A quick-fire evening of comedy based on details from the audience’s lives
The League of Improv’s shows bring a celebrity host together with their small troupe of improvisers to create off-the-cuff scenes inspired (albeit very loosely) by audience interactions. This is a bold undertaking, particularly over a 2-hour time slot, and the challenge can vary wildly depending on the audience’s contributions. This month’s show featured Lou Sanders as the guest host, whose characteristic quirky humour gelled well with the troupe’s penchant for spinning audience details into a zany set of scenes.
If you’ve never seen an improv show before, this improv format offers a relatively easy entry point: the host will chat with audience members, perhaps asking about their relationships or jobs, and then the improvisers will craft a few short scenes. The Phoenix Arts Club–the League of Improv’s new home–offers a cosy, intimate setting perfect for this interactive style. Lou Sanders’s easy-going, conversational style of comedy suited this role well, as she zeroed in on a variety of audience members’ unique relationships, from competitive mothers to a group of unusually friendly neighbours. The group has clearly developed an easy rhythm of tagging each other in and out of scenes, and occasionally prompting the actors in the current scene to jump forward or backward in time to help flesh out the storytelling. There were a few moments, though, where one character would refuse to get on board with another’s ideas or explanations, which set up a feeling of slightly unrealised potential within the scene. Of course, the old rule of ‘yes, and’ doesn’t need to apply to every single moment in an improv show, as that doesn’t always leave much room for conflict and tension between characters, but sometimes pulling the scene back towards what’s ‘realistic’ can hamstring an idea that might have been a fun flight of fancy.
The highlights of the evening were a few really memorable improvised characters, ranging from a fraudulent restaurateur who changed the subject every time he was about to break into song, a coworker waxing poetic about his ‘platonic’ friend’s soulful eyes, and an unsettlingly lecherous cat. Granted, each show is unique, so these characters won’t make a reappearance, but the next show will have an entirely new set of scenes, no doubt populated with equally memorable figures. If you’re looking for some quick-fire laughs, bring some fun facts about yourself and see what magic might be created!