Jacob Kepler/ViewPaul Mattingly sits on a chair in the Threshold Dance Theatre, 4780 W. Harmon Ave., Suite 10, where he teaches classes in improvisational comedy. Mattingly got his start in improv when he attended a summer program at age 17.
Jacob Kepler/ViewRommel Pacson, right, performs during an improvisational comedy class at the Threshold Dance Theatre.
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Paul Mattingly gets paid for doing what he loves. Five nights a week, he makes people laugh during "The Second City Las Vegas" show at the Flamingo, where he's been performing as a main stage cast member for just over a year.
However, he has been involved with the famous improvisational comedy troupe based out of Chicago for more than five years.
"I found this when I was 17, during a summer program in Kentucky," Mattingly said.
He referred to the Governor's Scholar Program, or what he called a "five-week nerd camp." The program's improv section was founded by an instructor who had worked with The Harvard Lampoon, a comedy organization and publication out of Harvard University, and Comedy Sportz, a widespread improv group that began in Milwaukee.
After getting involved, Mattingly, 32, recalled thinking, "That's what I want to do with my life."
Growing up, Mattingly always was interested in stand-up comedy and was a fan of the late-night comedy show "Saturday Night Live." Many of the performers he admired had a strong background in improv comedy. His favorite comedian is Paul Reubens, who is perhaps best known for his character Pee Wee Herman. But, Mattingly said, if he could model his career after anyone, it would be comedian Brian Posehn, who "is a total comic book nerd like I am."
It was improv that brought the Summerlin resident to Las Vegas nine years ago.
"When Star Trek: The Experience opened in Las Vegas, I took a shot. I came out with a couple of suitcases, went for it, and I got it," he said about the job at the Las Vegas Hilton where he continues to work on and off.
Leading up to his days at the Flamingo, Mattingly was a member of the local improv group Super Yum Yum 2. The actors performed for seven straight months at Café Roma across from UNLV on Maryland Parkway before the café closed in fall 2003. According to Mattingly, Café Roma was the perfect location for improv, possibly because it brought out so many students from the university.
Mattingly is the only Yum still living in Las Vegas, but the group never split and they still have many devoted fans.
"We're Big Foot. We're shadowed by our own shadow," he said about the group's popularity among their supporters and those who carry nostalgia for the days of the late Café Roma. "Our reputation is intact. It's great fun when we get together."
But because the Yums never officially split, there is talk of a Las Vegas reunion show in December, as well as a possible entry into the country's largest improv festival, the Del Close Marathon, held at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in New York City every summer.
Mattingly helped write the new Second City show that opened June 11. The mostly prewritten show stems from improv and employs sprinklings of the technique throughout that helps keep it fresh night to night.
"Improv is a fickle mistress. I really do feed off the risk. There is nothing to compare to that," he said. Mattingly stays inspired by teaching at the Second City Training Center, where he influences the next generation of local improvisers.
He has high hopes for the Las Vegas improv scene.
"The scene has the potential to explode," Mattingly said. "I just hope I come to see those conditions line up. Vegas is a city of massive potential and that's what improv is -- going on stage with nothing but potential. It's a great compatibility.
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