The last day of Hannukkah...

Was awesome! I couldn't think of a better way to spend the final night of the festival of lights than with some funny improv people. Improv Open Mic Night was hosted on Friday, December 18, 2009. Not only was this the final night of Hanukkah but it was also my 3 year anniversary since I started this forum back in Dec 2006. Time flies! We had a great group of people with about 30 wanting to perform. There were some new faces in the crowd and some other people who were at the first ever event back in 2006 (thanks Loser Josh folks!). I opened the night up with a karaoke video I made to Adam Sandler's "Chanukkah Song". We had a few laughs and were ready to kick off the show. Some of the highlights of the night were, "Diwali" , "Jizz in a drink" (I don't know how that came into play) and of course the "Amateur Rap Battle". The Rap battle was amazing. In the true spirit of Improv, the other people on stage caught on and jumped in. It was a true "Yo Mama" show in action and everyone was "yes anding"...it was awesome! Some new things I tried was a Superheros game with a large group of people. I think that worked really well and I'll definitely bring it back. Everyone got to perform on stage at least twice and of course we did the lightning round of Lines From A Hat to end the event. Thanks to everyone who has supported this forum for the past three years. It looks like I will be returning on Friday, January 22, 2010 in The DC Improv Comedy Lounge. Sign-up is 6:30pm - 7:30pm and the show will begin at 8:05 pm. See you in the New Year!

Here's an email I received from a new patron to Improv Open Mic Night. I think she summed this up better than I could.
"Last night was totally hilarious and fun in a really supportive environment despite me knowing only 2 other people there, Allyson and Dan. It was fun cool and exciting like if your friends were standing around a trampoline/net thing and had to toss you up into the air and were
responsible and concerned for your safety as well and made sure you did not fall or bounce off, painfully, into thorny bushes somewhere. So that nurturing, watchful, considerate person was Allyson! Go girl and thanks for taking it easy on me and still getting me up on stage.
It was just fantastic and fun! For me, the biggest surprise of the night was the mean, fierce, sick and quick lyrical genius from our own Dan, who was the obvious champion in the Rap Rival scenario. Our whole table ( and yes, we met 6 new people last night who sat with us) was totally proud of Dan in all his scenes. You'd never guess he kept saying he was nervous--his style, with the thoughtful pause and then spewing out something hilarious and unexpected, worked really well. The other hilarious moment of the night was a theme that threaded through many of the acts, and that was Diwali, which then evolved into Diwanzaa and Diwannukah. Globalization and diversity in comedy, man, I was diggin it. You could see the folks using what Shawn's outfitted us with--the who/where/emotional response, the human madlib, and others. It was really funny to see when one actor would come behind another actor to add more waving and spinning hands to liken the Hindu God Shiva/Vishnu/Ram...it was all over the place, it was great!
Just wanted to share with you guys. We are gonna have so much fun, this is cool!
Hope you are staying warm and cozy on this snowfilled saturday.
See you on Monday! shaps"

New Date Announced!

The next open mic night will be held on Friday, December 18, 2009 in The DC Improv Comedy Lounge. Sign-up to play is 6:30pm - 7:30pm and the show will begin at 8:05 pm.

I hope you can make it...this is the 3 year anniversary show of this event. Time flies when you are having fun improvising.

How many Firemen does it take to unplug a microwave?

The answer is 38; which we learned this past Friday when I hosted DC Improvisational Open Mic night in the Comedy Lounge. Even though I was exhausted that night I decided to open with a personal story that has an embarrassing element to it. At every open mic night, the goal of the forum is to create a place where there is no such thing as making a fool out of yourself so what better way to create that atmosphere than by throwing myself under the bus for other people's enjoyment? After I told the story, I invited 3 improv actors to come on stage and reenact the events that had taken place. We had a good laugh; we all screamed and we got ready to start the show. We had about 40 people in the audience with roughly half interested in performing. I did some regular games and attempted a couple of new ones. Since it was Friday the 13th I decided to create a game based on superstitions. I found a list of superstitions and set up 2 person scenes based on the superstition I read aloud. This game seemed to work pretty well. Another new one that I think was successful was a game called "Sounds Like a Song". Basic premise is it is a series of 2 person scenes and at one point during the scene one actor leads the scene into a song. I tried to get everyone on stage at least twice in the evening in addition to the lightning round of scenes from a hat. The Migraines, Gio and The Unemployed performed as well that night. All in all, I think it was a successful event (even though I was not bringing my A game) and thank those people who came out to the show. We had about a 50/50 split between new folks and regular attendees so thanks again.

