“I’ll forever go down in history as the person that wants to have sex with windows,” says Rachel Rosenthal, referencing a joke that blew me away during her performance with hip-hop improv troupe North Coast at the 2016 Stumptown Improv Festival. Recapping that night for the Mercury, I noted that combining hip-hop, improv, and beatboxing “sounded like a TERRIBLE idea,” but North Coast won me over with their energetic, surprising skits. This month, Rosenthal will be the first artist in residence at downtown Portland’s Siren Theater, where she’ll teach improv classes in North Coast’s style. Ahead of her residency at the Siren, Rosenthal took a moment to talk to the Mercury about her history and the genesis of hip-hop improv.
MERCURY: I want to take your class, but I’m afraid of beatboxers. Can you tell me some positive stuff about beatboxers that will change my preconceived notions?
RACHEL ROSENTHAL: Ha! North Coast has actually gotten gigs because someone overhears our beatboxer and asks what we’re doing. It’s like working with any other live accompanist. It’s so impressive what they can do. They really work on it as a craft. On the flight home from Portland this year, I was sitting next to Ethan “Exacto” Scott—the guy you saw with us—and he was trying to improve my kicks because I’m trying to learn to beatbox. I was like, “We can’t do this on the airplane! It’s so annoying.” But he totally disagrees. He’s like, “This is my job. This is what I do. It’s totally fine.” I was like, “No. No one wants to sit near a person on an airplane that’s beatboxing.”
