What happens when you date someone you’re working with, a fellow improviser?
Amy Poehler and Will Arnett, Steve Carell and Nancy Walls are just two examples of great comedy couples who are great individually and great as a pair. Can constantly playing in make-believe worlds create real-life love? Can the intimacy a skilled improviser creates with their scene partners be parlayed into an actual successful, loving, lasting "real-life" relationship? Of course it can.
Josh Cohen believes, “The basics of a good relationship are just like the basics of good improv: say yes, honor your partner, don’t deny your partner, don’t kill your partner, and be good in the sack.” He met his wife, Tamra Malaga at the UCB Theater in NYC around 1999. They started performing as a comedy duo a year later, and then began dating each other soon after.
“Looking back, I felt repelled by her only to realize the feeling I had was really love for her, but I was too scared to admit it at the time we met.”
They’ve been "touring their puppet improv comedy duo show, teaching, headlining improv comedy festivals and a variety of other venues coast to coast since 2000," finally tying the knot in 2007.
IN: WHEN DID YOU FIRST DECIDE TO WORK TOGETHER PROFESSIONALLY?
JOSH: After I opened my theater, Freaks Local 413 Comedy Theater, Tamra and I started doing some late night mash ups with the puppets and long form improv. Right away I had a funny feeling that we needed to keep going.
TAMRA: I was creative director at Freaks Local 413 back in 2000. We worked great together and had a lot of fun doing it. I knew Josh was a Henson puppeteer and we both had a long form improv background. I suggested that we experiment with combining the two. We made the theater schedule, so we booked out a few slots for us to play around.
IN: WHAT ARE SOME PROFESSIONAL CHALLENGES YOU'VE FACED?
JOSH: Early on it was established that we worked best as funny man/straight man and we were off to the races.
TAMRA: We were the only people performing puppet improv comedy back in 2000. No one thought of combining the two. So, billing ourselves as an improv comedy duo with puppets sometimes confused people. They weren't sure what they were about to see. Thanks to all of the puppet projects coming out these days like "Avenue Q" or "Henson's Puppet Up" in the main stream, people are finally aware of the art form. These days, when we hand flyers out or talk to people about our show they say, "Oh, like 'Avenue Q,' or 'Puppet Up' " we say, "Yes, like that but totally different.”
We love working together on stage, improvising, and creating slice of life scenes with puppets for people. I am not a puppeteer, but I enjoy performing improv along side a puppet. Josh is an amazing improviser and I can trust his choices even if we don't see eye to eye.
IN: HAS IMPROV HURT YOUR RELATIONSHIP AS A COUPLE IN ANY WAY?
TAMRA: It's sometimes hard to draw the line between husband and wife vs. business partner/ comedy partner. We have conversations every day about our show dates, scene ideas, a puppet he wants to build, finances, friends, improv shows we want to check out, and much more. When we both realize we need a break from all of this we usually have an impromptu day and promise not to talk business.
JOSH: We are so used to being called "The Josh and Tamra show" or Josh and Tamra, that it’s funny when we introduce ourselves in comedy circles because now people know us from our show name right away. It's always like, "Oh you're Josh… from "The Josh and Tamra Show?". Also, I have "Josh & Tamra" engraved on the outside of my wedding ring. When people who know us see it they think it's funny and often joke, "Does it say dot com on the inside of the ring?"
TAMRA: When we are hanging out with friends separately people ask us "Where's Josh?", or "How's Tamra?" It feels like we are twins or people can't separate us from the show. They’ll say, "Hi, Josh & Tamra," and sometimes… I just want people to say, "Hi Tamra & Josh."
IN: HAS CAREER RELATED JEALOUSY EVER BEEN A CHALLENGE?
TAMRA: I will never be jealous of Josh's career. I am very proud and happy to see him book a commercial or puppeteer for the Jim Henson Company. His success is my success and vice versa.
JOSH: We have an all-for-one-one-for-all thing in our relationship. What’s good for me is good for her in the long run.
IN: ANY OTHER CHALLENGES/MISUNDERSTANDINGS THAT STEM FROM YOUR BEING BUSINESS AND REAL LIFE PARTNERS?
TAMRA: Josh and I had the same commercial agent in NYC until she found out we were a couple then she dropped me and kept Josh as a client. She had a policy not to work with couples for some reason and we didn't know that.
IN: WHAT ENCOURAGEMENT/WARNINGS DO YOU WANT TO SHARE FOR OTHER "WOULD BE" IMPROV COUPLES?
TAMRA: It is very hard to wear different hats as a couple. It is also amazing to watch each other grow as artists, and nothing is more important than living life together in the NOW moment.
JOSH: It's fun to do a show for people we don't know and make out during a scene. Then after the show people will ask me if Tamra and I are “a thing,” and I tell them we are hooking up!!!
IN: FINAL WORDS OF WISDOM?
JOSH: Don’t shit where you eat. Unless it's true love, then I’d say don’t shit on your partner.
Written By: Shannon Walker
THE JOSH AND
TAMRA SHOW is an award winning comedy duo from Los Angeles, originally from New
York City. Josh and Tamra have been performing their unique brand of long-form
puppet improv comedy since 1999. Josh Cohen, a Muppeteer for the Jim Henson
Company, and Tamra Malaga, a performer from the Upright Citizens Brigade
Theater NYC headline comedy festivals coast to coast. The duo
won the “BEST COMEDY” Award at the New York Television Festival, for their
original puppet sitcom pilot, “APARTMENT 413” and were featured on Varitey.com.
Most recently, they received an award nomination from The International Academy
of Web Television for their ground breaking live streaming web TV show, “MONKEY
NEWS SOURCE”, which airs exclusively on, TheStream.tv. The Josh and Tamra Show can be seen featured on the main stage at Improv
Olympic West, and are currently producing a sketch show and comedy shorts for www.JoshAndTamra.com.
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