The next one is still in the works. I'll keep you posted.

Boo! Macarena! Quiet Please!

Alright, so I am almost 2 weeks late writing this entry and I'm sorry about that. I hosted Improvisational Open Mic night on October 9th to a standing room only crowd. Since it was October, I decided to start off the show with something scary. So I made a short video that featured some funny/scary moments of people tormenting their kids by scaring them (thanks America's Funniest Videos) followed by the music of Los Del Rio's "Macarena", which is scary all on its own. It was not the best opening but it was an opening and we had a few laughs and got ready to improvise. I decided to open this month up to just solo performers and I did not have slots for groups. I think in the end I had almost 40 people I wanted to get stage time so I tried to do some larger group games to give people a chance. Some of them were great...others not so much. Here's a list of successful ones: Before or After, Ally Says, Freeze Tag and probably the best was Deleted Scenes. For deleted scenes, I chose a group of 10 improv actors and used only scary movies. The goal was to re create scenes that were cut from that particular movie. Too bad I can't do scary movies every month. In March, I can probably choose to work with Leprechaun 1 - 5; so start watching those movies now to be prepared. Now, we once again did Mystery Date which went over okay but we did need some assistance from random "clue people" to help with the guessing. Plus I got totally distracted by a group of people who were drunk and very loud seated right next to me and clearly lost interest in the show (they were not improvisers, they were friends of one). To the point where "fun and playful Ally" turned into "club manager get these people to be quiet Ally". I had addressed them from the stage a couple of times and then finally I had to address them off the stage, it was at this point that one of the larger group games kinda tanked. I tried to do a musical genre game after but it was a mess so we switched to a game of World's Worst (thanks to a suggestion from the audience because I was too frazzled by the disrepectful group - can you tell I'm still bent from that?). Of course we ended with the lightning round of "Lines From A Hat". Overall we had a good time and I was shocked at how crowded it was. I guess that means I'll be back for another month. Next one is scheduled for Friday, November 13 in The DC Improv Comedy Lounge. Sign-up is from 6:30-7:30 pm and the show will begin at 8:05 pm. See you then!!

What's the matter...chicken?

Last Friday, September 11, 2009 I hosted another installment of Improvisational Open Mic Night. We had probably close to 40 people there with about half the audience interested in participating. I decided to get us in the mood with a group activity to help create a safe and comfortable environment. I had three volunteers on stage and asked everyone to get on their feet. Once the music hit, everyone knew what to do...THE CHICKEN DANCE! Oh yeah! Jealous? It's funny how 2 minutes and 34 seconds can feel like a lifetime. But we all had a good laugh and a good dance and after some screams we were ready to start the show. We started off with good ol' Pan Left/Pan Right which I think was a really good way to get in gear aside from the sad rendition of Rosh Hashannah (you had to be there). I tried a few new games too. Some I thought were great and will definitely make a repeat visit while others bombed. One game that was a huge success was Mystery Date. I took 8 people on stage and split them into 2 lines. One line was the guesser. The other line would be a famous person suggested from the audience. The 2 players had to go on a blind date and the guesser had to figure out who they were on the date with. Special props to Sharon Stone and Miley Cirus and the audience member who yelled out "you liar" during Obama's date...well played. I also tried a game called Horoscopes which is not even worth me describing because it failed. I had 2 troupes enter; The Migraines and The Unemployed plus Gio did his one man performance. The show ran until about 10:15pm. Of course we ended on the lightning round of Lines From a Hat. I was able to get everyone on stage for short form games twice which made me happy since I continue to struggle with ways to maximize every one's stage time. I'll be back in October on Friday, October 9 so mark your calendars. Doors open at 6:30pm with sign-up until 7:30pm. The show will begin promptly at 8:05 pm. See you in October!

Those Sum-um-er Nig-hhhhhhhts!

