Crate and Shipped to Chicago

By JUSTIN PORRECA
Sports Editor

The daunting, frigid temperature, which was below 20 degrees, was the only factor that could have been a damper on the momentous, life-changing moment for one communications student from The College of Saint Rose.
It was 6:44 a.m. on Thursday morning as I sat in my toasty 2002 Toyota Camry in the parking lot of Albany International Airport with beads of sweat forming on my brow and drenching my Hanes x-temp undershirt. I was patiently waiting for the inevitable text message saying that she was at the airport… ping. “If you want to head over now I am just parking,” it read. I packed up my camera and notes, drifted into the arctic early morning environment and headed for the airport terminal where I would meet up with her and her mother.
As usual, Katie Klimacek had a sunny demeanor as she approached, yet it was disguised behind a blank expression. It was noticeable that the emotions of the moment were running through her yet she’s been adamant in saying that it still hadn’t hit her that she was going to Chicago for four months. No family or friends around. Just living her comedic dreams at the world’s premier comedy, theatre and improv school.
Second City, set in the Windy City, is the name, and improv, sketch and even stand-up is the game. She applied to attend the very school that the likes of Keegan-Michael Key (2001), Tina Fey (1996), Stephen Colbert (1993) and Steve Carell (1991) all attended. Klimacek tore open her acceptance letter on Nov.10 and her comedic dreams were then sitting in the palm of her hands in the form of a neatly printed letter.
However, if it weren’t for an eventful spring semester during her freshman year, this opportunity along with her other comedic endeavors would never have come to fruition.
Two years earlier, the 2014 spring semester, attending Second City and getting acclimated with a new environment was the least of Klimacek’s worries. Chasing her comedic dreams through the art of improv, sketch and stand-up was.
“I would say it [improv] is probably the hardest form of comedy. I’ve done stand up and I think it’s way harder than stand up. The reason being because a lot of people think because it’s all made up on the spot, yeah it’s all made up on the spot, but you have to get to a certain point to be able to make stuff up on the spot,” Klimacek said. “You need to know how people are going to react in order for there to be a well cohesive scene and structure and if you don’t have that then you have a really dumpy scene, so it is really hard.”
English 287, an improv class taught by professor Kenneth Krauss at The College of Saint Rose, was where it all began for Klimacek. Halfway through the spring semester of her freshman year she had asked him if there was an improv troupe on campus. Unfortunately, Krauss had to be the bearer of bad news and inform her that there had previously been a troupe, but not currently, meaning Klimacek would have to start her own. Thus, with the help of a graduate student, Crate of Apes was born.
She considers the troupe to be her baby, because she’s been involved since its inception. She initially brought in two of the officers and a majority of the original improvisers, a year later she became the events coordinator, and then this year she was the troupe leader. She relinquished her position as troupe leader to sophomore Kyle Pratt because of her opportunity with Second City. However, if it weren’t for Klimacek, Pratt would have never joined the comedy club.
“Katie was my connection to Crate of Apes. I had done some improv in high school and participated in some classes with a local improv company, but when I came to Saint Rose, I had no clue there was a comedy club,” he said. “I met Katie and through her making me aware of the club, I started going to rehearsals and am now her replacement troupe leader while she’s in Chicago.”
Klimacek will undoubtedly miss her troupe while she is away in Chicago, but she will also miss professor Krauss, who has made a series of impacts on her life as both a student and an aspiring improv actor or sketch comedian.
“I definitely credit him for my current success, without a doubt. If it wasn’t for his improv class I would not be as confident with improv as I currently am. I would not know about Chicago,” she said. “Anything that has happened since spring of freshman year to now would not have happened if I did not take his class and if I did not culminate in such a great relationship with him.”
This past semester she did an independent study with him, the topic being writing for stage and screen. One of her projects for him consisted of a Saturday Night Live opening skit featuring Nick Offerman. Before the independent study there was the improv class, English 287, where it all began. Since that very class, Krauss has watched Klimacek blossom as an improv actor in all the opportunities that have come her way.
“She taught me more about improv and I taught her more about teaching it to others. The last time I saw her on stage, with a subset of The Mop and Bucket Company, she was confident, quick, and affirmative with her partners,” he said. “She has come such a long way. Nobody can throw her a curve ball that she can’t bat out of the park. Her willingness to risk and share on stage makes her exceptional.”
