Am I a Mad Lib Maniac?

Good question. So last night January 10th, 2008 was the first DC Improvisational Open Mic Night of 2008 and I was thrilled to see tons of new faces and a packed house. We had standing room only (there must of been about 70 people in the room). I decided to open the show with a group mad lib. If you had a crappy childhood and don't know what mad libs are, I will briefly explain. Mad Libs consist of a fun story that is partially created by audience suggestions. So I asked the audience for several ideas (nouns, adverbs, adjectives, famous people) to plug into the story. Once all the blanks were filled I announced that I would read a story about my marriage ending a year ago and that this story was exactly how things went down. It worked like a charm and the audience was warmed up. Apparently I am currently dating Abraham Lincoln.

Now on to the Open Mic part. I had 6 Troupes enter to perform. They were: LOSER JOSH,
5-6-7-8, The Papers, The Quest, The Flying Kopecnees and a one man improvised story courtesy of Giovanni. Everyone did a great job and each troupe had 8 minutes to strut their stuff. The troupes showcased both long form and short form improv. In between the group performances we played short form games consisting of me pulling out single improvisers who signed up to play and they were placed randomly together on stage. I also launched a new thing for the Open Mic called Scenes Cut From a Movie where I had about 10 people on stage and a list of movies to call off. After I mentioned a movie the "actors" on stage would act out scenes that didn't make the final edited film. I think this was fun but then again the movies I picked were really for my own amusement. I am hoping the audience enjoyed this portion too.

Of course we ended the 2 hour show with a lightening round of "Lines From A Hat".

It was a great way to start off 2008 and I'm looking forward to more fun this year.

Mark your calendar for the next round of DC Improvisational Open Mic Night on
Wednesday February 20th, 2008
Sign-up is from 7-7:30 p.m.
Show starts around 8:00 p.m.

Thanks for the support!

Giggles and Improv...