Replay at Bernie's

Friday night was the Improvables' annual Valentine's Day performance, aka the Battle of the Sexes. I was joined on stage by Brianne, Bryan, Charlotte, Erica, Keenan, Lorin, and Willis. We had the rare opportunity to perform on the CenterPoint main stage for this show.

One of the highlights of the night was this video, which captures Brianne, along with "dolls" Charlotte and Erica, in "Replay at Bernie's."

Reunited, and It Feels So Good

The members of the Improvables celebrated their fifth (closer to sixth, actually, but who's counting?) anniversary at the Davis Center for the Performing Arts this past weekend with a Reunion Show, something that I think was long overdue for us. For this occasion, former troupe members and friends Darren Eggett and Grant, Guy, and Michael Gibbons joined us on stage for the first time in years (in Darren's case, it had been nearly six years!), and the multitalented Gibbons clan brought along their instruments, to boot.

I was fortunate to be able to join them and other current troupe members for this performance, and we had a most enjoyable evening together.

Prior to the start of the show, Grant, Michael, and Guy warmed up musically:

During the show, Guy reprised his Leroy character, seen here alongside Ryan, Grant, and Lorin in "Musical Day in the Life":

And after the show, Ricky and Keenan joined in with the Gibbons on an impromptu (what else?) rendition of the Beatles' "Eleanor Rigby":

It was an evening not to be forgotten.

Spider

Today's video clip is from last Friday night's aforementioned Improvables Halloween performance.

In it, Bryan, Keenan, and Brianne re-create a 60-second scene in 10 seconds. It's about spiders.

Enjoy!

The Improvables' Halloween Extravaganza 2013

Friday night marked the Improvables' fifth annual Halloween performance, as well as our second anniversary of performing at the Davis Center for the Performing Arts (aka CenterPoint Legacy Theatre). It's hard to believe that we have been together that long and that we have put on that many Halloween shows, but the calendar doesn't lie.

Among the highlights were "Half Life," played by Bryan, Keenan, and Brianne:

. . . Erica's zombie costume, inspired by "The Walking Dead":

. . . and our many fans who dressed up for the occasion, including our costume contest winners, one of who is pictured here as the Last Airbender:

Following the show, the assorted troupe members (and an enthusiastic audience member dressed as Bruce Lee) posed for this group shot:

Yours truly chose to dress up as Teddy Roosevelt, 26th president of the United States and one of all-time favorite historical figures.

Good times were had by all.

Musical Workshop

Over the years, one of my favorite things about performing improv with the Improvables is that something new, unexpected, and fun is always around the corner---both at our shows and during our workshops.

Such was the case this past week, when Lorin led a musical workshop that emphasized the importance for us all to be more willing to support each other during musical numbers. I snapped the above photo as Rickey performed a peppy musical piece, accompanied in the background by Erica, Ryan, and Lorin.

The Plowmans Invade Oklahoma

It was essentially "The Plowman Show" last Saturday night at the Murray City Amphitheater, as three members of the family starred in Oklahoma! together. Ben and Steve headlined the production as Curly and Will Parker, respectively, and Summer gave support (and made her acting debut, to boot) as Gertie Cummings.

Prior to the beginning of the show, however, Ben joined his bluegrass band, Bluegrass Thunder, on stage to perform a number of tunes, including "The Orange Blossom Special" and "The Devil Went Down to Georgia," to get the crowd warmed up.

That was only the start of Ben's marathon evening, as the main event then followed. He and his castmates poured their hearts and souls into the performance. My brothers did their share of solo/duet singing and stage kissing, and I may be somewhat biased when I report that they did a great job. We were kept well entertained throughout the evening.

In particular, I enjoyed Steve's improvised moment when a very loud helicopter passed over the stage and amphitheater, as well as Summer's giddily amusing laugh as Gertie.

Good times were had by all.

Improvables at the Davis County Fair

One of the head honchos with this year's Davis County Fair asked the Improvables to perform an hour-long show not once but twice, on both Wednesday and Thursday nights, at the fair, and we were more than happy to oblige. We were, in fact, given a spot on the main stage, which was near the center of all of the many activities going on, such as carnival rides, a petting zoo, tasty junk food, etc.

Here, Parker assists Brianne in figuring out why she's "Late for Work," with both Keenan and Lorin also lending a hand:

It was good to get a chance for us to get our name out there in the community in a different venue, and hopefully we were able to make some new fans in the process.

Shakespearean Festival 2013

A couple of weeks ago, many of the members of the family and I made our annual trek down to Cedar City for the Shakespearean Festival. For more than a decade now, it has been an important family tradition.

This year, Mom and Dad; Dave and Jessica; Ben, Adi, and baby Christian; Steve and Summer; Biz and Jeff; and Jeff's brother, Dave, and sister-in-law Ginny made the trip. At the matinee, half of us went to see Twelve Angry Men, while the other half, myself included caught Love's Labours Lost, which was very comedic and entertaining but nonetheless had a somewhat ambiguous or abrupt ending to it that confused more than a few in our audience.

