Chris Bruno landed on Your Morning Drive almost by accident. Host Logan Lewis had to scrap a previous episode over audio issues, and scrolling through his contacts the night before a release deadline, he remembered the guy whose wife, Meredith, had already been a guest — and whose improv show, seen just weeks earlier, had left him genuinely stunned. What followed was a wide-ranging hour with a self-described introvert who spends his days running student housing for 52,000 students at Kennesaw State University and his Sunday nights building Cartersville's first real improv theater out of a borrowed coffee shop event space. By the end, it was clear Chris isn't just doing a hobby on the side. He's planting a seed for what Cartersville's comedy scene could become.
The Doraville Kid Who Found His People Through Comedy
Chris grew up in Doraville, Georgia, raised by his mom and sister after his parents split when he was three. Money was tight, and by his own admission he wasn't cool: "I was that kid that was friends with everybody, but also friends with no one." What filled the gap was comedy. He'd watch In Living Color — the sketch show that gave Jim Carrey his breakout role — and bring the impressions to school the next day. He listened to the Jerky Boys' prank-call albums and Adam Sandler's They're All Gonna Laugh At You on repeat in his room. On weekends with his dad, he watched VHS tapes of David Letterman and, every Saturday at 11:30, Saturday Night Live. "There's an old saying," Chris said, "the shortest distance between two people is a joke. If you can make someone laugh, that takes down walls." He wasn't voted class clown, but he says anyone who went to school with him would tell you: that dude was pretty funny.
From Dad's Garage Rejections to Founding His Own Troupe
The turning point came at 30. His friend James Robalata, an improviser in New York, told him he should take a class. Chris signed up for a level-one course at Atlanta's Dad's Garage theater and knew immediately: "I think I found what I'm supposed to do." He worked through all four levels of training and auditioned twice to join the Dad's Garage cast — and got turned down both times. Instead of quitting, he started his own independent troupe in 2012, the first of its kind in Atlanta, with a standing show at Smith's Olde Bar. That troupe disbanded around 2016 as life got in the way, and Chris moved to Cartersville with Meredith. He reconnected with improv through his "bestie" Megan Humphries, directing improv at the Pump House Players for six years before leaving last October to launch his own company, Cartersville Improv LLC, home to the troupe Sunday League.
Sunday League's Group Mind — and Why Rehearsal Doubles as Therapy
The troupe's name is literal: they rehearse Sunday nights and perform Saturdays, two hours a week for two years running, in the lobby of a cast member's counseling office at Edwalk Counseling. "Our rehearsals are our therapy," Chris said. "That is how we get through the tough weeks that we have... we hug each other a lot. We say we love you." Logan pushed back on the idea that improv is unrehearsed: watching the troupe's "one voice" bit, where two performers speak in perfect unison, and a callback joke about Rock Mart that kept resurfacing through the show, he assumed it had to be scripted. Chris explained the real skill isn't being funny — it's listening. "You have to listen with your whole body," he said. "Once you get up here and you're in your brain thinking too much, you're toast as an improviser." That's what creates "group mind," the point where a well-rehearsed troupe starts finishing each other's scenes.
Building Cartersville Improv Brick by Brick
The business math is refreshingly honest. Tickets are $15, shows sell 45 seats, and all six shows Sunday League has performed have sold out — some requiring a presale link just to keep up with demand. After a $300 celebratory dinner at Jefferson's, the troupe nets roughly $400 a show. Chris, who calls himself "incredibly risk averse," is running a five-year plan to build enough capital for a permanent home, modeled loosely on Upright Citizens Brigade in New York. Fall will bring eight-week improv classes at $200 a head, with a long-term goal of multiple troupes operating under the Cartersville Improv umbrella. He borrowed a line from Hamilton to describe the mission: "Legacy is planting seeds in a garden you never get to see... I don't know that I'll see what my legacy is, but I'd like to leave that for Cartersville."
Comedy's Weird Moment — and Why Cartersville Might Be Part of It
Much of the conversation turned into a genuine comedy-nerd deep dive. Chris and Logan traded theories on why studios stopped making comedies after the early 2010s, why Shane Gillis got fired from SNL only to sell out Notre Dame Stadium, and how Netflix now leases specials from comedians like Dusty Slay instead of owning them outright — pushing some comics to just post full sets on YouTube. On the improv side, Chris ranked Chicago, New York, and LA as the traditional hubs, with Atlanta sitting closer to "top 100." But he sees momentum locally: comedian Rich Brock bringing stand-up to Cartersville, the Alley Stage rising in Marietta, and Sunday League quietly building an audience an hour outside Atlanta. "We're the best improv troupe north of Marietta," Chris said, finally owning it after Logan called him out for deflecting his own success.
Listen to the Full Conversation
From a fisheries-and-wildlife-biology degree and a teenage byline in Bassin Magazine, to his ranked list of favorite comics (Anthony Jeselnik, Dave Chappelle, John Mulaney) and his go-to appetizer order of mozzarella sticks and pretzel bites, Chris Bruno brought far more to this conversation than an improv pitch. Catch the full episode of Your Morning Drive with Chris Bruno on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube, and follow Cartersville Improv on Instagram and Facebook to catch Sunday League's next sold-out show.
Listen to Episode #495
Catch the full conversation with Chris Bruno on Your Morning Drive, wherever you listen.
