in my teammates’ ideas, too. I hope that I’ve been able to pass some of that onto the more recent folks who’ve been in the group with me, because they’re all so funny. I think you pick up stuff from everyone you play with, and I hope a little bit of my improv DNA sticks around with them.

WIT: What’s next? Will you continue improvising?

Matt: I sure hope so! I’m looking forward to having some time without Monday night rehearsals and maybe getting to make some weekend evening plans, but I doubt this is the last you’ll see of me. First, I’m gonna spend a little time with my family and then I’ll see what sort of new creative possibilities bubble up. It’d be fun to do some improv *without* songs, you know?

Watch Matt talk about why he has been a longtime WIT donor.