Jessica Mckenna: A Musical Twist on Improv Comedy

    Jessica McKenna is an actor, sketch writer, improv comedian, and more from Southern California. After receiving her Bachelor's degree in Theatre from Northwestern University she later moved to Los Angeles where she joined the Upright Citizens Brigade, where she still regularly performs today with the improv teams Magic to Do and and Baby Wants Candy. It was here that she met her comedic partner Zach Reino in 2011, and six years later they started the podcast "Off Book" together. 

    On "Off Book: The Improvised Musical Podcast", McKenna and Reino invite a guest every episode and together they improvise a musical on the spot- no scripts or plans before recording, just a conversation at the beginning to spark ideas. Accompanying them are pianist Scott Passarella and producer/drummer Dana Wickens who provide the soundtracks. The show demonstrates amazing talent, covers a wide variety of genres and topics, and doesn't always make sense but is so charming and fun that it doesn't need to. 

    As if that isn't impressive enough already, McKenna is also a regular on the streaming service Dropout, where she makes appearances on a variety of shows that allow her to further showcase her improv and musical talents. One such show is "Make Some Noise", where the host Sam Reich gives players different wacky prompts to act out, like a Sorting Hat who's also a mean girl or the weird cellmate in the corner joining in for Cellblock Tango (both real prompts Jess has done on the show before). 

    Another prime example is "Play It By Ear", a spinoff of the "Game Changer" episode "Official Cast Recording" that is similar to "Off Book" in its premise and zany charm. McKenna, Reino, and one to two guests act out a musical on a stage while fulfilling prompts given by the show's host Mano Agapion. The format of a television show as opposed to a podcast also allows for simple blocking and choreography that adds a new dimension of entertainment. 

    In his book Culture Care, Makoto Fujimura compares culture to an ecosystem; no man is an island, and we are all connected to each other through the groups we belong to and how we interact with them. A thriving ecosystem is diverse and abundant, and a healthy culture should be the same. Jessica McKenna embodies this idea very well because of how much she collaborates with others and the variety of people she works with. She has mentioned frequently in interviews about "Off Book" that there aren't many people who can both do comedy and perform on Broadway- most guests fall into either one of those two categories. "I think I'm interested in having all kinds of guests; it keeps the variety of the show and keeps us fresh," McKenna said in an interview with Crossfader Magazine from 2018. "It's obviously fun and sometimes easier to play with friends or people that really share our improv background but it's also exciting to try and push beyond our comfort zone...I don't think 'Off Book' would be 'Off Book' with just one time of guest."