November Player(s) of the Month: Tom and Tanya Quinn

Tom and Tanya Quinn are one of the many couples that play together at ComedySportz. They live together in Heber, Utah and have been doing improv comedy for a combined total of 11 years! We sat down with them for a minute and asked some emotionally sundering questions.

Tom

Player Since: March 2001

Day Job: Ferrier (horse shoer)

Hometown: Heber City, Utah

Favorite thing about CSz: the Sat. 12:00 a.m. show

When no one is looking you like to: start fights with smaller, weaker guys and kick them between the legs when they’re not looking either.

Biggest Influences: the little devil and little angel on my shoulder

Best Advice for People Who want to learn improv: While performing, never admit mistakes. After the show, fess up and learn from all of them.

Tanya

Player Since: 2004

Day Job: Cook

Hometown: Bakersfield, CA

Fav thing about CSz: The audience; I love performing when people are there.

Who is your hero/heroine? Dorothy Gale. She went all the way over that rainbow.

Where would you like to vacation and why? Yosemite, every time.

Tanya

How did you get involved with improv?

I have always loved the stage. When I was little I would stand up on the fireplace and demand the room’s attention. My goal was to command it, but I would settle for demanding. I never grew out of it. I performed with a high school improv troop and then began a theatre degree.

Tom

You left CSz Utah for a while, what's the story behind that?

We moved to Jackson Hole for a year to work on the river and to start an improv club of our own.

Tanya

What scares you about performing?

What if, while in the middle of a really funny scene, I get a paper cut and the vampires in the audience all attack me?

Tom

Is there a difference between Provo crowds and other audiences you've performed for?

They all look the same in the dark. I don’t like to look at the audience during a show, I have nervous bladder syndrome.

Tom

What is your favorite game and why?

Patty Cake, because everybody wins.

Tom

Name an embarrassing moment you had at CSz.

I once demanded that a man in the back of the room stand up and be recognized as one of the judges. He refused, and when I said that he must, several people in the audience let me know that the man was in a wheel chair.

Tanya

Women+Improv Comedy=What?

36X24X36

Both

What's it like performing with so much family: Pat, Ben, and each other?

It’s like our family reunion every time. There’s the awkwardness as we try to catch up; food, a lot of food; and Ben always ends up with his shirt off rubbing his belly.

Tanya

What is an area you wished you were better in--improv wise (gibberish, guessing, singing)?

Makin’ stuff up.

Either

When did you guys meet? Whats your love story, in essence?

I met Tanya while looking for a different girl at an apartment complex. Ever since that night we’ve been emotionally married, technically married too, but we don’t put too much weight on out-dated conventions like marriage or women’s rights.