Heroine Addiction
Can Heroine Addiction actually be funny? If it’s up to the four fearless females of the Dallas-based improv troupe of the same name, then yes.
The troupe, which consists of saleswoman Jenny Clifton, high school teacher Lynsey Hale, telecommunication worker Dawn Douglass and talent agent Christa Haberstock, was formed in 2009 when the group of women met at a novice improv class at the popular Dallas improv club “Ad Libs.”
“Lynsey, Jenny, and myself all started at a level one class,” Christa Haberstock, one of the group’s founders, said. “We progressed in levels though the classes and then the idea for an all female improv troupe came up, and we all thought it was a great idea.”
With the subtitle that reads, “Heroine Addiction: Because women aren’t funny,” the group is first in line to poke fun at their all women troupe.
“We are all just females with issues,” Haberstock said. “During the day, we all have jobs, but at night, it’s like we are superheroes.”
The four funny women will be hosting a show for SMU’s Women Center on Wednesday in Hughes-Trigg Student Center. The show, which follows a workshop the women are hosting earlier that afternoon, is promised to be a good time.
“We are going to bring the happy,” Haberstock said. “We’ll bring it hard.”
Even though the group may be the perfect platform for the empowerment of women, Haberstock claims that, that isn’t the group’s prime purpose.
“We never went in this to empower women, we just want to be funny,” Haberstock said. “Anyone who knows improv can expect a good laugh, and that’s all we want, to make people laugh.”
While the group is slated to perform at SMU on Wednesday, it didn’t account for Haberstock’s, a native Canadian, interesting couple of weeks.
“There is this little group, called the INS, that asked me to leave America” Haberstock said. “I left voluntarily, and now I’m in a scramble to get back to Dallas for the show.”
While Haberstock was in Montana at the time of the interview, the talent agent was able to make it back to Dallas for the Heroine Addiction’s show at Ad Libs on Friday. She assures that she is fully legal now.
Starting in the improv comedy business is never easy, however, Haberstock shares advice for those who are looking to get in on the act.
“Mainly, to be successful on the improv circuit, you have to have skill and you have to know the right people,” Haberstock said. “We all worked really hard and were able to network with the right people at the right time.”
As the group’s popularity rises, especially in the Dallas scene, the women are branching their comedic abilities out. Currently, Heroine Addiction is working on a cookbook, titled “Recipes for a funner life,” that will be sold at the show. The book features recipes paired with a variety of improv games.
Heroine Addiction’s show at SMU starts at 8:30 p.m. While everyone there should expect a good laugh, Haberstock begs to differ.
“They say the most conflicted people are the funniest,” Haberstock said. “I have to say, the four of us are all very well adjusted. Maybe we’re not funny at all.”
