Chicago, Pt. 2: The Top Shows

The shows we saw in Chicago ranged from mind-blowing to blood boiling. As a showcase of top talent across the country (and world), I had an expectation that the shows at the Chicago Improv Festival would be tours de force, helping inspire ideas in me and give me a standard of quality to shoot for. That wasn’t truly the case, however.

Out of the 14 shows I saw, I would consider three to be really great, two to be above average, five average, one below average, and three to be terrible. I’ll start with the top half. You should see these ensembles if you get the chance:

1. Mustache Rangers, Minneapolis, MN

Somehow the two men with fake mustaches managed to create a dynamic relationship and weave a fantastic story without ever moving from their chairs, or indeed, even turning their heads. The Rangers were so sharp and detail-specific that I found myself picturing their described scenarios in my head, no matter how impossible they might have been. Clever wordplay and brilliant relationship work showed us all exactly how great improv should be done. Go see the Rangers if you get the chance. You’ll be glad you did. Takeaways: Details are fabulous. I am a little jealous I didn’t think of this format first.

2. The DK & Morgan Show, Bellingham, WA

Great improv always has clearly defined, compelling relationships at its foundation, and this show was no exception. The two men (DK and Morgan) hopped around in a series of scenes, creating each relationship quickly - hunter & rabbit, lifeguards, business owner & employee, father & video game playing son… each scene had an interesting dynamic and found a game quickly. It sucked me right in. As with most sets, certain times found the men with a moment of waning energy, but the clever duo also had a pianist with them to help cover transitions, pick up energy, set mood, and enhance scenes. In the scene with the video game, the theme from “Super Mario Brothers” played softly in the background while the duo talked. The whole crowd applauded when the actor pushed the pause button, and the piano chimed in with the clipped ring identical to the pause music in the game.  Takeaways: Establishing definite relationships right out of the gate saves time. A good improv pianist is worth his/her weight in gold.

3. Late Night Tit Bits, Chicago, IL

This show was not part of the festival itself, but went on directly before my show. I would have seen whatever show happened right before mine - I’m glad I saw this one. It was advertised as “burlesque improv,” and it was… kinda. It was definitely a burlesque show. The smarmy male host did his job really well, keeping a great pace and keeping the crowd engaged between the scripted monologues of the six women, which were funny stories about how each got involved in burlesque performing (each actor kept the same character throughout); and each woman’s dance, each of which was energetic, fun, and sexy. In particular, my favorite was the real estate agent that just danced on the side… her dance was full of verve and joy, which made her amazing. On the improv side of the coin… it was there. The host took my suggestion of “burned out light bulbs” as the problem facing the house that evening, a suggestion which did indeed pop up from time to time during pre-determined “improv segments,” which featured some one-line jokes about the problem and some brainstorming about how to solve it. Improv only made up about 5-10% of the whole show… and the improv itself wasn’t terribly stellar, but it didn’t need to be, as the rest of the show was full of life and energy. I genuinely enjoyed myself…and would have been just as entertained if the improv had been absent altogether. Takeaways: Energy, commitment to a character, and fun count for a lot. A little skin doesn’t hurt either.

4. Imp’ers, Martha’s Vineyard, MA

This group was one of the apprentice teams, were really young, and had one of the best shows I saw at the whole festival. The five women and two men in this troupe performed “FarmProv,” in which each scene happened at a farm, and all the characters were animals. The strength of this troupe was that the great characters had believable relationships, and when they found the games in each scene, they played the hell out of them. In particular, a scene in which the chickens and lizards went to war against each other was hilarious. This troupe had its problems, sure (like lack of detail in scene painting)… but problems are so very easy to overlook when you have good basic improv skills combined with this much joy and exuberance. Great show. Takeaways: I already knew animal characters can be really funny - I have a lot of stock recurring animal characters that routinely bring the house down - but when you have an entire stage full of anthropromorphic animals, you’re freed from human constraints, and magic can happen. I may adapt this concept into a longform of my own.

5. Psychic Improv, Boston, MA

Again, great relationships and fun games combine to make a show worth seeing. Ths group’s schtick is that they are both psychics, and they prove it by having an audience member write down a phrase on a sheet of paper before the show. They seal this paper inside an envelope, which they rub on their foreheads (a la Johnny Carson) between each scene. At the end of the set, they open the envelope, reveal the phrase, and use the old improv maxim “you can justify anything” to apply that phrase to each scene in the entire set.  Good fun! Takeaways: It doesn’t matter what happens in any given scene… you can justify anything.

6. Moving Walkways, Baltimore, MD

Another apprentice team, two women and two men were this time performing a format that is really similar to the one Omega Directive does in the first half of its show. MW started by putting an iPod on shuffle, skipping past a certain number of songs, then using that song as inspiration for all the scenes that followed. The song turned out to be from “Jesus Christ Superstar,” so the scenes were religion, church, and sin based, including classes on how to be a deity and how to fornicate properly. The characters were all quite good and compelling, and the only thing that stopped this group from being higher on the list is that nothing really ever happened to them. Takeaways: Characters and relationships are so very important, and are a great way to start a scene.

7. Three-Hole Punch, Boston, MA

The third group from Massachusetts in my top 7 makes me wonder what’s in the water up there. This group of four women had a series of three-person scenes that recurred throughout the set. The relationships were fine, and the games were fun. It was a great show to watch, and even though there was never a specific point when they really sunk their improv hooks into me, I still enjoyed myself. Takeaways: Three-person scenes aren’t necessarily too crowded right up top.

Still to come… the bottom 7, and the horrors contained within.

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