Name as you’d like it to appear: Caeriel Crestin
Gender as you’d like it to appear: Non-binary (they/them)
City you live in and/or improvise in most: Austin
Impro(v) Bio:
I first took classes at UCB in NYC back in the early Aughts. Did not like them, for reasons (mostly lack of inclusivity/sensitivity/etc). I felt like I didn’t belong. I quit.
I didn’t touch improv again for about a decade while I was gallivanting around Europe, but when I moved to Austin, I decided to give it another go–mostly to make friends in a new city–at the Hideout Theatre. This time I loved it! I not only made friends, but I got hooked on the art form, and ended up teaching, directing, and producing improv as my main gig.
These days I’m the producer of the Hideout’s Incubator program, teach 9 levels of improv there, and usually direct a show or two a year.
How does being trans/NB influence your impro(v)?
As a prolific instructor and director, I think being NB plays a big role in helping create a safe space in those realms for all kinds of students. I don’t perform nearly as much as I direct/teach/produce, so I think this is where the most influence is felt.
I think improv as an art form has the potential to be incredibly inclusive, subversive, and relevant, and it allows collaboration between many different perspectives, so that to me is just magical!
Do you play trans/NB characters often?
YES! In my head! I pretty much always play queer non-binary characters, but if I’m not explicit in establishing that IMMEDIATELY, my experience is that I am almost always endowed as anything but that. Which is fine; I’m adaptable! Just noting that this is a thing that happens.
How do you feel about cisgender actors playing trans/NB characters in impro(v)?
I have a bunch of different, slightly contradictory feelings about this. My first thought is that we should prioritize making a strong effort to diversify our players, which will naturally lead to a diversity in stories, so those perspectives can be represented by people with actual lived experience.
That said, I am also a big fan of the magic of improv and imagination, and I think there is something cool about someone willing to tackle a point of view that might differ from their own experience, provided they’re making a good faith attempt to do so with as much truth as they can muster. I think one of the cool things about improv is how we don’t have to feel limited a lot of the time. The longing to walk in another’s shoes is powerful and this is one of those places where we can try them on!
Besides announcing it, how might you know/show a character is trans/NB?
It’s a vibe! I don’t have a great answer for this, except I think people with similar experiences are more likely to pick up what you’re putting down, while people who haven’t directly experienced that point of view are more likely to miss it or superimpose their own assumptions upon it. Unless you’re specifically doing some kind of “coming out” scene, I’m not sure it often makes sense to announce it.
How do you feel about playing different genders generally, in terms of naming gender and of expressing it?
I will play characters all across the masc/femme spectrum, but I am not explicit about naming it (although I notice the majority of my scene partners want to). Gender expression for me isn’t tethered to anything else, so you can be as masc or femme as you want, but for me my cozy place is an undefined (unlimited!) one.
Does your local impro(v) community know/understand your gender? If so, how has that been in terms of acceptance/understanding?
I went through a he/they period of a couple years because it was just too exhausting to me to be constantly correcting people, even though my preference was they. People just want to call me he all the time! But the last year or so I have been more insistent on advocating for myself (thanks, therapy!) and politely correcting people when they use he/him pronouns for me.
I haven’t experienced any deliberate/malicious misgendering–the Austin community is pretty great that way. But accidents happen all the time nevertheless. Because I teach so much, I probably have to do this a dozen or more times a week, so it is quite tiring. But it’s worth it because I feel much more seen and accepted when people use a pronoun that feels right to me (and for me they/them work perfectly right now).
What are some things that teachers/directors/other performers can do to make sure trans/NB improvisers feel safe and welcome?
Lead by example. Create an opportunity (but NOT requirement!) for people to share their pronouns early on. Share your own pronouns. Invite people to offer corrections when people mess up. Gently but firmly CORRECT people when they misgender someone else, so that person doesn’t have to do it all the time. When you accidentally misgender someone (I’m assuming everyone in this role is making a good faith attempt to honor people’s pronouns!) don’t make the person correcting you do a lot of emotional labor by apologizing. Just say, “Thanks,” fix it and move on.
Thinking about examples of trans/NB characters across all media (Impro(v), TV, Movies, Plays etc), what are the best trans/NB characters or stories you’ve seen depicted? The worst?
I love that this is becoming a question that has lots of examples now! That said, I don’t consume a lot of tv/movies–I’m more of a gamer (I like stories I can participate in!). I did love Heartstopper on Netflix, though. Recent games I’ve played that had fantastic representation: Baldur’s Gate 3 has a huge variety of gender expression, pronouns, etc amongst its massive cast of non-player characters, and gives you absolute freedom in this department regarding character creation, and all the NPCs in the game will refer to you with your selected pronouns, which feels just great. I also really liked Ikenfell, a charming kids-at-a-magic-school pixel art RPG that did great with pronouns/gender expression/queerness.
Who do you look up to/admire as a trans/NB person in impro(v) or the world generally?
I really like Vic Michaelis, who does a lot of improvised stuff on dropout.tv. They just have a sense of humor that really speaks to me! I also admire a ton of other people who are actively representing and entertaining, but I find the task of naming them too challenging–what if I leave someone out by accident!?
What’s something special that you and/or trans/NB performers have to offer?
We are by our very nature subverting the dominant paradigm. We have a wider lived experience than many people, and understand the power (and fun!) of gender expression without just taking it for granted. We can represent original ways of moving through the world, and create space for greater freedom for everyone, regardless of how they identify. Gender can be a playground rather than a jail!
Is there anything else you’d like to say about being trans/NB or impro(v) in general?
For me, it has been an amazing journey of self-acceptance. I’ve been interested in this stuff since I was a kid (I spent an entire semester in college back in the early 90s studying two-spirited and third gender and similar traditions). But it wasn’t until I spent a bunch of time introspecting and therapizing (thanks, COVID) that I finally was able to really own and express it.
One of the cool things I realized is how fluid it can be, and that is amazing!
Improv-wise, I think there is this interesting tension here. We are taught to define things, to establish who, what, where, etc. So I understand the desire to lock down who your scene partner is. But often that means superimposing your own assumptions onto the situation, which, averaged out, can really “blandify” improv scenes. I don’t have this nugget of improv wisdom on how we can push back against this, except really encouraging people to bring your beautiful, personal details to improv scenes, and make space for others to do the same!