A lack of identity is no laughing matter for comedians, so local players organized this weekend’s Denver Improv Festival. Featuring both improv performances and workshops, the festival runs today through Sunday with workshops at the Auraria campus and performances at Jazz@Jack‘s.
Scheduled festival performances include an eclectic mix of 14 improvisational troupes with players hailing from Denver, Chicago, San Francisco and Utah. Even their names hint at an offbeat sense of humor. There’s a Smoky Hill High School group known as Spontaneous Combustion, a Denver team called Monkey’s Uncle, an all-female cast dubbed Box Fans, an African- American troupe titled Oui Be Negros and a solo act called Troy’s Toys.
Maybe they take their labeling lead from a Denver improv club called Bovine Metropolis. Get it? Cow town?
At the Denver Improv Festival, Mark Sutton and Joe Bill – formerly of Second City – will perform as Bassprov. They also will lead seminars that hone the extemporaneous skills that tickle funny bones, inducing chuckles and chortles, giggles and guffaws.
“You’re making things up on the spot, but that’s not to say that you can’t learn to perform improv,” said Evan Weissman, who uses improvisational games when teaching drama classes at Foothills Academy in Wheat Ridge.
He emphasized that many comedians now famous through venues like “Saturday Night Live” cut their comic teeth in schools of improv.
Along with shedding some limelight on local improv acts, the festival’s objective is to create community, said Barbara Gehring. She and eight other Denver improv artists form the nonprofit festival’s board known as the Group Mind Foundation.
“In improv, you go for a group mind. It’s like the Borg in “Star Trek.” And the way this festival came about was so cool and organic, like the essence of improv,” said Gehring, who has performed for the past sevenyears with a local improv troupe known as A.C.E. Entertainment.
She and other players bemoan the fact that people often ask them why, if they’re so talented, they’re not working in New York or Los Angeles.
“As actors, we can actually work here in Denver, and be big fish in a little pond rather than little fish in a big pond and end up with waitressing jobs,” said Gehring, who’s proud to point out that she makes her living as an actress.
Weissman, now with the critically acclaimed Buntport Theater , has performed improv at Comedy Sportz, a national chain of improv clubs.
“Good improv, to me, is some of the best stuff to watch. Bad improv has got to be the worst. And there’s little middle ground, in my view,” he said.
“Some people enjoy the community aspect of it; it’s like watching any fantastic artist do their thing. But to to see people up on stage bombing is one of the most horrifying, gut- wrenching things.”
Gehring disagrees: “With improv, nothing is ever written, nothing’s preconceived. There’s a true beauty even when a show tanks in improv. The audience viewpoint is ‘Who cares? They’re making this up with no script, no props, no established characters.’ Audiences can appreciate the value of spontaneity, even when it’s not executed as perfectly as hoped. You can definitely expect the unexpected.”
The more an improv group performs, the more it deliver what audiences crave: the fresh and the funny.
“With a play, you do it over and over again, and I’ve done that. To me, improv is the only thing I get lost in. I leave the stage after 30 minutes and go, ‘Where did all that come from?’ Improv is magical,” said Gehring.
“With everything going on in the world, it’s the most important time to come together to learn and laugh and play. That builds community, and that’s what this festival is all about.”
Denver Improv Festival
COMEDY|The festival offers comedy shows and workshops; three shows tonight and Saturday at 7, 9 and 11 p.m. at Jazz@Jack‘s, 1553 Platte; workshops open to veterans and newcomers; for a schedule and details, go to denverimprovfest.com|$18 per show|through denverimprovfest.com or at door; 303-322-6750.