That very improv class also paved the way for Klimacek to land at the other improv troupe she performed with, Sorry Not Sorry.
In Krauss’ improv class, Klimacek and her fellow classmates were required to go and review an improv show. With four or five of her fellow classmates, she traveled to Schenectady to see Mop and Bucket perform.
She was blown away by the experience.
In an interview with the director of Mop and Bucket, Michael Burns, for an article about Crate of Apes, she inquired about opportunities to get into a troupe like Mop and Bucket. He told her that they hold auditions, but very rarely, so she gave him her email to contact her when they do have auditions.
At the end of freshman year she received an email from Burns about auditions.
Klimacek auditioned and thrived. She made it to call backs and thrived once again. She finally made it into the full company, or the professional company, which is the group of improvisers that perform for Mop and Bucket on Friday night’s at Proctors Theatre. Unfortunately, due to scheduling constraints, she was unable to perform with them, but she still stayed on and performed with the student group.
In this student group Klimacek was the youngest by about ten years, but she met Laci Lee, the co-founder of the improv troupe, Sorry Not Sorry, and she brought Klimacek in and that troupe was created shortly after.
“As soon as I met her, I was drawn to her and I knew I wanted to improvise with her. The only thing that Katie needs to remember is that she is a strong lady and has so much to bring to her scenes,” Lee said.
Like Krauss, Lee has watched Klimacek blossom as an improvisational actor. Her, along with the other founder of Sorry Not Sorry, Adam O’Connor, have been blown away by Klimacek’s improv skills and her genuine likable aura.
“I think Katie’s confidence has grown immensely since being part of SNS. Confidence in her choices within scenes, and confidence in her scene partner. She is a pleasure to be around. She lights up a room,” said O’Connor. “She makes every party better, even though she is most likely late for it. If Katie continues to be the person I know she is she will succeed at whatever she wants to do, no doubt.”
With Klimacek, she’s been like this since she was a young girl. Always able to make any situation presented before her into a comical adventure.
Klimacek grew up in New Hartford, New York with her older brother, mother and father. She grew up in an older family setting. Her parents got married when they were older and the majority of people she spent her time with as a child were predominantly older. She is actually grateful for this because she has an “older” mindset and it has helped her in her improv game as well.
“To say that I am a little bit more mature for my age in the sense of how to communicate with adults and what not I think that I am, I mean I am not mature in other senses, but I do think that for a 20-year-old, I definitely have the mindset of a 45-year-old,” Klimacek said.
Despite her inability to fit the societal norm, Klimacek has always been the social butterfly, just looking to entertain everyone she encountered
“I’m not looking to become famous, that’s not my thing, I’m just looking to do what I want to do and if my name is then recognized because of that I am okay with that, but from a very young age I was very much so an outgoing, social butterfly, I mean I was called a social butterfly by everybody,” she said.
She had a knack for looking for the spotlight and acquiring it. From her day’s in pre-school dancing in the middle of the circle or going to a local children’s museum at the age of five and singing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer and getting a round of applause. She’s always had the talent and willingness to entertain. However, through all of this Klimacek has overcome some steep obstacles to get to this point.
Anxiety has been one of her biggest foe—not a large audience.
Klimacek has always been an anxious person, but her anxiety really didn’t hit her until she left for college. She doesn’t focus on it, but she is open about talking about it. However, a doctor cannot prescribe her remedy for her anxiety.
“I use the comedy as kind of a medicine for the anxiety and kind of a way to quell it,” Klimacek said. “If I didn’t have it I don’t know if would have the same mindset of certain things and carry day-to-day life in the same way.”
Her comedy has also been the factor that has catapulted her to the opportunity she has at Second City.
“If I did not take that class with [Kenneth] Krauss, I wouldn’t have had to see Mop and Bucket, I wouldn’t have asked about how to get into it, I wouldn’t have known about auditions, I wouldn’t have met Laci, I wouldn’t have been in Sorry not Sorry and if I wasn’t in Sorry not Sorry I wouldn’t know about Chicago,” Klimacek said.
Lee has been beneficial in providing her with information about Second City, because she was a part of the Second City comedy studies program in 2009. She informed Klimacek that she will be learning about the history of comedy, writing and acting and that’s just some of it.
“Being a part of the Second City Training Center’s Comedy Studies Program is a wonderful opportunity for Katie,” she said. “She is going to be surrounded by talented teachers, improvisers and peers every day. She will be living, breathing and eating improv.”
