It's My Time.

Amy Rose Ramenili is a public relations/advertising and English creative writing senior at DePaul University. She has been a part of the Cosby Sweaters, a DePaul improv team, since she was a freshman. It all started when she saw a flyer for auditions and her acting career rocketed from there. Thanks to the people she has met, she was able to connect with people in DePaul’s Theatre School through the DePaul Theatre Union which gives non-theatre school students the chance to express their art. Within the past four years, she has been a part of Second City’s conservatory for comedy and music and been claimed as an accredited writer for “Same Sex, Different Gays” which was featured in the Red-Eye. Her next goal is to continue writing projects through the image of being a strong female comedian. 

Currently, she is in a performance group called Lady Lab, “We’re a team of all ladies that uses sketch and improve to explore our place as a twenty something in this world: not a girl, not yet a woman, not yet a khaleesi.”

The last show is November 9 at Donny’s Skybox at midnight. Tickets are $12.

Q: How did you get started with doing improv?

A: I am from the South suburbs of Chicago so a lot of my teachers were Second City people themselves who went through course, because of that they started an improv team at my high school.

Q: Was it a style like Comedy Sportz (shortform comedy troupes)?

A: Ya. We were called Improv Army and it was short form (comedy.) I never even heard of imrpov before that. I knew Chicago was the city and it meant something in comedy in terms of SNL, but I didn’t know what it meant. It turns out that the big chunk is about taking improv classes, doing shows and being a part of this really big community. This opened up my world of theatre.

Q: Now that you’ve been exposed to this Chicago theatre world, do you study other people by watching theatre or want to explore more script study?

A: I didn’t know any of the theatres like Neo-Futurists and Steppenwolf and acting programs. My next step is to take acting more seriously. I want to start studying more acting (than improv). I’m really interested in taking classes at Steppenwolf. Ideally I can do that after I finish school, after I’m done with all my other projects.

Q: So you enjoy the spontaneous-ness?

A: Oh man, it’s awesome! I’m in class from 3 P.M. to 6 P.M. Our teacher had us do five scenes, four black-outs and you have to perform at the end of class. I was so excited because first of all it removes the pressure…’cuz ‘look this is hard everyone, lets not beat ourselves up, were set up to fail so just have fun.’ And I don’t know…if you do really want to do this, it’s fast pace work, you got to thrive and enjoy that.

Q: Do you write your own work or rather be handed an idea?

A: I write stand-up, but I don’t do it as much as I’d like to. I like writing, as a real foundational level because it feeds into improv and many people argue that improv is just a thing to make written sketch.  I love writing sketch, fiction, stand-up. I love writing. I’m trying to teach myself to write screenplays and write treatment. At the base of it I’d like to be a writer in the end.

Q: Since, you really like writing, would you consider writing sitcoms and television versus stage?

A: I would love to write something like 30 Rock or Parks and Rec. Or even SNL. I’d be super happy. I’d be done.  In the meantime, I would really like to get involved with grant writing at Second City, it’s a diversity outreach program. As I’m pursuing this arts sort of entertainment writing I like having a base in English and Communications to make it worth something pretty useful and meaningful.

Q: Do you think that discovering the arts at a young age benefits you in your overall lifetime?

A: They were taking away the arts at my high school and it was awful. I think it’s beneficial because I feel that a lot of my peers that are graduating are still figuring out that question… what do I love doing? What do I feel is fulfilling and good? I think that when you’re encouraged to do something more creative, you figure out that passion earlier. I think you should take it seriously and get the opportunity to find that. I’m not saying its acting for everyone or music for everyone. My brother is a trader and he can geek out as had on economics as hard as I do about improv.  The earlier you find it the better because it is already this daunting thing and it gives you courage.

Q: Who is your role model?

A: I admire Sarah Silverman’s attitude and boldness. In the past year or so I haven’t really met a women in my world that wasn’t someone I saw on television. Then teachers I had this year, like Holly Lawrence were people that I see as super inspirational. I look at them and say I want a career like that. I see them doing the work right in front of me. It’s cool to see women doing this in my world.

Q: Do you like targeting toward the women demographic?

A: I just like working with women. There are a lot of women in my classes right now, but how many women are going to step up? I just like the comradery about it. It’s kinda cool to be like, you had that one scene too when you were the mother or the girlfriend. It’s also cool to be something else than that and talks to dude improvists and ask are you aware of this, do you understand? It’s an exciting time to be a woman in comedy.