Hello reader! Richmond comedians Elizabeth Byland and Anthony Brazeau have been performing together for five years, building a strong bond through Babe Improv. Their chemistry on stage is a mix of quick wit and heartfelt moments. As they mark their fifth anniversary, they’re excited to present their first fully independent show, “Babe and Friends” August 31st at 8 p.m. at The Basement Theater.
Gabriel Santamaria: So, you’ve been working together for five years now. How does that feel?
Elizabeth Byland: Yeah, five years. It’s, um, it’s flown by. It’s a little crazy that it’s been five years already. But, I’d say in these five years, every single show brings us closer together, both as performers and as friends. In the world of improv, and in life too.
Anthony Brazeau: Yeah, I feel like the five years have flown by, but it also feels like we’ve been playing together for much longer.
GS: I’m sure you all knew each other before you started this, right?
EB: Yeah, I first saw Anthony perform at a show at Coalition Theater. I ran up to him afterward, like a fangirl, and told him how awesome he was. We met up, talked about improv, and realized we were on the same page.
AB: Yeah, we even started practicing in an empty basement at VCU.
EB: Exactly. We knew right away that we had something special and decided to lean into it. We’ve been partners ever since.
AB: There’s something special about two people in their thirties deciding to just go into a room and play pretend, even though we didn’t know each other that well.
GS: That’s awesome. So, the roots of this really go back to Coalition Theater?
AB: Yeah, I was involved with Coalition first, taking classes, and then I started teaching. Elizabeth came in representing VCU’s improv program. That’s when I first saw her perform and thought, “Who is this person? I like her style.”
EB: Anthony has been in Richmond’s comedy community longer than I have. I moved here in 2018 to start the improv program at VCU. I was a bit of a transplant, but Anthony and the folks in Richmond improv community welcomed me with open arms.
GS: So, let’s dive into some origin stories. Anthony, how did you get your start in comedy? What got you hooked?
AB: For me, it was one of those moments where the universe just seemed to give me a nudge. I had always loved watching comedy growing up, especially stand-up, and of course, everyone loves “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”—I used to fall asleep to it. One day, I was driving on my lunch break from work and passed by ComedySportz in Henrico. They had one of those revolving marquees, you know, the kind that usually says things like “CBS: Toilet paper half-off” or “Come get some dinner.” But then an improv ad popped up that said, “Take an improv class,” and something clicked. I went back to my desk, Googled “Richmond Improv,” and Coalition Theater was the closest one to my house. I signed up right away—never seen a show, never been to the theater, didn’t even know where it was—but I just felt a push to do it.
After my first class, I was hooked. I had just gone through a really bad breakup, and I think I would have liked improv regardless, but being part of that community at that time was exactly what I needed. I have no idea that I’m crying in the shower in the morning, but laughing so hard at night. Every day, I was feeling so down from the breakup, but then I’d go to this class with seven strangers who didn’t know me, yet were the most supportive people ever. It was like, here I am, an adult, but I’m pretending to be a character, and it felt so freeing. That’s the beauty of humor—it’s like a little getaway, a drug without certain consequences.
But bombing definitely hurts just as much. Oh yeah, it hurts a lot. It quickly brings you back to reality, in a very humbling and necessary way. I think bombing can be therapeutic, especially if you’re going through something tough. I completely agree. I think anyone who stays in comedy long enough sees it that way—you kind of need to. And honestly, if someone quits after bombing a couple of times, they probably weren’t going to make it far anyway. Bombing is really like sharpening your edges.
GS: So, where were you from before you came to Richmond? How did you get into comedy?
EB: Well, I was in Charlotte before moving to Richmond. I was teaching improv and acting there, working with some really cool people at an organization called Queen City Comedy. My love for improv actually started many years ago in high school. I feel like improv has a way of finding people during their darkest hours or in transitional moments of life. For me, that was high school.
My speech and drama teacher, who was a former performer from Second City, taught us improv. At our school, we didn’t have big theater productions or a fancy budget, but we had something even better—a great teacher. She introduced us to improv, and it was life-changing for me.
At the time, I was going through a really hard time at home. My dad was really sick, and I was struggling with social anxiety in school—just all the typical adolescent challenges, plus dealing with a sick parent. Improv gave me something special. It brought music back into my life, in a metaphorical sense.
GS: You know, when we’re going through tough times, we look for something that makes sense—something that brings color to the black-and-white parts of life.
EB: Yeah, absolutely. It completely made my heart pitter-patter—I fell in love with improv immediately and have been doing it ever since. I moved to Chicago, trained at iO Chicago, went to grad school in Savannah where I continued with improv, then moved to Charlotte, and finally to Richmond. I’ve devoted my whole life to it.
There’s nothing better than finding someone else in the world of comedy, especially in improv, who truly gets it—who understands the reason for doing it and embraces the spirit of improv, which is all about taking care of your partner, celebrating them, and elevating them. That’s what Anthony has done for me, especially during another big transition when I moved here to start my job at VCU. I felt like a fish out of water, but the moment I talked to Anthony, I knew there was someone who understood why I love improv and shared that passion.
GS: Oh, yeah, improv is totally a team sport. It’s important to have someone next to you who you can pass the ball to without even needing to look at them.
EB: Exactly, exactly. He’s so fast—I remember gushing about this to you, Anthony. He’s one of the quickest performers I know, and much faster than I am. But when we perform together, it’s like peanut butter and jelly, the perfect blend of ingredients coming together for comedy. I love playing with him.
