friday night i had the pleasure of seeing (for the third!! time) the improvised shakespeare company.
what: the improvised shakespeare company team
where: iO
accompaniment: dustin, emily, & aj!
drinkability: bar at the space!
show length: a little over an hour with an intermission
out of four: four/four
its funny how opportunities to see shows fall into your lap sometimes. i had been planning for the last couple of weeks to see the hypocrites' ivywild this weekend, until a facebook caption contest appeared for the ISC and i entered and (to my surprise) won tickets to the 10:30pm show on friday. just like that, plans changed. (fingers crossed i still get to catch ivywild before it closes!)
yes, this is my third opportunity to see the improvised shakespeare company. once when my mom was in town i convinced (see: dragged her) to see it (much to her surprise she loved it) and then later we took two friends to see it as well. this third time i think was the most polished of them all, and quite possibly my favorite of all three performances.
here's the deal: a group of 5+ actors (the company is comprised of fourteen actors who rotate performances) come out on stage dressed in simple black pants and tunic-like shirts. they ask for suggestions from the audience to base their improv for the evening around. friday night's suggestion they took from the audience was "sexy handshake", and off they went.
friday the performers were: blaine swen, matt young, ross bryant, brendan dowling and two other actors whose names/headshots were inconveniently not listed on the iO or improv shakes website. :) shortly after the topic is announced one actor steps forward to recite a rhyming prologue...you know, just off the cuff. then the play begins, complete with an act break, obvious scene changes and an epilogue. again...just completely on the spot (as improv goes.)
these guys are truly professionals. we all know from the little bit of improv rules that are discussed in tiny fey's bossypants or more recently from tobias funke ("yes, and, yes, and, yes, and") that the number one rule of improv is to agree to what your partner gives you and continue to move the show forward. these guys did this flawlessly! not only are they moving a story forward with different plot lines running simultaneously but they are doing all with an emphasis in shakespearian verbiage and tone.
there's simply no need for me to say anything more about the performances i've seen than this: these guys sell out their houses twice a night every friday for a reason. they're incredibly talented, incredibly funny and all work well together. as far as i could tell everyone got ample stage time and they all supported and included each other throughout the show. that in itself is impressive.
the only thing i'd like to see in future ISC shows is the addition of some females! as far as i can tell from the shows i have seen as well as the cast listing on their website - this group involves no females whatsoever! while one might argue that in shakespeare's time there were no females allowed on stage... this is the modern age, dude! i'd love to see some lady talent up there.
go see them. every friday night, 8pm & 10:30 at iO. buy tickets in advance!
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shows i'm considering for june:
-the hypocrites' ivywild
-the brown paper box company's aloha, say the pretty girls
-prop thtr's slaughter city
-TBD
join me, will you?http://www.improvisedshakespeare.com/
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