Comedy Improv
We went to a comedy "improv" show in the U-District last Friday. We've never been to one before and we had nothing to do so we drove there for the 10:30pm show. We had about fifteen minutes to spare so we stopped at the Irish Emigrant. Not really a very special bar--it's almost a sports bar--but it was close by and we needed the beer. The female bartender had the voice and attitude of a sorority girl: a crackly voice and a demeanor slightly on the rude side; acting a little bit masculine by pretending to like sports ("I love to wear baseball hats" + the crackly voice) , but not too much where it'll turn the guys off. Well, everybody's got to do what they got to do...
Back to the theater where we got there just on time. There's actually a bar there and we were going to drink there before the show but it is very small and right next to the entrance where someone is always coming in or out. The good news is that you can get a drink anytime during the show. We took full advantage of that unusual (in the U.S.) perk.
An improv comedy show is just what it suggests: the comedy is improvised based on audience suggestions. For example, a few of the skits involved asking the audience random questions such as "What's in the room?". My girlfriend yelled out "elephant" and so one of the words to be used was elephant. A member of the comedy group would wait outside until there were five or six such random words and then he (unfortunately there were no female performers) would have to guess what the words were in a two minute game of pictionary. The difference between a regular game and this one was that they had to do it in the form of a conversation.
And it was conversation that was really the highlight of the show. The audience would choose a random topic--one was taxidermy--and the members would strike up a conversation. Five were lined up facing the stage and one was in front of them and facing them. After one of them started talking about the topic at hand, he would randomly point to anyone else who had to immediately pick up the storyline without pausing (even when in the middle of a word!) and without straying off course to the point where the story no longer made sense. That takes a lot of talent and they were all very very good. Is it as funny as regular stand-up comedy? I think so, but I could see myself going to see a different comedian almost every week, whereas I'd probably get bored seeing improv too often in succession.
After the show, we stopped at another bar for a couple more. This was a punk kind of place so we were not dressed accordingly, but we didn't care. We talked about whether the people there were dressed like that because that was their style or because it was to fit in. I think they think they're original, but the power of the latter is frequently underestimated: I believe that probably less than 5% of the population truly doesn't care what other people think and isn't influenced by others (at least in terms of choice of wardrobe). If that wasn't the case, why would they all kind of look the same (at this bar or most other bars, workplaces, etc.)?
Back to the theater where we got there just on time. There's actually a bar there and we were going to drink there before the show but it is very small and right next to the entrance where someone is always coming in or out. The good news is that you can get a drink anytime during the show. We took full advantage of that unusual (in the U.S.) perk.
An improv comedy show is just what it suggests: the comedy is improvised based on audience suggestions. For example, a few of the skits involved asking the audience random questions such as "What's in the room?". My girlfriend yelled out "elephant" and so one of the words to be used was elephant. A member of the comedy group would wait outside until there were five or six such random words and then he (unfortunately there were no female performers) would have to guess what the words were in a two minute game of pictionary. The difference between a regular game and this one was that they had to do it in the form of a conversation.
And it was conversation that was really the highlight of the show. The audience would choose a random topic--one was taxidermy--and the members would strike up a conversation. Five were lined up facing the stage and one was in front of them and facing them. After one of them started talking about the topic at hand, he would randomly point to anyone else who had to immediately pick up the storyline without pausing (even when in the middle of a word!) and without straying off course to the point where the story no longer made sense. That takes a lot of talent and they were all very very good. Is it as funny as regular stand-up comedy? I think so, but I could see myself going to see a different comedian almost every week, whereas I'd probably get bored seeing improv too often in succession.
After the show, we stopped at another bar for a couple more. This was a punk kind of place so we were not dressed accordingly, but we didn't care. We talked about whether the people there were dressed like that because that was their style or because it was to fit in. I think they think they're original, but the power of the latter is frequently underestimated: I believe that probably less than 5% of the population truly doesn't care what other people think and isn't influenced by others (at least in terms of choice of wardrobe). If that wasn't the case, why would they all kind of look the same (at this bar or most other bars, workplaces, etc.)?
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