AB: I think that’s what makes our team work so well. We’re great together, but we also excel in different areas. I might have the quickness that Elizabeth admires, but she has this incredible power and character-driven energy that I can’t maintain in the same way. She’ll go off on these giant, heartfelt, or emotional monologues in the middle of a scene, tying everything together so perfectly. I can’t tell you how many times she’s done that, with this main character energy, and gotten an applause break. It’s a really nice combination of two people who play similarly but strengthen each other by being strong in different areas.
GS: So, you both really commit to the bit.
EB: Yes, that’s what we do—commit to the bit.
GS: Oh yeah. So, for people who don’t know, how would you describe your show?
AB: When we submit for festivals or shows, the bio we use is “two weirdos who travel through space and time to bring you a dynamic improv show.” One thing we do very well, and have stuck to since the beginning, is telling a narrative story with multiple worlds and characters, all coming together and ideally being in the same scene at the end.
EB: Yeah, it’s a really cool format that Anthony and I have developed together. It’s all based on compelling stories with bold characters who might be weird or loud, but ultimately, they make you feel something.
AB: We’ve always had the mindset that we’d rather have a show with no laughs but a compelling story and strong characters than a show filled with laughs but no meaning.
Some people are so focused on getting laughs per minute that they prioritize that over content. But there’s something really compelling about a show where, even if you’re not constantly laughing, you’re still deeply invested in what’s being said and what’s happening on stage. That’s what we aim for. Now, if there were no laughs at all, of course, we’d think, “Well, that was awful.” But we’re more concerned with having fun, being on the same page, and living in the same world with each other. Sometimes just going for the quick laugh or the easy bit feels like the appetizer at a restaurant—it’s good, but you’re still hungry. We aim to serve up the main course, something more substantial.
GS: Will there be other performers in the show besides you two?
EB: Yes, we’ve got Lemon Pepper & Sazón Comedy, Kade Wonders, Mouth Stuff Improv and Lucy Bonino performing with us. We love them. They’ve performed in our shows before, and we just adore working with them. We’ve had a lot of comedians and improv teams join us over the years.
When we produce our shows, one of our main focuses is to create a space that bridges the gap between newer and veteran teams, stand-ups, and those in our regional partnerships. Comedy can sometimes feel insular, so part of our mission with our Babe and Friends shows is to identify and close those gaps. We like to include a brand new team that’s just getting started—they’ve been practicing and are ready to start performing, but maybe haven’t had many shows yet. Alongside them, we bring in a veteran team that’s been around for a while, polished, and maybe more well-known in the city or beyond. We also like to bring in someone from out of town.
Over the years, we’ve noticed that there’s often a gap between improv and stand-up. One of the things we love doing is bringing these two mediums together because they’re so closely connected. It’s great for the audience too—it gives them a bit of a comedy buffet when they watch our shows.
AB: We want to provide a space that closes gaps in the comedy community, bringing together different levels of experience and styles.
GS: That’s fantastic. So, one last question for both of you. What made you laugh when you were growing up?
AB: The first thing that really made me laugh a lot was my friends. I was always surrounded by very funny people, and that encouraged me to always look for the humor in things. I remember not getting the superlative for class clown in high school—I was so mad. But as long as I made my friends laugh, I felt like things were funny. We were always doing video skits, making up bits, going to Target as random characters, and talking to strangers. Those early memories really drove me, even before I thought I could do comedy. Laughing with my friends was, and still is, one of my favorite things to do.
I hear from a lot of people in comedy that some of the funniest people they know aren’t actually in comedy—they have no interest in it. They might be someone who drives a truck, but they’re the funniest person you’ve ever met. I completely agree with that. Some of the funniest people I know say they could never do comedy because they’re too nervous. They don’t need the stage validation like we do, where we thrive off of it. I think most of the funniest people aren’t actually pursuing comedy.
EB: Yeah, I think the things that have always made me laugh, especially from a very young age, involve being around people who are just being their most authentic selves. I think back to my best friend from childhood, Meredith. She was the first person I knew who was unapologetically weird and did quirky things without caring what others thought. There was a kind of recklessness to it, but not in a way that hurt others—more like, “This is me, this is who I am, and this is what I’m going to do.” It didn’t matter if it wasn’t cool or if people didn’t understand it. This was what made her heart sing, and she leaned into it.
As we go through middle school and high school, I think we tend to lose a bit of that authenticity because we start focusing more on what others think we should be, rather than who we actually are. That’s why, when I found improv in high school, I immediately gravitated towards it. It was finally a place where people could just be themselves, and that was okay—they were having a good time doing it. That’s what I’ve always been drawn to, and it’s where I’ve seen some of the funniest things.
GS: Well, that’s the essence of improv, right? Just being yourself and finding joy in it.
EB: Absolutely.
GS: So, the big show is on August 31st, right?
EB: Yes, August 31st at 8 p.m. at The Basement Theater. We’re really excited because The Basement is such a cool, swanky place. It’s got a whole vibe, and we can’t wait to bring our Babe vibe there.
AB: We’ve done the Babe and Friends show so many times that I’ve lost count, but this is the first time we’re putting it on entirely by ourselves—100% backed financially, without using another theater’s space or time slot. We’re really going for it. August 31st is also our fifth anniversary—our very first show together was on August 31st, five years ago. When we saw that this year’s date fell on a Saturday, we knew we had to take it. It feels extra special, not just because of the anniversary, but because this is the first show we’re doing completely independently.
GS: That’s awesome. You heard it here, folks—August 31st, don’t miss it!
