Musical Improvisor Stacey Smith: "Improv makes everyone a better human"
Stacey Smith is the consummate comedienne. With two decades of comedy under her belt, she is currently a mainstage cast member and the Director of Education at the world famous Boom Chicago Theater in Amsterdam. She was the original creative director for their annual comedy festival which is currently running through July 6th.
The Long Island native's career spans a tenure at Chicago improv starmaker, Second City. Although Smith missed out on a role on Saturday Night Live after three auditions, the musical improviser can proudly say she has made 67 appearances at 25 international improv festivals, often as a headliner, taking her to countries near and far.
Stacey brought her explosive energy to the Dam Yankee podcast, in partnership with NL Times, to discuss improvising through grief, how performing comedy makes everyone a better person, and what is was like to live and work on cruise ships in her twenties.
Dam Yankee: In the last six years, you've gone from living in Chicago to moving out here with your boyfriend. You went through the COVID pandemic in a completely new environment in a new city where you barely knew anybody. You and your boyfriend split up. COVID came to an end. Your mom passed away. You're in a new relationship now. How much has performing helped you through this time?
Stacey Smith: I mean, it's been a heavy six years. Grief is forever. It doesn't get easier—don't believe anything anyone tells you. But you do learn to cope with it. The tools become easier, and you learn more ways to deal with it. But I didn't want to go on stage, and it wasn't because I was going to cry through every single show. It just felt like, for me, it's so important as a perfectionist, I'm such a Virgo. I'm there to make people laugh. And if I'm not fully myself, I feel like that's unfair to the audience. That's just a personal thing, not for everyone, but it is for me.
Boom was a big support system, and even being off stage, I was still teaching here and there. My students gave me a lot of energy. Teaching gives me energy because you can see people experiencing that spark of joy for the first time.
Also, my partner had lost his mom a year before I did, before we even started dating. So I already had that support network—someone who had gone through it and had tools and could see me through it.
All of those things combined helped. I always say that performing is very therapeutic, but it's not therapy. I want to be very clear that it's not a replacement for therapy. It can be dangerous when people think it is. But yes, it is very therapeutic to be on stage, and I felt very welcomed every time I returned.
DY: It sounds like performing comedy professionally informs your personal life.
SS: I firmly believe that improv makes everyone a better human. It's scientifically and statistically proven. Humor in general does something important for us—it's a release, especially with everything going on in the world. Comedy is so important.
The yes, and mentality has really helped me personally. It’s pushed me to dive into things I might never have tried and to experience new things. That mindset is what brought me all over the world doing comedy. Someone would reach out to me from Sofia, Bulgaria, and I’d think, I don’t know anything about Sofia, but yes, I’ll go. It became a totally new learning experience where I could take in information from a culture I knew nothing about.
Having yes, and in my life has helped me exponentially—not just as a comedian, but in everyday life. It helps in conversations, getting out of awkward small talk, especially at the bar in Boom Chicago after shows. It really has shaped who I am.
DY: You’ve performed comedy in all sorts of environments, including cruise ships. What was that like?
SS: It's either the best or the worst job in the world—and it really depends on your mindset. At Second City, the famous comedy theater in Chicago, there used to be a partnership with Norwegian Cruise Lines. That partnership no longer exists, but I did two cruises through it.
There are two kinds of ships: one that does two or three shows a week, and one that does 15 shows a week. I was on the one that did 15. As a comedian, getting paid while having no expenses—just saving money and performing 15 shows a week—it was the greatest job ever.
Of course, there were challenges. Half of the cast lives below sea level. There are strange international maritime laws, and you have to do safety training. I "died" in a fake fire during mine, for example. It’s also challenging to live in the same space as your castmates for four months at a time. But despite all of that, we got to see the world.
Stacey has retired her sea legs and peacefully calls the Dutch village of Zeist home now. Though you can often still catch her on Boom’s stage. And if you’re feeling brave? She can teach even teach you her tricks! Boom Chicago offers improv classes year round. Who knows… it might just make you a better person.
Listen to this entire episode of Dam Yankee wherever you get your podcasts, or watch the full videos on YouTube. Stacey goes on to dish about being interviewed for 60 minutes and what drew her to the Netherlands in the first place.
