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.