Improv is a way of life for Jackson, who's at Detroit Improv Festival

Julie Hinds | Detroit Free Press

There is no better advocate for improvisational comedy than Marc Evan Jackson, who's performing this week at the Detroit Improv Festival.

"Well, improvisation is really the foundation of all success and all happiness. It's such an overwhelmingly positive and life-affirming and confidence-building and friend-creating thing," says Jackson, who has the calm, soothing voice of a public radio host, a job he actually held for a while at an NPR affiliate in west Michigan.

If you recognize Jackson, it's probably because the Second City Detroit alumnus has an IMDb list that seems to cover the past two decades of peak TV comedy. He's appeared on everything from "Reno 911!" to "Key & Peele" to "Modern Family" to "Parks and Recreation."

More: 7 key comedy facts from Marc Evan Jackson of 'Brooklyn Nine-Nine'

Most recently, he's been juggling recurring roles on two of the smartest, funniest comedies around: NBC's life-after-death sitcom "The Good Place" and its newly acquired "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," a critical favorite canceled by Fox in May and saved almost immediately by the Peacock Network.

Throw in Jackson's roles in films like "22 Jump Street," "Kong: Skull Island" and "Jumanji: Welcome To The Jungle," his voice work on "Adventure Time" and "DuckTales" and his well-received podcast about "The Good Place," and you might assume he'd use his off-hours to rest.

And that's not counting the collaboration he does with the 313, a Los Angeles-based improv troupe of former Detroiters, or his frequent visits to the Detroit Improv Festival, an annual event created by his friends and former students.

This year's festival runs through Sunday at four venues in Ferndale. It includes highlights like the "Spontaneanation" podcast with actor/comedian Paul F. Tompkins, a two-act improvised musical, and the Flying Chuck wrestling-centric improv show.

Jackson will be doing improv at shows Friday and Saturday. It's a homecoming for the lanky funny man with the exquisite deadpan delivery, who grew up in Buffalo and honed his comedy craft in Grand Rapids and Detroit.

Jackson came to Michigan to attend Calvin College in Grand Rapids. After graduating, he worked for a few years sailing schooners in Traverse City and Maine before returning to west Michigan in 1994 and connecting with River City Improv, a west Michigan group that's been around for 25 years.

"They brought me on to play the piano for them, to be their accompanist," he recalls. "I was truly at the first rehearsal for about 10 minutes and saw what they were doing, and that was my a-ha moment of, like 'Oh, we need to find someone else to come play the piano, because I want you to teach me everything about what you're doing, because I want to do it for the rest of my life.' "

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Jackson joined the now-defunct Second City Detroit group in the late 1990s. The troupe was a career launching pad for Emmy winner Keegan-Michael Key (who'll be seen next in the "Predator" reboot)" and actors like Larry Joe Campbell ("According to Jim"), Maribeth Monroe ("Workaholics") and "Detroiters" stars Sam Richardson and Tim Robinson.

Jackson credits the high success rate of Second City Detroit alums to two things: Detroit's "scrappy and deep work ethic," and the necessity of churning out multiple shows per year.

Where the Second City mothership in Chicago and outpost in Toronto could rely on an influx of tourists to keep a show running for a year, Detroit didn't have that luxury. "We'd spend two months writing a show. We'd put it up for two months, and then we could feel our audience dwindle because we didn't have that influx of tourists who come from all around," remembers Jackson. "We would write three or four shows a year. The circumstances dictated that we'd always be writing."

As a result, Jackson got what he considers a graduate degree in improv from Second City Detroit. By the time he moved to Los Angeles in 2001, other Second City Detroit veterans had migrated there, "so I knew I had some couches to crash on."

Jackson's career has grown in what he calls "a gradual trajectory" that currently links him with two acclaimed comedies. "I definitely run into that age-old thing of people saying, 'Wow, you're an overnight success.' To me, it seems like about 40 years."

On "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," he plays Kevin Cozner, the stuffy, cerebral husband of Andre Braugher's Captain Raymond Holt. In episodes like last season's "Safe House," Kevin endures precinct-related indignities such as having to watch awful Nicolas Cage movies with Andy Samberg's Detective Jake Peralta while hiding from criminals.

The role is a perfect fit for Jackson's dry, understated humor. He recalls his first day of filming on "Brooklyn Nine-Nine": "They said roll camera, and I said to (executive producer) Dan Goor, 'Wait, wait, wait! We haven't talked about this. Who is Kevin Cozner?' And he said, 'He's you.' And I said, 'Oh, I can do that.' "

In May, Fox canceled "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" after five seasons, prompting a social media outcry from fans. A day later, NBC announced it was picking up the show for a sixth season.

"It was about 27 or 30 hours of despair, because these are characters and actors I love and love working with," says Jackson, who is thrilled at the show's rescue.

On "The Good Place," Jackson also is a recurring character, He portrays Shawn, who judges issues that occur between the Good Place (aka a version of heaven) and the Bad Place (you get the idea).

Both shows have been praised for having an inclusiveness that reflects the diversity of the real world.

"It's so great to be part of two very well thought-out shows that do have people from all walks of life and all ethnicities represented, and their ethnicities aren't the first item on their resume," says Jackson.

"Manny Jacinto, who plays Jason Mendoza (on 'The Good Place'), has talked on the podcast I host about it, about how cool it is that he is in scenes with my friend Eugene Cordero from Pontiac (who'll be at the Detroit Improv Festival). He said, 'Here are two Filipino guys doing scenes together and it has nothing to do with them being Filipino. They're just these two funny dudes.' "

In 2011, Jackson and his wife, Michigan native Beth Hagenlocker, founded the Detroit Creativity Project, which is dedicated to empowering and inspiring the city's young people through the arts.

To achieve that goal, the Detroit Creativity Project brings improv lessons to students from Detroit schools, giving them an opportunity to stretch their imaginations and build self-confidence, a sense of empathy and other life skills that will help with any job they pursue

Jackson says it also has a positive impact in areas like attendance and grades. And an ongoing study by the University of Michigan that involves the program has found that it's helpful for kids who self-identify with social anxiety, social phobia and depression.

Everyone should try an improv class at some point in their lives, according to Jackson.

"It really does open up your world and teach you that you're not responsible for having all the answers, and that through teamwork and collaboration,a lot is possible," he says, "Truly, together, there's nothing that can't be accomplished."

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds: 313-222-6427 or jhinds@freepress.com.

Detroit Improv Festival

Wednesday through Sunday

Various locations in Detroit and Ferndale

Marc Evan Jackson will perform in group shows at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Friday at the Magic Bag and 10 p.m. Saturday at Go Comedy Improv Theater.

For ticket information and schedule, go to DetroitImprovFestival.org