After talking with Lee about it, Klimacek looked more into it and it immediately peaked her interest. She told her mother that she was interested, but her mother wanted her to look into a bit more.
She contacted the school and looked at the application. She submitted the required materials, a letter of recommendation that Krauss wrote for her and a $25 application fee. Once that was completed, she waited to hear her fate.
In the meantime, she converted a plastic jug that Biscotti’s come in and wrote the words: ‘Chicago Funds,’ on it and she was putting spare change in it, essentially any change she could get her hands on. She was innately preparing for the inevitable.
This also showed her mother that she was serious.
“My parents have been pretty supportive of me wanting to do this once I said this was what I wanted to do. I’m sure that they have their doubts at times and especially because neither one of them have done anything like this,” Klimacek said. “They see it as a really hard thing to get into, it’s such a narrow field, but they know that I’m willing to work at.”
When she found out she was home for the weekend. She had just shown her dad a routine she had performed at the Make Me Laugh amateur stand-up competition earlier in the day. He was proud of her and pleased with the routine however, what he did not know was that he was going to be extremely proud of her 20 minutes later.
“When I got it, I was screaming inside. I was really happy. I was proud at first, but then my very critical mind came in and was like, ‘you shouldn’t be that proud. Only 25 people get in, but still 25 is a lot of people. You don’t know how many people applied. Maybe on paper you looked really good, but how good are you?’ I was very self-doubtful,” Klimacek said.
Despite her own self-doubt, everyone around her was very proud of her and knew she had the talent to perform with the big boys.
Krauss, who has worked with her since her very first improv class, knew that Klimacek had the opportunity of a lifetime and was well deserving of it.
“It’s like Julliard, only you go to learn how to be hilarious. So for anyone to get in, it is a very big deal. The level of playing and creating comedy is very high. This is an opportunity for Katie to get to know what it’s like to be a pro,” he said. “At Second City, Katie will get a chance to see how well she can work in a more professional setting and also how much this is something that she really, really, really wants to do.”
Klimacek will be the first to tell you the biggest thing she wants to take away from her experience at Second City is becoming a better improviser, better comedian and a better performer in general. Her greatest goal is to come back to Sorry Not Sorry and Crate of Apes better than she was before she left.
She’s only been doing stand-up for a year and she is not fully trained in improv. She has no formal training beside taking a couple of different acting classes, so Second City is her first real go around with formal, professional training. However, while she is away bettering her craft to achieve her life goals, she will be missed by all of her colleagues.
“I have no doubt Katie will be in constant contact with me and with the troupe as a whole. Her presence and her dedication will no doubt be missed. But I must say it will be nice to no longer fill her water bottle,” Pratt said.
Now it’s time for Klimacek to chase her dream and leave the little pond of Albany, New York for the bigger pond of Chicago, Illinois.
An ominous voice blares over the speaker telling passengers not to take objects on the plane that haven’t been checked in as the elder Klimacek talks about her daughter’s Second City opportunity.
“Very nervous. Very nervous, I know nothing about Chicago, I’m nervous right now going out there by ourselves. Nervous and proud, but I do want her to finish college,” she said.
Like any mother letting their 20-year-old embark on a journey into to a new place, alone, she’s scared, but she believes in her daughter. Since the day Katie delivered the news that she wanted to go, that she was accepted and now in this moment standing in the airport she’s worried about her daughter, but through and through she’s been proud.
However, what she does know is that her daughter’s outgoing nature will prevent her from being alone in Chicago.
“I just don’t want her to be alone. I know her personality, because she was nervous about that [making friends] and I said, ‘Just be yourself and you will make friends,’” said Patty Klimacek.
As her mother was finishing that sentence, Katie opted to chime in her opinion on how making friends in Chicago would go.
“I will probably make friends with some homeless teenager and we will be best friends, explore the city together. We’ll go on these topsy-turvy adventures,” she said.
That was her last joke in Albany—for the next four months.
She checked the time, 7:20 a.m.; it was time to get ready to board their plane. She bid me a farewell, her mother as well, and she asked me to pass along that very sentiment to all of her colleagues at The College of Saint Rose.
Once she said her final goodbye—she was gone.
“I am many things: I am the younger sibling, I am a child of an older family, I am an artist, I am a creator, I am a female, if you look back and you watch old home videos and you look at pictures you would say that girl is going to do something,” Klimacek said.