Interview: Cat Savage of COMEDIAN RHAPSODY at Davidson Theatre

Comedian Cat Savage holds three degrees. She earned degrees in gender studies and history from Brown University. She also graduated from Second City Training Center’s Conservatory and Severn Darden Graduate Program.

Savage said it’s equally difficult to make the grade at both institutions.

“You’re definitely getting graded at both,” said Savage, who comes to Columbus as part of Second City’s COMEDIAN RHAPSODY Nov. 17 at the Davidson Theatre (located in the Riffe Center at 77 S. High in downtown Columbus).

“I’d probably say Brown was more rigorous, but the fear attached to improv and getting up on stage in front of an audience for the first time was unlike anything I experienced at Brown.”

Savage will display the skills she developed in Chicago as part of a six-person troupe in COMEDIAN RHAPSODY, which features Second City’s world famous comedic sketches and improvisions at the Davidson.

Comedy was not on Savage’s career path when she was growing up. Everyone considered her mother Carol To be the funny one of the family.

“My mom is one of 11 children, so a sharp wit was a necessary survival tactic to be heard in her family,” she said. “She passed that down to our family.

“I didn't think I was particularly funny until I studied in Morocco. That country had a completely different culture. Humor was as a way I dealt with things socially and as I sought ways to connect with people.”

Savage might be giving lectures or doing research in her field if it weren’t for a class, she took at Brown her junior year.

“I wasn’t a theater kid and I had never done theater before,” she said. “I took it on a whim, and I loved it.

“We did improv games as warm-ups and exercises in that class. I gravitated towards it. My teacher connected me with someone from Second City and I decided to come out to Chicago for two weeks and take improv and sketch writing classes.”

After those two weeks, Savage knew what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. If this were a movie script, her parents, Paul and Carol Savage, would have pleaded with her to pursue a job within her two majors.

In real life, things went much smoother than that.

“I’ve always been a very practical person, and obviously, pursuing a career in comedy is not the practical career in terms of financial security,” Savage said in a telephone interview from Orlando.

“My parents were much more supportive than you’d think. They were of the opinion if you don’t try this now, you’re going to regret not trying the rest of your life.”

Savage came to an agreement with her parents. She was going to move out to the Windy City for a year, and if she didn’t like it, she would move back east and go from there.

That was over six years ago. Savage has never left Chicago.

All it took was one selfie to prove to her parents she was in the right place.

“When we finished the show, and the director came backstage and said ‘Great job. Do you want to meet Martin Short?’ So that was quite a shock.

“It was cool to connect with someone who has done this job. I sent my parents a picture of me with Martin Short at 2 a.m. The next day, I woke up to all kinds of calls and texts.”

Short is just one of the comedic legends that journeyed through Second City doors. Movie and TV stars Dan Castellaneta, Keegan-Michael Key, Catherine O’Hara, Joan Rivers, and Jason Sudeikis, SNL standouts, John Belushi, Chris Farley, Tina Fey, Bill Murray, Mike Myers, Amy Poehler, and Gilda Radner, SCTV alumni John Candy and Eugene Levy, and THE DAILY SHOW graduates Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert are among a multitude of Second City personnel.

Savage climbed the banana peel strewn rungs of the comedic ladder one step at a time. She went from being a student to being a teacher. Five years ago, she became a performer and last year she joined the touring company.

Perseveration and observation are two of the most important items a comedian should have in his or her toolbox.

“So much of what I've learned through comedy and especially improv, is to learn how to embrace failure,” Savage said. “You're guaranteed to fail at least once in a show. Learning to enjoy that as part of the process has been the number one thing to keep me going.”

The second strength she has is being a people watcher. Whenever she goes out, she makes comfort note of the strangers around her.

“Listening to the people around you in an everyday setting is so important,” Savage said. “There are characters all around you and things you can be commenting on from a satirical point of view.

“You also need listen to any of your ensemble members what they're contributing so you can create something that’s interesting together.”

Savage said Columbus should expect to see a show that is one part SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE, one part WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY, and all parts funny.

The comedian said she is not sure which one is harder: the rehearsed material or the improvisational stuff.

“It depends on the day,” she said. “With the skits, you memorize lines and deal with props. Improv is dependent on connecting with the audience. We must make sure we’re really connecting with the crowd and tailoring our performance to them.”

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