Well, you can't win 'em all, Mr. Shakespeare.

Between shows, Ben snapped this photo with me sitting next to the statue of the Bard:

At night, we together caught the evening show, Peter and the Star Catcher - which was based on a book co-authored by Dave Barry no less! It was very imaginatively carried out and amounted to a sort of prequel to the ever-popular Peter Pan story and movie.

Good times were had by all, and we are looking forward to the shows in 2014.

Weekend of Reunions

I'm a week late in posting, but I made it out to Spring Mobile Ballpark in Salt Lake City last Friday, July 19, to attend what has amounted to my annual Salt Lake Bees' baseball game. Mike had obtained some great tickets (behind home plate) through his work, and he invited Biz, Jeff, Kylee, and me to tag along for the evening.

As for the game, well, the hometown squad was beaten soundly, 18-7, which sounds more like a football score than a baseball one. There were also two grand slam home runs, which is something I had never seen live, as well as multiple other two- and three-run homers throughout the skirmish.

The real highlight of the evening, however, was the appearance of five actors from the 1993 movie The Sandlot at the ballpark. They, along with the film's director, were in town to commemorate the 20th anniversary of having filmed the movie in Salt Lake, and, in addition, they sang "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch.

Following the game, I went over to the nearby Off Broadway Theater to perform with my Improvables teammates Bryan and Keenan in a head-to-head matchup with our sister troupe Laughing Stock. This was another reunion for me, as Improvables co-founder Eric Jensen appeared on the Laughing Stock team, and it was also my first performance on the OBT stage since I discovered their Improv-okie nights and began taking improv classes there approximately 11 years ago.

My "weekend of reunions" was rounded out Saturday night by my 20-year high school reunion at the Little America hotel in downtown Salt Lake. I saw many old friends from the Bountiful High class of '93 there and was able to catch up with them, as well as meet their spouses.

The Improvables in Springtime

I may have mentioned this once or twice before here on Disconcertingly Choppy, but I perform improv comedy on the weekends with a very talented group of people called the Improvables.

At any rate, whether you already knew that or not, we've had a lot of great shows lately, and things have been going well so far in our Saturday night home at Playbills' Theater in Clearfield. Today's post includes some photos (not taken by me) from some of our more recent performances and theme nights.

The fourth Friday in March was our annual Mustache March performance. I gave a heart-wrenching performance in "Oscar Winning Moment":

. . . during which Ian and I also had a memorable chat together:

After the show, those of us who grew mustaches just for the occasion posed together:

Let's face it: Mustaches are cool. And we wear them pretty well.

A couple of weeks ago, we also welcomed a talented team of players from USU Improv to the CenterPoint Legacy Theatre black box for a face-off with the Improvables. What a talented a fun group they were to have on our home turf:

As you can see, I'm  very lucky to belong to a group of amazing performers and friends.

The Improvables Branch Out

For those who haven't heard - and I average somewhere between five and 10 page views per post right now, so that's quite a few of you out there - the Improvables now have a Saturday night home in addition to our regular Friday night home at CenterPoint Legacy Theatre in Centerville.

The good folks at Playbills' Theater, who recently opened their doors to the public in Clearfield, contacted us about providing late night entertainment on Saturdays. We thought about it for, oh, about .5 seconds and enthusiastically replied that we were more than happy to oblige by scheduling a team to perform there each week.

It's now been a month, and we are slowly building a fan base for 10 p.m. Saturdays in the northern end of Davis County. If you haven't been up there to see us yet, won't cha do so soon?

The Improvables Class of '13

If you had told me, back when I first tried my hand at improv in my Acting 1010 class in college many years ago, that I would not only one day be performing improv semiprofessionally but also teaching others how to do it, I would have said that you were plumb loco. Come to think of it, I would have said the same thing during my tenure at ComedySportz, which was somewhat more recent than that.

Anyhoo, we (meaning the Improvables) just wrapped up our first beginning improv skills workshop of the year, and I must say that it was a very rewarding experience for me. For one thing, I got to work with these very talented people:

Some pictures really are worth a thousand words, aren't they?

For another, it always recharges my batteries for my own improv work to review the basic skills and to see others (many of who had never had any previous theatrical experience to speak of) take to them with so much gusto and excitement. I look forward to continuing to work with some of them, as we expect to extend a few invitations to join the Improvables permanently.

So, thanks, gang. I may have helped teach you, but you taught me a lot in return, too.

Day 330: Black Friday with the Improvables

Today's photo is actually one I took following Friday night's Improvables performance, using my friend Liz Jones's camera. She was in attendance (obviously) along with a group of our friends from mid-singles institute and ended up being the audience volunteer for "Audience Sound Effects." Afterward, she posed for this group picture with the night's cast;

As you can see in the photo, Parker is doing his predictable not-making-eye-contact-with-the-camera pose.

