Abigail Taylor: The art of saying 'Yes' a bit less

When Abigail Taylor isn’t walking to work at Burke County United Way, or teaching Audio & Visual Production as an adjunct instructor at Western Piedmont Community College, they can be found extracting laughs with Morganton Improv, an improv and sketch comedy group they started in 2018, or head-banging and singing lead vocals in the Asheville-based punk band, Fantømex.

“This summer, I made myself a promise that I was gonna step back and do less stuff. So, I’m thinking, ‘What do I want to do?’” Taylor said, leaning back in their seat at Thornwell Books with their red pumps conjuring the impression of a tattooed Dorothy from “The Wizard of Oz” and their knee tattoos, “You hate jazz?” and “You fear jazz.” prompting more questions than there was time to ask.

One of the first things on the list: They’ve decided to hand the reins of Morganton Improv over to another member of the group, Chet Wagner.

“(Passing it off) allowed me to just show up and do improv,” Taylor explained. “I was the one putting together the events and stuff, and it was so busy. … Chet’s done improv for a really long time, and he used to be a part of a big improv group in Charleston, so I knew that he had it under control.”

“I feel like, with improv, maybe that’s my thing: starting things, and then, after a while, being like ‘Here’ — hand it off and go start the next project,” Taylor continued. “I say ‘Yes’ a lot to a lot of things.”

To make the balancing act more difficult, not all yesses are equal. For an upcoming trip to Ireland, Taylor said they’re hyperfocused and nearly unable to think about anything else.

“If I’m gonna go somewhere or do something, then I’m gonna learn every single thing I can about where I went,” Taylor said. “I just want to go be part of the culture. … Because I love poetry and a lot of my favorite poets are Irish poets — so, of course, we’ll be seeing W.B. Yeats’ grave.”

The haikus Taylor writes often get transposed into song lyrics, finding their way onto guitar riffs of the indie punk, post-hardcore band. For nonaficionados of music — they jam hard.

Although Taylor’s punk enough to rock out with the “cacophony of genres,” as they described it, their outlook on the community around them takes a softer approach.

“I think it’s good to learn your actual neighbors’ names in case they need anything, or you need anything from them,” Taylor said. “I think I learned that in (Hurricane Helene). A lot of people, when the hurricane happened, it was really good to know your direct neighbors in case anybody was in need of anything.”

Burke County United Way (BCUW), where Taylor has worked for seven years, has been instrumental in developing the Long Term Recovery Group to coordinate the efforts of rebuilding after the storm.

BCUW’s work focuses on “empowering self-sufficiency, increasing housing stability, and fostering opportunities and success for youth,” according to their site.

“I’ve been letting people know that it’s our 70th anniversary,” Taylor explained. “Especially after the hurricane happened, it was very clear that we had a lot of responsibility to pull people and resources together.”