Not-So-D.C. Jobs: Meet an improv theater director
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Photo illustration: Axios Visuals. Photos: Washington Improv Theater
The latest installment of our Not-So-D.C. Jobs series features Mark Chalfant, Washington Improv Theater's (WIT) artistic and executive director.
How it started: Twenty years ago, Chalfant was working at the International Monetary Fund and started doing improv workshops.
- Back then, WIT was an all-volunteer organization. But when the time came for its first employee, Chalfant raised his hand.
- "I was young enough and risky enough to be like, 'Well, I'll try it.'"
☀️ A typical day: Behind-the-scenes work to boost the improv scene in D.C.
- That could mean scheduling classes, finding performance spaces, or meeting with the group's board of directors and funders. And sometimes he leads a class or improv group himself.
🎉 Fun fact: He performs musical theater improv with a group called iMusical.
‼️ The intrigue: The D.C. improv scene is unique in that most performers aren't trying to make it on, say, "Saturday Night Live," like in Los Angeles or New York, Chalfant tells Axios.
- Instead, improv is usually a way for D.C. workaholics to "reconnect to the idea of playfulness and joy."
- This also makes the local improv community more supportive and less competitive, he adds.
Plus: Chalfant hears from comedians that D.C. audiences are smarter than others. "They like their stuff a little brainer, a little headier."
✅ Reality check: Improv is about more than making jokes — it's an exercise in imagination, listening, and empathy.
- "A big part of improvisation is trying to find ways to say yes to things instead of saying no," he says. "Improv gives you a different perspective on how you move through life."
💗 Fave part of his job: "Getting to help people see other parts of themselves that they might not."
💪 Advice for strivers: If you want to work in the arts nonprofit world, have a service mentality.
- "At all times, you've got to be serving somebody, whether it's the artists, the audience, the students."
