For This Improv Junkie, the Search for Great Comedy Makes Life More Exciting

Dee Marcus believes the essentials of life aren’t limited to food, clothing and shelter.

“People need excitement and joy,” she said firmly. “And great comedy will make you feel alive.”

Marcus has been doing her part on the comedy front for more than 25 years: first as founder and director of the improv group Illegitimate Theatre in the Bay Area, followed locally by “Off the Wall” in 1975 and “Funny You Should Ask” in 1977, still running at the Hollywood Improv and the Melrose Theatre, respectively. No longer involved in either show, Marcus is now one of a five-member improv group--stitching together songs and scenes based on audience suggestions--in “Nothing Sacred” at The Comedy Store in Hollywood.

“The last thing I needed was to put on another show--especially with the other two still running,” she said, adding that her biggest motivation was to introduce audiences to the talents of Nick Jameson and Gracie Moore.

Not coincidentally, “Nothing Sacred” troupe members Jameson, Moore and Andy Goldberg recently joined Marcus to play comic foils to unsuspecting TV inductees on “The New Candid Camera.” Marcus, who has a scene with Warren Beatty in the upcoming film “Bugsy,” also keeps busy with her companies SuperLoopers and KinderLoopers, doing looping work (adding the background voice track) for television and movies.

“I’ve done every episode of ‘L.A. Law’ this season,” she said proudly. “If it’s a bar or restaurant scene, we make it sound natural. Now we’re doing ‘Brooklyn Bridge,’ so there’s a lot of children noises, playing out of doors, trips to Coney Island, people fishing off the pier. Gifted improvisers do the best background voices because we’re trained to be glib, grab hold of characters. Regular actors are used to doing everything from a script: ‘What am I supposed to say now?’ ”

Retired from private coaching last year, Marcus continues to teach at the professional children’s school Center Stage L.A., and refers to her students as “my kids.” “I’ve always had the ability to recognize talent, and I love nurturing it,” she said emphatically. “There’s no jealousy.”

Andy Goldberg, whose text “Improv Comedy” will soon be published by Samuel French, says simply, “Dee introduced me to what improv was, the technique of it.”

“I always say, ‘Go to the top of your intelligence and imagination,’ ” said Marcus, whose roster of students includes Robin Williams and Garry Shandling. “I think improv attracts that kind of audience--who are intelligent and want to participate.

“When we were doing the Illegitimate Theatre outside the gates of Stanford, people would come back to the shows with tablets full of scenes and characters they’d developed over the week” for the company to improvise on.

Born to a Russian Bolshevik father and an American mother, Marcus grew up in the Bay Area in what she calls an “incredibly gifted” family: Her brother was a boy soprano discovered by Eddie Cantor, her sister, a violinist who debuted with the Oakland Symphony at age 7. “I’d take streetcars to movies, go to libraries to read plays,” Marcus recalled. “After I quit piano for the third time--at 11--my mother said, ‘You don’t have to be a musician, but you do have to be something.’ ”

Marcus admitted what she’d known since she was 4: that she wanted to be an actress. Years later, after “many, many” attempts at college, she began teaching drama at a private school and at a pilot program nursery school. “I think I was a good teacher because I treated everyone the way they needed to be treated,” she said. “I believe people learn best by doing, being free, finding out what works. I’m the least instructional teacher you’ll ever want to meet.”

In 1973, with multiple appearances on “The Tonight Show,” “The Merv Griffin Show” and “The Dick Cavett Show” under her belt, and the mother of three children by now, she packed her car and headed for Los Angeles. “The Illegitimate Theatre had lost its facility, and the pilot program had lost its funding,” she said. “I wanted a full-time career as a performer, and I couldn’t do it in San Francisco. But when it came time for me to pursue my career, I had the perfect husband.”

Although the couple are now estranged, Marcus expresses no regrets. “I’m not sorry I did what I did,” she said. “But L.A. is a hard town to maneuver in alone.” Choosing comedy as a career didn’t make things any easier. “You can’t make a living as an improviser,” she said. “But it is a joyous thing. I’ve never been a businesswoman; I’ve always done it for the kick, to showcase someone, perform with fabulous people. I just love it. I’m an improv junkie.”

“Nothing Sacred” plays 9 p.m. Fridays in the Belly Room at The Comedy Store, 8433 Sunset Blvd., Hollywood, indefinitely. Over 21 only. Admission $5, plus two-drink minimum. (213) 395-1830.