Theater people. What can you do?

Day 301: The Improvables' Halloween Extravaganza 2012

Last night marked the Improvables' fourth annual Halloween show - it's hard to believe we've been together that long - as well as our first anniversary of performing at the Davis Center for the Performing Arts (aka CenterPoint Legacy Theatre). As always, we pulled out all of the stops to put on the best show possible, including such seasonal favorites as "Oxygen Deprivation," "Death Pendulum," "Campfire Tale," and "Nightmare."

Several audience members dressed up in costume to receive a half-price discount to the show. Not to be outdone, our cast and crew also dressed up for the occasion. Scott appeared as one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles:

. . . while Andrea (Black Widow), Ryan, Parker (Walter White of "Breaking Bad"), Bryan (the Green Goblin), Willis (Officer Dangle), Keenan (Venom), and yours truly (Bane) represented a heavily superhero-influenced motif:

You may notice from the photo that I underwent a significant haircut for my character (no, that's not a cap). It's something I've been wanting to try for some time now, and Halloween gave me a good opportunity for it.

Day 293: The Improvables vs. The Antics . . . Again!

For the second time in three weeks, we had a head-to-head Improvables matchup with The Antics of Logan. This time, it was held on our home turf at the Davis Center for the Performing Arts (aka CenterPoint Legacy Theatre).

Keenan, Steve, and I represented the Improvables, with Scott as M.C. and Willis on the keyboard. My team played a handful of favorites, including "Mega Replay" and "Lounge Lizards," while we also joined The Antics on (new to us) games that included "Heckler Battle" and "Theme Restaurant."

It was a very fun and funny evening, and I look forward to hopefully performing with The Antics again in the future.

Day 287: "Talk Show"

I had a rare night off from appearing on stage with the Improvables at last night's performance and instead participated by running the music from the tech booth. It's a good view from up there, and I enjoyed watching Bryan, Ian, Jordan, Liz, Parker, Ricky, Steve, and Willis put on a fantastic performance.

One of my favorite moments was the return of "Talk Show," a game that we created together as a troupe and also one we hadn't played since our time at Rodgers Memorial Theatre - nearly two years ago. In the above photo, Jordan, Parker, Ricky, and Willis re-create a scene from Angelina Jolie's newest movie - per audience request, of course.

Day 286: "The Safety Kids"

It was a blast from the past for me the other day when I was at the Bountiful library and by chance came across a copy of my elementary school musical The Safety Kids - which also gave me my first acting role, back in the third grade. It all happened . . . well, many moons ago. I had one of the speaking parts as Gregory, the black boy pictured here on the CD cover:

There were no black kids in my third-grade class, so the part went to me. It was a nice trip down memory lane hearing the songs once again. Ahh, the good old days.

Day 266: The Improvables vs. Laughing Stock

We had a few visitors turn up for last night's Improvables performances at the Davis Center for the Performing Arts black box: namely, three members of the Laughing Stock troupe in a head-to-head matchup against our own Ricky, Scott, and Willis.

It was an expanded, hour-and-a-half-long version of our normal performance, and we enjoyed seeing the talents of our sister troupe (Eric Jensen, who is the head honcho at Laughing Stock, also co-founded our troupe in the spring of 2008). With their appearance, they introduced to a couple of new games, including "Big, Bigger, Biggest" and "Understudy."

I may be a bit biased, but I thought our guys held their own and, likewise, put on a great performance. Good times were had by all.

Day 247: "Ninja"

"Ninja" is not necessarily one of my favorite Improvables warmup or cool-down games, mainly due to the fact that I stink at it and am usually the first one out.


It is, however, always very entertaining to watch others play it.

Day 241: The Improvables - in Primetime! with The Gibbons

Tonight, I joined Brittney, Ian, Keenan, Liz, Parker, and Scott on stage as the Improvables made a rare weeknight and primetime performance at the Ed Kenley Amphitheatre in Layton. It's one thing to put on a show away from your home turf, but it's quite another to be in a venue that has previously hosted the talents of none other than Tony Danza:

Yes, that Tony Danza.

Fortunately, the weather cooperated with us on this night, and more than twice the number of our usual crowd size turned up to watch the show. Summer, Andrea, and Nicole were among those who showed up to lend a hand and to help take tickets, sell concessions, usher, etc.

Among the games played were "Text Line," featuring yours truly, Liz, and Parker, as well as a broken cell phone (long story there):

. . . and Liz and Parker on "Mumbling Movie Murder Mystery":

It was a beautiful summer evening, and one that hopefully our troupe and fans won't soon forget. I'm grateful to The Gibbons - great musicians and even better people - for joining us for this event, and I hope the good folks at Ed Kenley will let us come back again sometime in the future.