Meet the HOO-MANS: Emerson Brophy
MEET ONE OF OUR NEWEST RECRUITS, EMERSON BROPHY!
Emerson Brophy is a musical comedian, improviser and content creator born in Boorloo/Perth, now based in Naarm/Melbourne. He’s been performing with the Big HOO-HAA! as a muso for about a year, but now he’s taking to the stage as a player.
How’d you get into performing?
I'd always played and written music, but very slowly made my way into acting through school productions, community theatre, and then eventually a Diploma of Screen Performance at WAAPA in 2019. I'd tried improv a few times, including in workshops taught by Perth HOO-HAA's very own Sam Longley and Esther Longhurst! When I moved from Perth to Melbourne, I saw that a bunch of my friends had joined Impromptunes, so I went along to watch, and next thing I knew, I'd signed up to the workshop, and was lucky enough to join the troupe shortly after! Since then, I've just been following the fun and getting amongst any other improv opportunities that arise.
What made you want to join the Big HOO-HAA!?
There have always been so many people in the HOO-HAA that are not only very silly, creative performers that I admire, but also just downright lovely people. Getting the opportunity to spend more time spongeing off of their brilliance, while testing my long-form musical improv brain in short-form improv gamey ways, is exactly why I wanted to join!
Do you remember your first improv performance?
My first improv show must've been the showcase performance at the end of my Impromptunes workshop course. Absolutely couldn't tell you anything that happened in it or whether it was any good, but I guess it wasn't traumatic enough to make me stop doing it!
Were you naturally confident or did improv help you build confidence?
I've always identified as a fairly confident fella when it comes to performing, but improv helped me build a type of confidence that I didn't even realise I needed: Trusting that my ideas and offers are as good and as valid as everyone else in the scene. It's really helped me get out of my own way when it comes to improvising.
What do you love most about improvising?
I love the synchronicity of when everyone's listening to each other, picking up everything that's being put down, reintegrating details from earlier in the show, all that kind of stuff. It's so much fun being able to bring an audience that moment of delight when everything just kind of clicks into place. That's the real magic trick of improv!
What’s the best thing about improv audiences?
Improv audiences are down for anything! They're with you 100% of the way, and they recognise just how special it is when all the pieces fall into place.