Celebrate good times, c'mon!

November 17, 2010 I hosted another night of DC Improvisational Open Mic Night. It was a great night. Super relaxed (including the host - me) and I really didn't do too much planning for the show. I guess after a few years I took the true spirit of improv to heart for once. For the preshow music there happened to be a CD of New Years Eve Music from 2007 playing in the background. It was the perfect way to amp up the crowd. I got on the mic from the sound booth during Kool and The Gang's "Celebration" and welcomed everyone to Barry's Bar Mitzvah Party (thanks Barry for playing along with me). We did a warm up of Yes Let's with everyone in the crowd (approximately 35 people) which was a great start. We then went on to play some short form games and had a couple of short long form sets from Gio, Matt and "The Unemployed". Special thanks to Phillipe who guest hosted two new games and to everyone who came out for a fun night of Improv. I did try one new game featuring lines that I found from the worst lyrics of all time. Best line was, "If you kill my dog, I'm a gonna kill your cat." Thanks Jay-Z for that gem. We ended with a lightning round of lines from a hat. The night was a lot of fun and I'm so glad we are ending 2010 on a high note. I don't know when I'll be back yet to host this forum again (I'm taking December off) but as soon as I figure that out, I will let you know. Thank you for all the support over the past few years of The DC Improv ans especially this forum. Have a great holiday season! - Allyson

New Date: November 17, 2010

Hey all, so the next installment of DC Improvisational Open Mic night is scheduled for Wednesday, November 17, 2010 in The Comedy Lounge of The DC Improv. Sign-up is 6:30pm - 7:30pm and the show will begin at 8:05pm. This event is FREE to attend and participate in.

Hope you can make it!

Yes And I Vow...

On Thursday, September 16, 2010 I hosted another round of DC Improvisational Open Mic Night. Since this was the first one after I got married in August, I decided a great way to start the event was to share vows between the audience and myself. I wrote my own vows and had all the attendees repeat after me to help us loosen up for the evening. We high fived and then I pronounced us all ready to Improv. Now, this was a lighter attended show as we had about 14 people interested in performing. I decided to make this less casual and let people do what they wanted too. We played some short form games and then some troupes consisting of 2 person and 3 people combinations got up and showcased for the rest of the crowd. I think everyone had a good time and I appreciated those who came out that night to participate. It's a free event so I think everyone left happy. I'm not sure when I'll be back yet and whether it's better to host this on a Friday night vs. a weekday night. We'll see what happens. Stay tuned...

I'm back!

So after a few months off, I'm finally ready to return and host DC Improvisational Open Mic Night. The next FREE event is scheduled for Thursday, September 16 in The DC Improv Comedy Lounge. Sign-up is 6:30pm - 7:30pm and the show will begin at 8:05pm. Hope to see you there...

Dance Prov...

It seems like I am taking longer and longer to enter these blogs. I'm sorry about that! So we hosted Improvisational Open Mic Night on Friday, April 30 in the Comedy Lounge of The DC Improv. There were about 25 players interested in performing and roughly 20 audience members there to get some free laughs. I was trying to be creative and think of a new way to open up the show to get people focused so I decided to play a quick game of "Simon Says". I have to admit that game is way more fun as a kid but at least it got everyone on their feet moving around for a bit. I also tried to start off the evening with a new twist following that. I called it "Dance Prov". Basically, I called three actors to the stage; played a song where the actors had to move around and dance. When I stopped the song from the back whatever position the actors were in; they had to freeze that way and start the scene from that position. (It was a twist on Freeze Tag). I have to pat myself on the back and congratulate the actors who played along with me when I played Sarah Mclaughlin's "Angel". HAHAHAHA...some things I do just for me. We played mostly short form games for the rest of the night and of course ended it with the standard "Lines from a Hat". Thanks to everyone who came out to the event. Regarding the next one; I don't know when it will be yet (hence the delay in this blog) since I have some personal things and priorities I have to deal with. Email me at allyson@dcimprov.com if you are interested in the event and I hope to get a new date finalized soon.
Happy Improvising!

I Saw You Improvise...

I know, it's been a very very long time and I am way behind on this update. I'm sorry but things have been very hectic for me this past month (and it doesn't seem to be slowing down). So here's a quick recall of what I can remember from March 5th. I opened the show with some excerpts of my first boyfriend's love letters which I believe were disturbing and funny all at the same time. We did some standard warm-ups, yelled a whole bunch, etc. I had about 40 people in the room and at least 30 interested in playing. I did some oldies but goodies and tried a couple of new things. The thing about new things is that they are hit or miss. For example, I tried to be topical and do Deleted Scenes strictly based on the 10 2010 Oscar Nominated Films. BOMBED! That was a bad idea. So I switched it up and decided to read some excerpts out of the City Paper in the Personals Section under "I Saw You". Scenes were developed based on those premises and I think in the end I can call this one a success. We had a ton of laughs and it was a very relaxed environment. Some new people gave Improv a shot while the old schoolers flaunted their skills. Red Dragon and Menorah Sailboat debuted some long form improv while Gio did his one man improv sketch. Of course we ended with Lines from a Hat, all in all I think we had a very enjoyable evening and thanks to all those who came out for the event. You definitely get your money's worth coming out to this event.

Now, like I mentioned things are extremely busy for me so the next open mic night won't be until Friday, April 30th in The DC Improv Comedy Lounge. Doors open at 6:30pm and sign-up is until 7:30pm. The show will begin promptly at 8:05pm and its FREE. I hope you can make it!

The first one of 2010...

So I know I am way behind writing this blog since the first DC Improvisational Open Mic night of 2010 took place on Friday, January 22nd. Sorry but things have been hectic for me here. Let me first say that I was so not expecting a big crowd to come out. In fact, I woke up not feeling that well and I had mentally prepared earlier in the day for an intimate crowd with mostly people I knew so it would be a fairly easy night. Man was I wrong! There was standing room only and the place was packed. It completely took me by surprise and I was not prepared for it. The only plus was that I was able to use an opening video from a year or so ago (the sex tape) since most people there hadn't seen it. I started the night off and again, I was not firing at the top of my game. I made sure to explain to the crowd that this event is free and that is a safe place for people. I had about 30 people interested in performing that night. We had some hits and missed throughout the evening and I felt that the energy in the room was on the lower end. I guess that's to be expected when it's freezing outside and it's a Friday night in DC. Regardless we pulled it through and everyone got stage time. I brought back the Superheros game since it was a huge success the month before as well as some of the regular hits. However, for the first time in 3 years I actually relinquished my job as the host to my friend Phillipe since I was not feeling well about 2/3 through the evening. This was extremely emotional and hard for me to do since DC Improvisational Open Mic Night had been my baby from the start. I never missed a night hosting and I took that kind of hard. But many thanks to Phillipe and the offers from other people who said they would cover me if I ever needed it. My job can be exhausting and sometimes I just don't have it in me. I have come to realize that my health takes precedent and that in the end it's not about me hosting; it's about giving the opportunity to the community of improvisers out there so they have a place to let go and practice their skills. I'm taking February off but will return on Friday, March 5, 2010. Sign-up is 6:30pm - 7:30pm and the show will begin at 8:05 pm.