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ch-scene - Re: These pants are too tight, and I'm in a bad mood..com'on tell me about improv?

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  • From: kdarbro AT nc.rr.com
  • To: RTP-area local music and culture <ch-scene AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: These pants are too tight, and I'm in a bad mood..com'on tell me about improv?
  • Date: Thu, 03 Jun 2004 17:45:35 -0400

>From what I know:

ComedySports in Raleigh is a group of people that do improv regularly, and
have their own club on Peace St. in Raleigh, I believe. Right around
Glenwood.

I haven't seen them for many years, but worked with a geeky kid who I believe
is still a member of the group. He was a super nice, non-pretentious guy.
Their 'thing' is to divide up into two teams of four or so, like a red team
and a blue team, and then suggestions are given to them, probably from the
audience, for them to act out. It's staged as a competitive event, and I
believe some scoring is involved, but as in the "Who's Line is it Anyway"
kind of way, I think it is arbitrary. I'm pretty sure they keep their stuff
family friendly, but don't know these days.

They used to have a ComedySports group in Chapel Hill years ago as well, and
they performed at the Omni, which is now a Sheraton I believe. They would
hold open audition/workshops, and I'm not quite sure, but I think that once
you joined the group, you had to pay to be a member. I went to a couple of
the workshops back in the day, as I have a minor in theatre, and actually
"studied" improv, if there is such a thing, so I thought I'd continue with it
when I moved down in '92.

My impressions back then were that I wasn't that impressed. It seemed
cheesy, but keep in mind, this was in the days before "Line" became popular
in the States. Also, the group was comprised of members of the general
public trying out improv, as well as seasoned ComedySports members, so I may
be unfairly remembering the quality of the improv. I was asked to come and
watch them do their thing at the bar in the Omni one night to see if I was
interested in possibly working with them (they were extremely nice people),
and I saw a show, and determined it wasn't for me. It may be completely
different now, and I encourage you to check out one of their shows in Raleigh
some weekend and see for yourself. I'll do the same sometime, I suppose.

In Chapel Hill, there's the Transactors, a group of really talented people
headed by Greg Hohn. I've not seen them live, but have heard only amazing
praise about them, and I've worked with Greg on a show before, so I know that
he's got great abilities as an actor, both improv, and otherwise. A lot of
actor's actors have worked with the Transactors over the years, and my
feeling that their shows are much more professional than ComedySports, but
again, that's only from knowing some people in their ranks, and comparing
that with my ComedySports experiences.

There used to be a theatre group called "The Somnambulist Project" that
sometimes integrated improv into their original productions, and one
particular production, "The Inferno Project" was constructed pretty much
entirely from improv based on themes of pain, and suffering. I was a part of
it, and can only describe it as a beautiful failure. Another production,
"The Serpent", began with improvised gutteral and primordial grunts and the
like to represent the garden of eden, while I improvised the soundtrack on
guitar. I miss those days!

Anyway, currently in short, ComedySports is probably a good time if you are
looking for Comedy Central type improv stuff, and is hit or miss, but will
have some laughs. My perception is that the Transactors productions, which
are much more spread out, are consistently better events.

The only way to know is to go out and see 'em. Support local theatre.

- Kevin Darbro

> >
> > My friend Phil said, wrote:
> > > Can someone explain briefly what the improv thing
> > is about ..in Chapel
> > > Hill of course?





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