One of the biggest things you can do to make yourself a better improviser is to watch more improv. Not just “more” improv, but different improv. Outside of the big comedy cities like Chicago and New York, many improvisers I talk to have never seen a show outside of their home theatre. They’re missing out on so, so much. New perspectives, new ideas, new forms, new friends...
Of course, there is no better way to see more improv than to go to a festival. In January, two local festivals were right around the corner. Miami Improv Festival and Gainesville Improv Festival were two weeks and 350 miles apart, both promising fantastic lineups, great shows, and a perfect opportunity for meeting new people and seeing different shows.
We had just finished workshopping our brand new version of our signature form, The Shabaang! It tries to capture the essence of a graphic novel and after 16 hours of practicing it was working perfectly. Of course, practice is one thing and performing is another, and we were about to put our brand new, completely untested format on stage in front of an audience of people who never seen us play before.
No pressure, right?
The day of our Miami Improv Festival show, Becca, Nick, and I carpooled to Miami, with Zach hopefully close behind. Two hours into our four-and-a-half hour drive, we get the text from Zach that he’s on his way, much later than expected. Would he even make it? Our show was at 10 and it looked like he was slated to arrive at... 10. We started to think that we might be playing a form designed for an ensemble of 6 with just the 3 of us. Some people might get nervous about this but in our minds, it just meant we had to adapt. That's what improv is all about, anyway.
We arrive at Just The Funny theater, tired and starving. We get our shirts, our badges, and we’re escorted to the green room where oh-my-god-they-catered-with-Indian-food-this-is-the-greatest-green-room-ever came to mind. I gorge myself on the free food as we get closer to showtime. With 10 minutes to spare, Zach finally appears and we run backstage to warm up and eat a single, free altoid mint, compliments of Executive Producer David Christopher. Before we know it we’re on stage putting on the world’s first performance of the new Shabaang!
The show goes off without a hitch. We have a wonderful set exploring the secrets of “Wemphis,” the weird part of Memphis, as two up-and-coming Air Musicians meet the Air-Sax legend Donnie and learn lessons about the soul of music...until Donnie accidentally steals their souls and turns into a musical monstrosity consumed by corporate greed.
After the show, we sit in the Spotlight Cabaret with performers from other groups who had a lot to say about our show. It was incredibly refreshing to be among people who understood the language of improv that allowed us all to talk about the mechanics of what we do. We were told that we hit “graphic novel” right on the head, which was great to hear.
With our performance over, it was time to see what the rest of the improv world had to offer. Festival headliners “Bassprov” and “Brouhaha” were nothing short of amazing. Bassprov performed a 45 minute monoscene of two guys fishing, and yet it was somehow more interesting than the most wild and energetic sets during the weekend. The sheer honesty that Joe Bill and Mark Sutton could show through their characters gave them a laugh every line. Brouhaha combined what might be my two favorite things: puppets and musical improv. Stacey Smith’s ability to sing through an absurd character,reinforces my deep desire to do musical improv. To close the festival, the teams perform together as The Beauties and The Beasts, complementing each other in ways that are beyond words and brought the crowd to their feet.
Other highlights included Tall Grande Venti, an improv duo from Seattle who was super impressive for their strong commitment to character and relationship while balancing a fairly absurd premise. Bananas Republic from West Palm Beach managed to squeeze an insane amount of performers onto the tiny Spotlight Stage while still making room for each performer to contribute to the show without being run over. Future Wives from New York played a fast-paced set with a lot of UCB-style game, and it was clear the performers were really there to have a great time with the audience.
Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to take any improv workshops, but from what I’ve heard they were all fantastic. I will say that it felt a little overwhelming at times. Having two stages going at once made it hard to choose which groups to see, and when the shows ended the hallways could barely contain everybody. Still, it was a great experience and a fun area of Florida to visit, although being a Hispanic who doesn’t speak Spanish in Miami is... challenging. I’m already looking forward to MIF 2017.
~Carlos