JT Godfrey, the youngest of seven boys, recalls watching “Saturday Night Live” as a kid “when I probably shouldn’t have been watching,” he said, laughing.

But that early introduction to comedy piqued Godfrey’s interest in making people laugh, and his large family was a built-in audience.

“Comedy, for my family, is cathartic. During some of our hardest times, we’ve processed emotion by telling funny stories. At my grandmother’s funeral, we all sat around and told our favorite memories and laughed,” said Godfrey, a research communications writer and podcast producer for the Stephen M. Ross School of Business.

“I think I am most myself when I’m trying to make other people laugh.”

Godfrey eventually sought an audience outside his family and began performing in plays and musicals in high school.

As a teenager, Godfrey also spent a significant amount of time on the football field and was elected team captain his senior year.

“I guess I was the Troy Bolton type,” he said jokingly, referring to the jock character in “High School Musical.”

Godfrey went on to play football at Oberlin College, which left little time to participate in theater productions.

To satisfy his yen for performing, Godfrey began dabbling in stand-up comedy, which was easier to fit into his busy schedule.

“One of my older brothers knew someone who ran a stand-up show in Cleveland and said I could come to open mic night. My brothers, who lived nearby, were very supportive and would often come to different shows I did around the area,” he said.

While Godfrey’s confidence and comedic writing improved while doing stand-up, open mic nights were sidelined in 2020 by the pandemic and when things opened back up again, his taste for performing solo had waned.

Instead, Godfrey decided to try something more collaborative and signed up for an improv workshop at Imposters, a new Cleveland theater started by comedian and writer Michael Busch, who’d studied improv at the well-known Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre in Los Angeles.

Discovering the art of improvisation

Improvisational live performance, or improv, is a type of live performance where actors use a preordained set of rules to develop the dialogue and plot spontaneously.

Godfrey had studied improv a little in an acting class at Oberlin, but he’d never really tried it. At Imposters, he fell in love with it.

“I started on Imposter’s first house sketch team called ‘It’s a Match,’ where we’d improvise a scene based on someone’s dating profile,” Godfrey said.

“It was so fun. In standup, you write something and hope the audience likes it,” Godfrey said. “But with improv, you come out with a premise, then build upon that together as a team. Things can go in lots of different directions, and you’re able to play with more emotions than humor.”

“I’ve always been inspired by Will Ferrell, who isn’t always saying funny things, but he is saying things funny.”

Godfrey spent several years honing his improv skills at Imposters, then moved to Ann Arbor with his partner in 2023, taking a new job at U-M and a year-long break from improv.

In 2024, Godfrey’s friend and co-worker, Ashley Birch, social media manager at the Ross School of Business, told him about hear.say, an Ann Arbor comedy theater and brewery that was holding auditions for a new improv group.

Connecting with Ann Arbor’s comedy community

“I really missed doing comedy, so I decided to check it out,” he said.

Godfrey was impressed by the comedic talent he encountered.

“What’s interesting about Ann Arbor is that we have a lot of well-trained, experienced improvisers who come from out of state to work at the university or who’ve been on teams at theaters throughout the Metro Detroit area,” said Godfrey said.

“When I walked into this improv jam, I expected it to be a little rough, but instead I encountered some of the best improvisers I’d ever seen. The level of talent rivaled that in shows I’ve seen at UCB in LA and Second City [another well-known improv group/theater in Chicago].”

Godfrey left the audition thinking there was no way he’d get called back.

But he did, twice, ultimately making the team now known as Eleven Non-Blondes.

A new improv chapter

For two months, Godfrey’s new team practiced and played improv games with coaches Tony DeRosa and Ainsley Elder to find their strengths and hone their show. Eventually, the group began performing in front of a live audience.

Today, Godfrey performs with Eleven Non-Blondes every Friday night at hear.say.

“With this group, I’ve been part of some of my favorite improv scenes of all time, even if I’m just standing on the sidelines of the group watching. There is so much talent,” he said.

The members of Eleven Non-Blondes range in age from late 20s (Godfrey, at 27, is the youngest member) to mid-40s. Two team members are married and had a baby earlier this year. And while their backgrounds and occupations may be diverse, Godfrey said they’ve become a strong community, and he’s grateful for how his improv work has helped him grow personally and professionally.

The value of collaborative comedy

“I think one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned from improv is the importance of listening. When I’m on stage, I may not be actively speaking, but I do need to follow the dialogue to keep up. That translates to my work at the university, where I produce podcasts and do interviews with faculty.”

“It’s so important to be a good team player, a collaborator, and a good listener,” he said.

Another aspect of improv that Godfrey appreciates is the stress release it provides every Friday night.

“I love the fact that we have absolutely nothing going into a show. Beforehand, while we’re warming up, I just try to be present and enjoy the laughs with my teammates. And someone — (usually me —) always makes the joke, ‘Wait! I forgot to memorize my lines,’” Godfrey said.

Once they’re on stage, Godfrey said he’s not nervous because he knows his teammates have his back, and he has theirs. And on nights when the dialogue flows and the jokes all hit, it’s magic.

“It’s the closest I’ll ever feel to being a rock star,” he said, laughing.