Today we’d like to introduce you to Maria Liatis.
Hi Maria, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I knew I wanted to become a star the moment I delivered the most poignant lines in my elementary school play as Deer #4, “Thank you for listening to our story…about how you took away our territory,” which followed our hit song “Oh My Deer!” Performing in that show in second grade, wearing a full-body brown leotard and antlers, was the moment my life changed forever.
Ok, it probably wasn’t that show, but that’s the first actual performance I remember doing other than the musical performances my sister and I would put on for my parents and their giant nineties camcorder. I personally believe we made Xuxa proud with our self-produced music videos of “Ilarie.”
The point is, I loved playing making believe and I loved watching movies. It’s as simple as that.
To make a long story short (since I’m pretty sure I’ve told this story before and I’m somewhat of a job hoarder): I graduated summa cum laude (thank you!) with a BA degree in Theatre from the University of Georgia; I signed with People Store, who I’m still partially represented by 15 years later, and now Carol Shaginaw Talent Agency; I was an apprentice at the Shakespeare Tavern, which was an amazing experience where I got to work and perform for the theatre; I worked as an assistant and acting coach at The Actor’s Scene, where I was able to grow as an educator; I started recording audiobooks thanks to a good friend of mine, Casey Holloway, who introduced me to that wonderful world; I launched my production company Cart Reel Films, which specializes in creating original footage for actors to use for their demo reels; I became a part of the Sketchworks Comedy Theatre ensemble, where I learned that comedy is a great way to deal with anxiety and overcome stage fright; and eventually, in 2019, I became the Education Director for Sketchworks Comedy.
Ok, now that I’ve pretty much caught you up, we may continue.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Bah! Is it ever a smooth road? I think our biggest struggles as artists is our own self-doubt and that constantly nagging imposter syndrome. I mean, I played Deer #4…out of four deer. Why wasn’t I good enough to play #1 or #2 or even #3?! What was I lacking?! I will never know. And second grade will forever be a disappointment in my past.
Ok, fine, I’m sort of joking. But that general feeling is a constant internal battle for anyone who puts themselves out there artistically. There’s an unfortunate sense of competition with each other, and even though we are inspired by and proud of other people’s accomplishments, we can’t help but compare ourselves and always wonder what was wrong with us. If there’s someone out there who doesn’t ever feel even a tiny bit this way, then they must be the most Zen person in the world and I envy them. See, there’s that jealousy coming out again!
Truly, though, it’s a tough industry. You need to be willing to spend money without the assurance that you will ever make it back. You need to be willing to have other jobs to supplement your income. You need to be able to handle constant rejection. You need to constantly be training, marketing yourself, and auditioning. You need to put a lot in – your money, your time, yourself – and accept that what you get in return may not be what you expect.
I’m sure this sounds like a huge downer. Welp, sorry, not sorry.
I’m kidding! I do have some positive advice for those who are looking to join the industry or who are in the industry and struggling. Struggles are part of it. You just need to accept that. And that will be your biggest struggle. So, instead of wondering why I wasn’t Deer #3 or #2 or #1, instead I’ll look back at that time fondly and remember how fun the whole experience was. Instead of wasting my energy wondering why I was on hold for a gig only to then be released, I’ll focus on my next audition. I’ll do the work and continue my training so that my performances are always at their best. I’ll go see a show with the intention of being inspired because I know those performers will appreciate the support and my compliments because I understand their struggles. So, the way to overcome those internal struggles is by focusing on your intentions. The more you do it, the easier it becomes.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Sketchworks Comedy?
As I mentioned, I am the Education Director for Sketchworks Industrial Strength Comedy, created after a group of same-minded “Cog-heads” decided Atlanta was in desperate need of a comedy theatre. Sketchworks made its debut in 2001 with original Cogs like Jen Kelley, Brian Bremer, Mike Stiles, Jeffrey Umberger, and Greg Behrens. According to them, back then, the shows would last as long as they wanted and would be more a variety-style comedy shows. Audiences loved it and thus, the theatre grew and started including comedy training for adults and kids as well as filmed content. In 2015, the original owners moved on and handed the reins over to cast members Brian Troxell and Julie Shaer who became the new Sketchworks Co-Producers. This brings us to present day.
