The off-the-cuff and collaborative nature of improvisation as an art form greatly appeals to Tom Hartmann, so much so that the Rogue Valley resident moved to start his own group that meets each week in Medford. 

On what he loves, “It’s just the mental sharpness demanded, and secondarily, the camaraderie,” Hartmann, group leader and founder of the Rogue Valley Improvers, said. “I love having an on-the-spot reaction where you don’t have time really to think, and being up there and your partner throws something at you.” 

Hartmann started the Rogue Valley Improvers group around seven years ago after moving from Chicago to Southern Oregon. 

“I didn’t see much going on, so with my wife’s pushing, I decided to start my own,” he said. “She’s the reason why I got into improv in the first place.”

As Hartmann began assembling his idea of an improv group, he figured out where he could set up meetings for members.

“I checked it out — having been a librarian — and sure enough, the Medford Library has meeting rooms for free,” he said. “I started putting up fliers at the library and a couple coffee shops and so on and got a few people through word of mouth.” 

“People heard about it and started attending and I’ve been doing that ever since,” he added. 

The Rogue Valley Improvers meet from 6:30 to 8 p.m. every Wednesday at the Medford Library, located at 205 S. Central Ave. 

The way the improvisation group works is Hartmann leads the sessions and challenges members with warm-ups, games, sketches and other means through the popular “Yes, and” approach, which suggests a participant accepts what another improvisor has stated and then expands on that line of thinking to continue building on the improvised scene. 

“It’s kind of a trial and error,” Hartmann said. 

Another improv leader whose works Hartmann utilizes is Viola Spolin, a 20th century American theatre academic and educator who used the art form to work with troubled kids. 

Hartmann’s first taste of improvisation came during a team-building exercise while he was a librarian in Chicago, which led to him being trained at Second City Chicago and 10 years of participating, leading and teaching improv. 

It’s free to attend the sessions, and regardless of if one has years of improv experience or is a true beginner, all are invited without the pressure of performing unless they’re ready. 

“We want to bring more people in; the more the better,” Hartmann said. 

The local improv group has had its ebbs and flows in membership, and Hartmann is aiming to get their numbers back up to pre-COVID times. 

“We managed through COVID, through the library expansion and we were even doing classes on Zoom for a while,” he said, adding, “It just sort of kept on going.” 

Looking towards the future, Hartmann hopes to highlight the group’s presence more and showcase his members’ skills. 

“As far as goals, I’d like to do far more performances,” he said. “We have done far and few performances so far, but the last time we did a performance, we had 50 people show up.” 

The group has previously performed at the Medford Library, the Phoenix Clubhouse and at a block party at Hartmann’s residence. 

“We’re working on setting up a performance at the library … it looks like September 13 might be the performance date, so I’m hoping that will go well,” he said. 

Those interested in joining the Rogue Valley Improvers or giving it a try at one of the group’s weekly sessions can reach out by finding Rogue Valley Improvers on Facebook.

People can also email Hartmann at forinfoman44@gmail.com. 

“We have a great time, we laugh a lot, and people are supportive and get along,” Hartmann said. “In short, I love the art form and hope to keep doing it until my brain falls out of my head.” 

Reach reporter James Sloan at james.sloan@rv-times.com.