Monday, November 16, 2009

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.