Terrificon is returning to the Mohegan Sun Expo Center in Uncasville on July 29, 30 and 31 and will feature comic book artists and writers, Q&A sessions, a costume contest for cosplayers, over 350 comic, toy and art vendors — even a kid-friendly convention within the convention.
Also appearing is Phil LaMarr, a cast member on the Fox sketch comedy series Mad TV, and the voice and personality behind a number of animated characters.
Ahead of his appearance, LaMarr talked to CT Examiner about his connection to Connecticut, his path from improv to voice acting, and how the two relate, and his current involvement in a Sherlock Holmes series.
RD: When you attended Yale, you helped found the improv comedy group Purple Crayon which is still in operation today. What inspired you to get into improv? Was it Saturday Night Live, Monty Python, stand-up comedy, or something else?
PL: Actually, Yale was my introduction to improv. A friend of mine, Eric Berg, was from Chicago, we did plays together and then one summer he was in Chicago taking classes at Second City and with Del Close at ImprovOlympic. Then he came back that fall saying “Hey guys! You guys wanna do some improv?!!!” and we were all like “Um…what? Ok, sure. Why not?”. This little grouping of theater pals turned into a decades-long running institution and not only did it help change the entertainment world at the university, it definitely changed all of us. Being in your early 20s and being introduced to the philosophy of improv shows that life is about collaboration and agreement, that’s how you achieve things.
If you do that together, you can make up amazing stuff of your own without ever having to think it through and that just blew my mind. The interesting thing…