Review: A more clever than funny Improv Festival opening
By Jay Handelman , Herald-Tribune
Friday, July 15, 2016
By Jay Handelman , Herald-Tribune
Friday, July 15, 2016
Jay Hopkins was the winner of the late night FAST competition during the 8th annual Sarasota Improv Festival at Florida Studio Theatre. The evening featured improv groups from around the state of Florida. STAFF PHOTO / RACHEL S. O'HARA
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The goals of most improv troupes are to surprise you and themselves and make you laugh with spontaneous thoughts and actions. And there were quite a few surprises during Thursday’s opening night of the 2016 Sarasota Improv Festival at Florida Studio Theatre. It was an all-Florida night with six groups who have performed at past festivals. Even though the acts were familiar, they each were trying out different kinds of shows to distinguish and challenge themselves. They were not always successful in their efforts to make the audience laugh, and there were quite a few performances that made it difficult to follow the characters and any kind of narrative through-line (are you a man or a woman in this scene, and are you the same character you were a few minutes ago?) |
Dear Aunt Gertrude performs Thursday night during the 8th annual Sarasota Improv Festival at Florida Studio Theatre. The evening featured improv groups from around the state of Florida. STAFF PHOTO / RACHEL S. O'HARA
That kind of clarity is essential in these fast-paced performances, when stories can turn in new directions just by a look one performer gives another.
Laughs were loudest and most frequent with Tampa’s Dear Aunt Gertrude, which built a show around an audience-suggested setting of a rodeo. The performers cleverly play off one another. Mention some roaming goats, and suddenly there are goats crawling around the floor. A suggestion of a beloved stuffed animal leads to a life-sized one ready for robotic hugs.
The duo of Christopher Gilbert and Rick Munarriz, two members of Miami’s Just the Funny, had difficulty connecting with the audience as the opening act with their experimental show that they dubbed a "64" ("we're still working on a name," Gilbert said), which had them constantly switching characters. I got lost early on.
Laughs were loudest and most frequent with Tampa’s Dear Aunt Gertrude, which built a show around an audience-suggested setting of a rodeo. The performers cleverly play off one another. Mention some roaming goats, and suddenly there are goats crawling around the floor. A suggestion of a beloved stuffed animal leads to a life-sized one ready for robotic hugs.
The duo of Christopher Gilbert and Rick Munarriz, two members of Miami’s Just the Funny, had difficulty connecting with the audience as the opening act with their experimental show that they dubbed a "64" ("we're still working on a name," Gilbert said), which had them constantly switching characters. I got lost early on.
From left, Aaron Blye, Rebecca Salus and Stephon Duncan of Boca Raton's Sick Puppies Comedy performing at the opening night of the 8th Sarasota Improv Festival. STAFF PHOTO/JAY HANDELMAN
Sick Puppies Comedy from Boca Raton presented a French Harold, an improv format where everything is set in and around the same location. In this case it was a diner with a variety of characters, from two lovelorn women fighting over the same man to a chef who can only make ham sandwiches after 20 years in the kitchen. It was fun initially but took some odd and dark turns.
The Third Thought, another Tampa Bay group, created a science fiction story off the suggestion of “asparagus stalks,” that turned into a tale about a greedy corporation called Monsunto that has taken control of the sun. There were some fun moments but with the humorously twisted climate change theme I kept waiting for some kind of bigger punch.
Post Dinner Conversation, also from Tampa, was often more clever than funny with its improvised graphic novel come to life. One performer provides great detail about how someone looks or their movements, and the one being described brings those ideas to life. Sometimes, it worked the other way around. But it needed more energy.
The Third Thought, another Tampa Bay group, created a science fiction story off the suggestion of “asparagus stalks,” that turned into a tale about a greedy corporation called Monsunto that has taken control of the sun. There were some fun moments but with the humorously twisted climate change theme I kept waiting for some kind of bigger punch.
Post Dinner Conversation, also from Tampa, was often more clever than funny with its improvised graphic novel come to life. One performer provides great detail about how someone looks or their movements, and the one being described brings those ideas to life. Sometimes, it worked the other way around. But it needed more energy.
From left, Zach Mouriz,Hannah Prince and Nicholas Riggs of Post Dinner Conversation performing at the opening night of the 8th Sarasota Improv Festival. STAFF PHOTO/JAY HANDELMAN
Miami’s Villain Theater built its show around tacos, with some odd twists and some funny lines. At one point, the performers lined up as if at a fast food counter to make everything from Tacos to taco flavored sodas.
Members of all the troupes came together to close the evening with a fast-paced competition of theater games to determine the top performer. As usual, it was a highlight of the evening because of the high energy and the fun of seeing people work together who may not know each other. Jay Hopkins, a veteran performer from SAK Theatre in Orlando, deservedly took the crown with some inspired one-liners in the final moments.
The festival continues through Saturday night with a variety of national (and one international) act in three spaces at Florida Studio Theatre.
Copyright © 2016, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
Jay Handelman is the theater and television critic for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, where he has worked since 1984. He also is President of the Foundation of the American Theatre Critics Association and a two-time past chairman of the association's executive committee. He can be reached by email or call (941) 361-4931. Follow him at @jayhandelman on Twitter. Make sure to "Like" Arts Sarasota on Facebook for news and reviews of the arts.
Jay Handelman is the theater and television critic for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, where he has worked since 1984. He also is President of the Foundation of the American Theatre Critics Association and a two-time past chairman of the association's executive committee. He can be reached by email or call (941) 361-4931. Follow him at @jayhandelman on Twitter. Make sure to "Like" Arts Sarasota on Facebook for news and reviews of the arts.