Jamboree: Friday (posted after the fact)
Aug. 16th, 2002 11:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jaalaI am not an improviser nor a longform expert, so I'm just calling things as seen by an avid improv appreciator who happens to have read a bit of discussion about improv (see http://www.yesand.com/bulletinboard/).
I was sorry to miss the Impatients and GRRLZ show on Thursday (and also later heard that Musical Improv Co. was amazing), but had a good time at Christine Lavin's concert.
Doug Buller was a pretty depressing host, but he admitted as much himself. Seeing his hosting skills (or lack thereof) did make it more interesting to see him improvise later, though.
7pm show:
Lamb Chops (musical group from Toronto)
They improvised a Broadway style musical about World Youth Day, pitting the hip-and-happening Pope (loved that) against the evil (female) Satan and her attempts to brainwash young pilgrims through Starbucks coffee. It was very good indeed--nicely secure singing from most members, some clever rhyming and style choices (and solid repetition where that lacked), and good scene development.
Drunk Baby Collective (longform, Minneapolis)
I found some of it funny and engaging, some just silly. There were a lot of absurd non sequiturs, too many to my mind. I was thinking that perhaps I was seeing the style difference of the Chicago-style Harold type longform and I wasn't especially loving it for that reason. Perhaps. I don't really remember much of what this act did, basically, and that says what kind of an impact they made on me.
[Jack] Mosshammer & [Doug] Morency
These two eminent Toronto improvisers were sitting right behind me for much of the preceding acts (!). I had never seen Jack Mosshammer in person before, so that was pretty exciting.
Their performance was absolutely hilarious. In addition to performing one longform, they deconstructed improv troupe conventions by performing warm-ups (like "Numbers") and games intended for more than two people; it was far funnier than it sounds. Doug providing both the body and the arms in Arms Expert was one of the strangest things I've ever seen, beyond funny, a well-timed break from longform, and oddly convincing.
Their longform made working with restrictions look easy. One character hit another to end the scene, the hitter retained the same character in the next scene while the hittee changed, the hitting had to be justified, and the last line of the previous scene was the first line of the next. I didn't even notice they were re-using lines for several scenes. I realize that they broke character a couple times to laugh, but I liked seeing that they were enjoying themselves. It seems to me that Jack is the better actor of the two, but Doug's improv skills are dead on.
9:30pm show:
The Josh and Tamra Show (puppet & human improv, New York City)
Really good; one of the highlights of the festival, partly because it was so unusual. The puppets (muppet-style) were quite believable as characters, and provided opportunities for some sight gags impossible with humans. I was only occasionally struck by the ludicrousness (ludicrosity?) of a cute little puppet having a cocaine problem, needing more money, or desperate for sex. I loved the smoking puppet of Rabbit from Disney's version of Winnie the Pooh. The humans were pretty good actors without puppets too.
Calibre:Gros (longform, Toronto)
Good, energetic although inexperienced, showing promise but not at the height of their careers I hope. Their performance was sometimes very funny, sometimes not. Their editing method always seemed to cut off the scene just as it was getting interesting, which irritated me somewhat.
Plain Cake Donuts (longform, Chicago)
They clearly brought their fan club (who were right behind me and very loud); and a lot of improvisers I recognized laughed a lot at their jokes. For my taste, they were the least enjoyable act of the evening. I kept in mind that there might have been style differences again, really did try to like it, but still got tired of them constantly using the sickest, stupidest joke possible in almost any situation. It's true that dick jokes and violent obscenity will make an audience laugh, especially if it's late at night and alcohol is being served, but I wished they would use them more sparingly. Eventually I found I wasn't bothering to laugh much any more. Their performance left a sour taste in my mouth, I'm afraid. I now rather regret I didn't see "Sickest F***ing Stories I Ever Heard" because it might have been better (having garnered critical acclaim and all that).
I was sorry to miss the Impatients and GRRLZ show on Thursday (and also later heard that Musical Improv Co. was amazing), but had a good time at Christine Lavin's concert.
Doug Buller was a pretty depressing host, but he admitted as much himself. Seeing his hosting skills (or lack thereof) did make it more interesting to see him improvise later, though.
7pm show:
Lamb Chops (musical group from Toronto)
They improvised a Broadway style musical about World Youth Day, pitting the hip-and-happening Pope (loved that) against the evil (female) Satan and her attempts to brainwash young pilgrims through Starbucks coffee. It was very good indeed--nicely secure singing from most members, some clever rhyming and style choices (and solid repetition where that lacked), and good scene development.
Drunk Baby Collective (longform, Minneapolis)
I found some of it funny and engaging, some just silly. There were a lot of absurd non sequiturs, too many to my mind. I was thinking that perhaps I was seeing the style difference of the Chicago-style Harold type longform and I wasn't especially loving it for that reason. Perhaps. I don't really remember much of what this act did, basically, and that says what kind of an impact they made on me.
[Jack] Mosshammer & [Doug] Morency
These two eminent Toronto improvisers were sitting right behind me for much of the preceding acts (!). I had never seen Jack Mosshammer in person before, so that was pretty exciting.
Their performance was absolutely hilarious. In addition to performing one longform, they deconstructed improv troupe conventions by performing warm-ups (like "Numbers") and games intended for more than two people; it was far funnier than it sounds. Doug providing both the body and the arms in Arms Expert was one of the strangest things I've ever seen, beyond funny, a well-timed break from longform, and oddly convincing.
Their longform made working with restrictions look easy. One character hit another to end the scene, the hitter retained the same character in the next scene while the hittee changed, the hitting had to be justified, and the last line of the previous scene was the first line of the next. I didn't even notice they were re-using lines for several scenes. I realize that they broke character a couple times to laugh, but I liked seeing that they were enjoying themselves. It seems to me that Jack is the better actor of the two, but Doug's improv skills are dead on.
9:30pm show:
The Josh and Tamra Show (puppet & human improv, New York City)
Really good; one of the highlights of the festival, partly because it was so unusual. The puppets (muppet-style) were quite believable as characters, and provided opportunities for some sight gags impossible with humans. I was only occasionally struck by the ludicrousness (ludicrosity?) of a cute little puppet having a cocaine problem, needing more money, or desperate for sex. I loved the smoking puppet of Rabbit from Disney's version of Winnie the Pooh. The humans were pretty good actors without puppets too.
Calibre:Gros (longform, Toronto)
Good, energetic although inexperienced, showing promise but not at the height of their careers I hope. Their performance was sometimes very funny, sometimes not. Their editing method always seemed to cut off the scene just as it was getting interesting, which irritated me somewhat.
Plain Cake Donuts (longform, Chicago)
They clearly brought their fan club (who were right behind me and very loud); and a lot of improvisers I recognized laughed a lot at their jokes. For my taste, they were the least enjoyable act of the evening. I kept in mind that there might have been style differences again, really did try to like it, but still got tired of them constantly using the sickest, stupidest joke possible in almost any situation. It's true that dick jokes and violent obscenity will make an audience laugh, especially if it's late at night and alcohol is being served, but I wished they would use them more sparingly. Eventually I found I wasn't bothering to laugh much any more. Their performance left a sour taste in my mouth, I'm afraid. I now rather regret I didn't see "Sickest F***ing Stories I Ever Heard" because it might have been better (having garnered critical acclaim and all that).