We specialize in sketch comedy, which is scripted, short-form material generally performed in front of a live audience, like Saturday Night Live. This has nothing to do with drawing. It is not improv, which is UN-scripted. And we do not teach stand-up. Sorry, we get these questions a lot.
Something about Sketchworks that I am super proud of and that I believe sets us apart is our focus on the theatrical quality of our shows. Unless you are Saturday Night Live and performing on NBC in front of millions of people, sketch comedy performances tend to be trimmed down with light props, minimal costume changes, and basic audio or visual effects. On the other hand, our goal is to put on a fully polished show for our audiences. We are not afraid of a full-on costume change from an 80-year-old female aerobics instructor to a middle-aged businessman with only a 1-minute video playing in between (I see you, Summer McCusker). For each show, our writer’s group meets with the directors to provide original sketches. Our rehearsal process mimics those of any professional theatre. Every aspect of the show is carefully planned out, including the music that plays between each sketch. We do serious comedy here people!
Speaking of serious, did you know that we were in the middle of a lawsuit with the shareholders of Grease? That’s right. We were set to perform our hit show “Vape the Musical” in New York when we were issued a cease and desist. Thus began a long legal battle, which finally ended in our favor thanks to our right to parody! I was already super proud of getting to be a part of that hilarious show, but I was even more proud that our little theatre beat the big man. We won this lawsuit because of the amazing fight our Co-Producers Julie and Brian, our writers John D. Babcock III, Catie Hogan, Leanna Adams, and our Director Casey Holloway put up. And we are celebrating our win by relaunching the show. So be sure to come see the first run of our updated show in October at the Village Theatre.
As our theatre continues to grow, our goal is to be recognized as a comedy theatre, not just a sketch comedy theatre. For this reason, our education department is focused on providing training for the general art of comedy. We strongly believe actors reap many benefits when they learn the basics of comedy. For example, while we are not considered an improv theatre since we don’t perform it for an audience, our classes are heavily infused with improv exercises, providing students with active listening skills, learning how to think quickly on their feet, and trusting their instincts. In comedy, comedic timing and being believable are extremely important. Mastering these two challenging skills and other technical skills will in turn improve an actor’s dramatic performance. Plus, the confidence gained in being able to play the fool has certainly helped me book many a commercial. Because who doesn’t love a funny commercial?!
Training talent starting at age 4, we provide a variety of classes with a focus on comedy, of course. Our Sketch Comedy Acting classes focus on character development, comedic timing, improv, physicality and vocality, and stage performance. Our Sketch Comedy Writing classes provide students with the opportunity to work in a writer’s group, learn script formatting and develop original sketches. Our Sketchworks Kids and Teens Summer Camp programs basically combine the acting and writing classes into a two-week intensive that ends in a live show (which is why I am always kind of jealous of the campers). Occasionally, we will provide workshops that focus on improv or social media content creation or a refresher of comedy basics. We also provide one-on-one private lessons from acting, writing, filming, and editing for comedy. As you can see, education is very important to us as Sketchworks. We want to contribute to the development of our local comedic talent.
We even provide special exclusive offers for our Cogs since we want to make sure they are always staying on top of their game. Once our students officially become part of the ensemble, other benefits of being a Cog include getting to perform or write for our mainstage shows. We also film video sketches throughout the year. Our most recent sketch “The New Princess” has already been Officially Selected for the Summer in the South and Austin Comedy Film Festivals. Plus, as I mentioned before with “Vape the Musical,” we will occasionally take our successful shows on the road and perform in sketch comedy festivals and at theatres in other states, like Asheville, NC or New Orleans, LA or New York City, NY. We continue to work on growing this exposure for our talented writers and actors.
Our coaches, Sanna Erica, Kirsten Krehbiel, John D. Babcock III and Tom von Dohlen, are all working professionals in the industry. Our actors work in the local film and television industry, businesses will contract our writers for gigs, and several of our Cogs produce their own content. Many of our coaches are also directors and coaches at other studios. Are we jealous and want to keep these talented beings to ourselves? I mean, sort of. But mostly, we fully support our ensemble to spread their wings, learn, grow, dabble in Nascar racing or whatever they wanna do. Because our Cogs make us look good, and we want to make our Cogs look good.