So last Wednesday July 15 was another evening of Improvisational Open Mic Night. Times are stressful for me so I have not had time to be creative (hence the delay in this blog) but I am thankful for my boyfriend and the fact that he is creative. He was responsible for the opening video last week. I decided that nothing brings a group of people together like a good ol' karaoke song and what better song to sing on a July night than the famous "Summer Nights" from Grease? Accompanied by the lyrics on a video screen and the images of Seaside Heights, NJ above it, the packed house attempted to sing to get loosened up. It worked and we dove straight in to some Improv Comedy. During the night I tried to play some new games (per the request of the audience). One game was called Ratings where basically it was a series of 2 person scenes and I would stop the scene and change the rating. For example I would yell out "Rated G" (which apparently means talk in a high voice) or "Rated NC17" (which apparently no one knew what that meant). I have to give a special shout out to the fellas from Salisbury State MD at their first open mic night for total commitment and hilariousness. Let's just say I've never seen straight guys make out without laughing. We also played a round of Ally Says and some of the usual games. I had 4 troupes sign-up; Jive Turkey, Loser Josh (both you can catch live at The DC Improv on July 31), Bound and Gagged from Salisbury and The Unmentionables. Special shout out for Matt on the Unmentionables who managed to whack himself in the head with a chair and drew blood from the injury. He spent the rest of the night with a band aid on his forehead and a pack of ice. He is a trooper because he still stayed and performed the rest of the night and had some great scenes in our final game. Of course we ended with Lines from a Hat (thanks to whoever put in the line that said Allyson rocks our improv world). This was definitely a show for the books. I'll be back in September. I am taking August off to find a new home. Thanks for all the support and if you need your improv fix remember July 31 is a a show and new classes have been announced for the Fall. See ya soon!

BRAND NEW OUTLET FOR TRAINED IMPROVISERS!

I am thrilled to announce yet another outlet for The DC Improv Comedy School Students. As part of a new monthly showcase; I will invite troupes that have formed out of the DC Improv Comedy School to star in a night of Improv Comedy. Each troupe will have 25 minutes to perform.

This month’s showcase features the improv comedy stylings of:
I Miss Blue-Ray featuring Shawn Westfall, Katie Klein and Dan Mack

Loser Josh featuring Clay Foltz, Colleen McKenna, Paul Shanoski, Elisa Cohen, Austen Villemez and Stephanie Anderson

Jive Turkey featuring Joe Randazzo, Chris Ulrich, Stephanie Svec and Katie Klein

Date: Friday, July 31, 2009
Tickets: $10 – on sale at www.dcimprov.com
Showtime: 8:00 pm / Doors open 6:30 pm
Venue: The DC Improv Comedy Lounge

*If you are a former comedy school student with your own troupe please email me at allyson@dcimprov.com for future opportunities.*

Next Open Mic Night...

I'm taking the month of June off but will be back on Wednesday July 15, 2009 to host this fine event. Save the date on your calendars for me. Sign-up is 7pm - 7:30 pm and the show will begin at 8:05 pm.

See you when I'm 31!

Pants off and stand up...

Last Wednesday, May 27 was another round of fun for Improvisational Open Mic Night. With the weather getting nicer I thought it would be a good idea to move the show to a weekday night and I was right. We had a packed house with some familiar faces and some new ones too. I opened the show up with a video of me at 20 years old practicing for the first time I ever performed stand-up (11 years ago complete with edits and commentary titles underneath). My goal was to create an atmosphere where people feel comfortable and there is no such thing as embarrassing yourself since it can't be any worse then me telling a barney dick joke dressed all in black and stressing out about not remembering the punchline (I used to be Goth). Yeah, it was that bad. The mood was set and we were warmed up for the night. I chose to try a couple of new games; one failed and one was a huge success. The game song titles didn't last more than 5 seconds. In theory it's funny but it was a little too much thinking involved for that night. Maybe another time...However, Pants On, Pants Off! was a huge success. Thanks to Marty, Clay and Joe for committing and having no fear of dropping their pants when I yelled (PANTS OFF!). The point of the game is to start a scene and when I yell "pants off" everyone drops trough and continues the scene with their pants around their ankles as if nothing is wrong. Well played gentlemen...well played. We mixed up some regular short form games and I had 30 people who signed up to play as individuals plus 5 troupes (Loser Josh, The Four Peeps, The Migraines, Guns & Roses and Gio in his one man improvised story). All in all the night was fun and people definitely got their money's worth of entertainment (it's Free!). I'll be back at some point...I don't know when yet but I'll be back. That's a threat.

Body by Ally...

Last Friday night was one of the first real nice nights in DC and I do think that open mic night was affected by that. We had a crowd of about 40 people in the lounge and I do appreciate all those who decided to spend their evenings in a basement watching and performing comedy vs. having dinner and drinks outside. SO THANK YOU 40 PEOPLE!!! Since the previous month I did not have an opening video I decided to recruit some friends of mine and film on Easter Sunday. Thanks to Jared, Chris U. and Chris W. for not caring about Jesus and for your help with Body by Ally. This video basically was a mock fitness video showing exercises that I can teach for you to have a body like mine...crooked. I had spinal fusion for scoliosis in 1997. The audience was able to have a few laughs and get focused to start the night. I was off with a headache and was definitely not firing at 100% that night. I think I was slow on ending scenes and interjecting comments along with my game explanation. However, this being a free show I can't feel too bad for not being 100% on. All in all I think people had fun. We did some standard short form games. I had 4 troupes enter to perform; The Unmentionables, The Migraines, Fountain Box and Troubled Assets. Everyone got stage time and we ended with Lines from A Hat. The show was about 2 hours long. I'll be back next month on Wednesday May 27 in the Comedy Lounge. I think with the nice weather coming, weekdays may be a better option for comedy play time.

