Sexual wellness coach Kat Nantz inspires great improv with stories of cuddling, mud wrestling
Each month, The Making-Box presents an improv comedy show called “Royal City Heroes” that features a unique and inspiring Guelphite. The Making-Box Battalion (the company’s apprentice improv troupe) improvises scenes inspired by conversations between that person and the host, Hayley Kellett.
The Making-Box’s Royal City Heroes show on May 25th featured Kat Nantz, a relationship and sexual wellness coach specializing in polyamory and kink. She had been an audience member at the previous month’s show (featuring U of G prof Shoshanah Jacobs) and volunteered in the second half to be the “everyday hero” (an audience member whose day the performers turn into an improvised musical). The details that Nantz shared about her life were so interesting and inspired such great improv that The Making-Box asked to her to be a Royal City Hero.
Most of the individuals featured as Royal City Heroes are involved in big projects aimed at wide-spread change — former participants have included the president of the Guelph Chamber of Commerce and the executive director of Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis, as well as local artists and musicians. As she and Kellett discussed onstage, Nantz effects change as well, but works at a more interpersonal level with individuals or small communities. She supports people in building their lives and relationships through their passion and desire. In her conversations with Kellett, Nantz spoke about empowering one’s erotic self and advocating for one’s own pleasure. She even speculated that, “The world would be a better place if everyone had more orgasms.”
While Nantz spoke and told stories about her life, the improvisors could be heard reacting with excited giggles and whispers from backstage. They were getting more material than they knew what to do with and were keen to start improvising. The subject matter the improvisers worked with was different from past shows, as Nantz has had a unique and colourful life and history. She talked about everything from her time as a professional cuddler to living in Slab City, an unregulated community in the California desert. The improvisers seemed especially fascinated by her tales of creating mud pits to wrestle naked in, though they thankfully all remained clothed during the show. Some of the most memorable scenes included: a therapy session for a woman who felt she couldn’t balance the emotional needs of all seven of her cats, a “Socialist Father’s Day,” and the purchase of a mudpit-adjacent RV. The Battalion wove together the ideas and themes brought up by Nantz into a series of hilarious and entertaining scenes.
The audience thoroughly enjoyed Nantz and The Battalion, frequently laughing and taking part in some good-natured heckling. When asked about the show, one audience member commented that coming to The Making-Box “always make [her] want to get up there and do improv.”
The next Royal City Heroes show will be June 22 at The Making-Box Comedy Theatre.