Atlanta’s comedy scene may not be as big as the one in LA, Chicago, or New York, but it’s growing. More and more comedy theatre and sketch comedy groups have sprung up. And there is some amazing talent! One day, I truly hope and believe that we will be standing in the middle of the beltline handing out little flyers to people saying, “Hey! Free comedy show! Two drink minimum!” It may not be today or tomorrow, but someday. This will be us. And that day, we will know we have finally made it.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Well, again, as I said, I became the Education Director for Sketchworks Comedy in October of 2019… the end of 2019! You know what that means.
Becoming the Education Director for a theatre right before a pandemic hit definitely brought up some challenges. How about the fact that we couldn’t perform any live shows? Or how about the fact that our acting classes with a focus on stage performances needed to go virtual? Or how about the fact that without anything being produced, there was nothing for me to use to promote what we do to then find students?
We were pretty stagnant for a while, and then we just started to try different things. Thankfully we had nothing to lose. For once, it was a blessing that we don’t have a physical theatre anymore. Currently, we rent space from other theatres to perform our shows, which allows us to be able to bring our classes and shows to different communities.
However, we still needed to make a living and bring some money in. We needed to keep our theatre running and relevant. And, oh yeah, remember that lawsuit I mentioned? Well, that was happening at the time as well.
Thankfully, because our Sketchworks writers group already meets virtually to accommodate for certain writers that live out of the state, even out of the country (Hi Prachi Singh in India!), launching our writing classes exclusively on Zoom was a no-brainer. Our writing classes were able to stay consistent and bring in more talent to our pool.
However, the summer camps and acting classes were a little trickier. For one of our summer camps, we decided to get creative and split the camp into different types of sessions that focused on either acting or writing or film/editing. We kept our classes small and much shorter than we would have for our normal camps. We also offered special discounts to promote multiple sign-ups.
Thankfully, our acting coach Sanna Erica was brilliant in realizing that this was the perfect time to launch workshops that focused on Social Media Content Creation/Brand Marketing and Uta Hagen’s Seven Questions, which focuses on developing characters from the inside out. That’s right, psychological character work is the secret to Zoom acting classes! Ha!
Well, we definitely learned a lot about what worked and what didn’t work, and we were incredibly lucky in the end that after everything, we are still here! The pandemic was the reason we launched our one-on-one private coaching sessions. These sessions are done virtually and allow for intimate coaching and critique in acting, writing, and filming/editing. The latter being yet another new class that was introduced because of the pandemic. If we’re going to be on our computers anyway, then why not learn the basics of editing?
Another development that came out because of the pandemic was our weekly Sketchworks NewsBrake, a news spoof show. I desperately needed content for our social media accounts to bring in a virtual audience since in-person audiences were a no-go; thus, the weekly Sketchworks NewsBrake videos began. Technically, NewsBrake was already around before this; it was a segment during our mainstage sketch comedy shows. However, this was the first time the show would be filmed and released weekly. Hosted by Brian Troxell, with correspondents Allie O’Neill, Tim Millard, and John D. Babcock III, with contributions from other Cog writers as well, NewsBrake has been pumping out content since February 18, 2020, and produced over 100 videos. How many jokes is that? No idea. But it’s a lot.
What we learned during the pandemic is that it is incredibly important to create a community of talented, hard-working, supportive, and generous people. We were able to make it through the pandemic thanks to the continuous efforts, flexibility, and ingenuity of our coaches and writers.
Pricing:
- Intro to Sketch Comedy Acting $275
- Intro to Sketch Comedy Writing $150
- Advanced Sketch Comedy Acting $450
- Advanced Sketch Comedy Writing $200
- Kids and Teens Two-Week Summer Camps $1000
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sketchworkscomedy.com www.sketchworkskids.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sketchworkscomedy/ https://www.instagram.com/sketchworkskids/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sketchworkscomedy https://www.facebook.com/SketchworksKids/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sketchworks-comedy
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sketchworks
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/sketchworks
- Other: www.marialiatis.com