See you next month and don't forget to attend the Comedy School Prom at Rumors on May 9. Email me for a ticket if you want to get in for free.

I was wrong and I'm sorry...

So this past Friday March 20, 2009 was Improvisational Open Mic Night. Once again it was a packed house and we were split between regular open mic goers and some new faces in the crowd; which is always fun. I have been overworked here at The DC Improv so what that meant was I did not have time to come up with an opener. I felt after over 2 years running shows it was okay to not have something up front. Well, I was wrong and I am sorry. I guess embarrassing myself up front makes for a way better start to the show. To start, I had everyone scream to get warmed up. After that I decided to try something new. I had a list of the dumbest celebrity quotes and felt we can use those lines to create a scene. I thought there were multiple ways to approach this. You can make the scene about the person who said it, you can take the concept of the words, you can use the words verbatim...in my head I thought it would be a neat little experiment (again, in my head). I called up 10 improvisers and split them into two lines. My intention was that the lines themselves should get a laugh and that would be a fun way to start the show. Well, I was wrong again...and I am sorry. There were a few chuckles along the way but we definitely struggled to get the momentum going (my fault completely). We made it through the game and then I ventured into another short form game that I thought would be safe. The dating game. Once again, I was wrong and I'm sorry. Apparently, I am not the best at explaining the structure of the game and thought all the actors already knew how to play. It went dirty real fast and I did my best to pull out of it (no pun intended). We managed to make it through that game with some laughs. After that rocky start the night kept going uphill. Several times in the evening I apologized for not having an opening when things got "awkward". As a crowd we learned what Purim really is that night...I am not a good spokesperson for the Jews (sorry Mom). We played Ally Says along with some other usual short form games. I did try another new one called Before or After which I think was okay and I may bring back again at some point in the future. Four groups entered: The Unmentionables, Loser Josh, Gio with his one man improvised story and Stephanie and Matt did a 2 person act. Of course we ended with Lines From a Hat. In the end, it seemed like everyone had a good time despite the rough beginning. So thanks to the regulars and the newbies who came out last Friday. The next one is scheduled for Friday April 17. Sign-up from 7-7:30 and the show will begin at 8:05 pm. I'll have an opening...I promise.

I'm a 90 because I like it firm...

I know I am a bit behind in writing about the last open mic night so I am sorry but I promise to make this a good entry, or at least an entry. So Improvisational Open Mic Night was hosted on Friday February 13 in the DC Improv Comedy Lounge. I have discovered a new formula: Friday nights plus free shows equals a huge crowd. Once again there was standing room only in the back and the place was packed. I decided to open with a video that I felt that for some it would be romantic and for others it would be frightening (that was my tie in for Valentine's Day and Friday the 13th). This was a mock commercial for the sleep number bed in which the concept was that I sleep around and no matter who's in my bed they will always be comfortable (Check out Facebook it's on there). Special thanks to Chris, Chris, Chris, Kristen, Joe and the giant gorilla for their outstanding work in the video short. After I felt the crowd was warmed up, we moved along with some short form games featuring the single improvers. I had about 40 people on the list wanting to perform and did my best to get everyone some stage time. I've said this in the past, the hardest thing to do is host and actually produce a show at the same time. But I really do enjoy giving people the opportunity to get up and perform and it is a blast to see how well people gel on stage whether they know eachother or not through the art of comedy. I also came up with some new concepts to try including a game in which I started 2 person scenes and gave them a line of dialogue from a romantic or scary movie to start the scene with (look at me with the themes). In the end, I thought this was a successful game. However, I also bombed with the game "No P". It starts with 2 person scenes and you can't use the letter P in any of your dialogue, if you do the audience is supposed to scream "DIE" (which I thought was weird) and then the next person steps up to play. This game did indeed DIE and will not be played again. Oh well they can't all be winners...at least you know you get your money's worth at Improv Open Mic. We also did my signature game "Ally Says" along with some other short form favorites. 6 Troupes entered to showcase throughout the night: Jimmis Maximus, The Unmentionables, Troubled Assets, Leonard Nimoy, Last Minute Dudes and Matthews Mother. Each group got 6 minutes to perform. The show ran a little over 2 hours and I think everyone had a good time. I had some decent one liners throughout the night and I also had a couple of jokes that bombed completely. I did participate in the last game "Lines from a Hat" and realized that I am not good at Improv and playing a character, so I will probably not do that again. Anyway, we have another event on the books so mark your calendars:
Friday March 20 in The DC Improv Comedy Lounge.
Sign-up is from 7-7:30 pm and the show will begin at 8:05 pm.

