As auditioning actors are aware, it can be difficult to go in and read a page of dialogue that’s been heard by the casting directors 20 times before you, and still leave a lasting impression.
What makes your reading of the line stand out among everyone else’s? For improv extraordinaire and TV personality Jonathan Mangum, a regular on the CW’s “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” and CBS’s “Let’s Make a Deal,” the answer is simple.
“I think I have the best way to read a script,” he says. “I’m convinced my way is the best way and here’s what it is: I’m married to a casting director. And also…I’ve found that if you come in there and change a line or add a line or a joke, they’re just happy to hear something different. Sometimes I’m sure that’s backfired for me, but most of the time, I think it comes off pretty well. Don’t try and read the room. Don’t try to figure out what they want. Decide what you’re gonna do, go in there, give them a big bold choice, and if it’s wrong, at least you went in there and committed to the way you’re gonna do it.”
Mangum, who had had no extensive background in the world of comedy and improv, was welcomed to perform with a comedy group onstage while working at Walt Disney World in college. After admittedly being terrible at it, Mangum got better quickly because he was thrown right in, surrounded by people who were better than him, and learned from them. It didn’t take him too long to find his expertise in short-form comedic improv, however, while he’s also managed to maintain a busy career over the years on TV shows including “The Drew Carey Show,” “Just Shoot Me,” and “Pushing Daisies,” and in films such as “The Bucket List.”
Mangum chats with Backstage about auditions, keeping busy, and his experience on “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”
On how improv skills influence auditioning.
Mangum wants to work as much as he can, and there’s not much he won’t audition for, utilizing his improv experience with every chance he gets. Embracing the skills himself, he feels all actors can have an advantage by wielding improv instincts. Those who are so focused on getting the lines just right in a reading and overly anticipating what comes next may find themselves frozen when something unexpected happens in the room.
“You can’t do that in improv,” he says, “because in a real improv scene, you don’t know what the person’s gonna say. You can’t prepare your answer. Getting ready to audition, it’s great because you can just listen to what they’re saying much better. The best auditions I’ve had happened when something goes wrong. One time a picture fell off the wall right in the middle of an audition and I immediately made reference to it and pulled that into the story of what was happening [on the page]. So I pray for things to go wrong because that’s when true listening pays off. You can adjust instantly and it’s always impressive to people, I think.”
On “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”
Referring to it as the “Holy Land” for short-form improvisers, Mangum wasn’t able to just walk right onto the highly popular comedy show, which has spanned three decades. In fact, his journey was an arduous one.
“It’s real easy to be on the show,” he says. “Here’s how you do it: You do improv every weekend of your life from the age 19 to the age 44, you audition eight times and get turned down all of those times, and then you become best friends with the star of the show [Wayne Brady]. With those three easy steps, anyone can get on!”
Mangum had been trying to get on the show ever since he heard about it, never being chosen despite surviving a majority of the grueling, all-day auditions and standing among the final round of four people. However, as luck would have it, he was able to work with the show’s executive producer, Dan Patterson, who saw that Mangum had a natural knack for this style of performance. After 20 years of trying to get on the show, the performers now finds himself part of the exclusive cast.
When it comes to the importance of being able to work well with others, Mangum says that it’s crucial. “It’s all about the team,” he says. “You all know your roles and it becomes really good year after year after year of working with the same group. In fact, I believe you can take the best, funniest guy from five different groups and put them all together, and it wouldn’t be as good as when they’re in their original groups, because part of what makes something so good is they’re so attune to one another. All-star sports games are the same thing. Yeah, it’s always fun, but it’s never as good as the [original] team that’s worked so hard together to know their roles.”
On advice for actors considering improv.
“It’s a great training tool,” Mangum says, “and you don’t have to worry that you’re not good at it or you’re not quick enough or not fast enough. When I started, I was terrible and I was terrible for a thousand shows. You’re gonna get better at it. It’s great. It gets you in the moment. Don’t be afraid. It’s fun and you’re gonna have a great time. I don’t know anyone in the history of the planet who’s said that they went and did improv and had a bad time. I’ve never met that person.”
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