Don't forget to become a fan of DC Improvisational Open Mic Night on Facebook!!

Casting Call for Improv Actors

For those who may be interested I have received information on a Casting Call. Please see below. I do not have any more information on this so if you have questions or concerns please contact the people in the below message.Thanks!Allyson TV PILOT – “THE GYM” on DV (22 minutes)HelloErika Grace Allen (creator, executive producer, assistant director, and co-developer), Ishu Krishna (director, executive producer) , Ryan Parr (co-developer) and Tom Suess (co-developer) are casting for, and forming a production team to create, a sitcom pilot for entry in competitions such as The New York Television Festival www.nytvf.com and to pitch to television networks. Using an unusual format to write and develop the show, they want improvisers to “own” the characters that have been created and “write” dialogue via in-character group interaction. Those improvisers selected will be given writer credit as well as actor credit on the media and documents produced (pilot, script, treatment, etc.) and registered with the Screenwriters Guild and copy right authorities and will be included in the “package” pitch to networks. This is a non-union, 100% purely volunteer project, although you’ll be fed during shoot days. However, once the improv actors/writers are cast and the technical crew is selected, we will then form the official production company (made up of all cast and crew) and future compensation will be discussed and agreed upon by all production company members in conjunction with pilot production.

Cast (improviser/writer) Information
Applications (resumes, photos, etc.) are due by February 21, 2009, 7pm. Interested parties should submit resume (or work you’ve done) and a headshot (or a picture) via email to:erikagraceallen@yahoo.comishukrishna@gmail.comparrryan@gmail.com

Auditions to be held by appointment only, Saturday, February 28, 2009 from 10-4pm, location in Arlington, VA/TBD

Writing/improv session to be held Sunday, March 1, 2009 9am-6pm, location in Arlington, VA TBD

O say can you sing Billy Joel...

We were packed last night so I was worried for nothing. In fact we had to turn away about 10 people who wanted to get in to the show (others were seated on the floor in the lounge). I would estimate there were between 70-75 people in that room. I started off with a group mad lib to help people get warmed up and in the spirit of giving me suggestions. Since this was a very historic week I chose to turn Obama's Inaugural Address into Mad Lib madness. It worked and we all screamed a few times to kick start the night. I had at least 40 people to get on stage and 6 groups who entered to perform; The Vagabonds, The Tapwaters, Loser Josh, Guns and Roses, Matthews Mom and Giovanni. I still struggle with getting everyone stage time and keeping the show moving; it's hard to host and plot out a show at the same time but hey it's Improv and it's a free show so whatever works works.. We played some signature short form games and a couple of rounds of Ally Says... (which may not be the best game but it allows me to get a lot of people stage time). I had some pretty good one liners throughout the night; including when Loser Josh were called up and had been together for 2 years, I said they've been together longer than my marriage. BOO YA...I thought it was funny. We also did Style Slide and I gave the audience 10 seconds to yell out something I didn't have on my list of styles and we were blessed with the suggestion of Billy Joel Concert. But to my surprise the actors on stage did not know a Billy Joel song so i stopped the scene and cued the audience and everyone sang in unison Piano Man. This was a call back a couple of times throughout the night. All in all it was a blast and I think the show was a success and since it was Friday we were able to run it a little longer (about 2 1/2 hours). We ended with the signature game Lines from a Hat and also sang Happy Birthday to Chris. The next one is scheduled for Friday, February 13. Sign-up is from 7-7:30 pm and the show will start at 8:05 pm. Please come in early if you want to get seats to the show and sign-up to play.
See you in February!

DATE CHANGE FOR IMPROVISATIONAL OPEN MIC NIGHT!!

The next Improv Open Mic Night will be on Friday January 23 at 8 pm instead of Thursday Jan 22. Please make note of the new date. Same rules apply. 7-730 pm sign-up and 8:05 pm is showtime.

Sorry for the incovenience. Hope you can make it out on Friday night!