By Elizabeth Blair
Daily Bruin Contributor
From Matthew Perry and Lisa Kudrow of “Friends,” to
“Saturday Night Live” cast members Will Ferrell and
Chris Kattan, countless well-known actors and writers today got
their start doing improvisational comedy.
Spurred on by audience suggestion, improv forces actors to
deliver witty, spontaneous punch lines.
The recent popularity of Drew Carey’s “Whose Line Is
It Anyway?” has thrown the national spotlight on improv.
Improv comedy creates quality entertainment for audiences as well
as opportunities for actors and writers to hone their craft.
The Empty Stage Improv Comedy, the L.A. Connection Comedy
Theatre, and Los Angeles Theatresportz are three prominent examples
of L.A.’s thriving improvisational theater scene. And you
don’t need to drive more than a few blocks from campus to
experience such outrageous fun performed live.
L.A. Theatresportz is one of the most well known improv theatre
groups, largely because it is part of an international theatre
league. Theatresportz also boasts many famous alumni, including all
the actors from “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”
Located on Hollywood Boulevard, L.A. Theatresportz currently
features two shows every Friday and Saturday night. The first show,
and coincidentally the most popular show with the college-age
crowd, is “Extreme Theatresportz.”
“”˜Theatresportz’ is two teams of improvisers
competing against each other,” Dan O’Connor, founder of
L.A. Theatresportz said in a recent phone interview. “For us,
it doesn’t really matter who wins (the competition) as long
as the audience has a good time.”
This attitude of providing top-notch entertainment also pertains
to their late-night show, “The Hell Show.” Here six
sinners must avoid eternal damnation by improvising a musical to
please both a demon bureaucrat and the audience.
“The audience loves (“˜The Hell Show’) because
they get to see the actors basically being tortured. The demon is
kind of the advocate for the audience,” O’Connor
said.
L.A. Theatresportz also has other improv formats that they
rotate in to keep the material fresh and challenging. An old
audience favorite is “Triple Play,” a game where the
audience suggests a playwright, a film director, and a musical
style for the actors to use in a sketch.
“In one show, we get to do a Tarantino movie, a Chekhov
play, and a Bob Fosse musical,” O’Connor said.
“This is interesting and risky to us because we are telling
three stories at once.”
Not only does improv provide challenges for those involved, it
fosters valuable life skills.
“The No. 1 and 2 rules of improv are serve the story and
make your partner look good. This strengthens your listening skills
and (the ability) to think on your feet,” O’Connor
said.
Kent Skov, director of the L.A. Connection Comedy Theatre in
Sherman Oaks, agreed with this assessment of improvisation.
“It’s kind of like therapy,” Skov said.
“You get to have a good time and be yourself or you can hide
behind different characters. You also have to be literate,
intelligent, and knowledgeable about what’s going on in the
world. This forces people to be more diversified.”
Skov has been enjoying the benefits of improv since 1969, after
going to high school and college with Robin Williams. He started
the L.A. Connection in 1977, after working on six television shows,
one of which was L.A. Connections’ own “Mad
Movies.”
In a mad movie, an old movie’s sound is turned off and the
actors ad-lib new lines, adding sound effects and music when
needed. These creations have become such cult classics that Skov
has started a club for people to buy several Mad Movies at
once.
While their television show no longer airs on Nick-at-Nite, the
Mad Movies improv show on Saturday nights continues to bring in a
steady following. Called the “Y2Improv,” many fans come
to watch the clips of mad movies, as well as the improv performed
by the experienced actors.
In addition, L.A. Connection presents six other shows from
Thursday to Sunday nights. Currently, L.A. Connection is presenting
its new Friday night opener, “Sketch This!” which is a
fully scripted show, incorporating live music, movie clips and
sketches.
These skits have been filled with such famous alumni as Jon
Lovitz, Hank Azaria and Matthew Perry. Others have gone on to win
Emmys for their writing in “Seinfeld,”
“Ellen” and “Roseanne.”
“A lot of the alumni have gone in different directions,
but improv has helped all of them to be good writers,” Skov
said. “They have a sense of what’s funny because they
have performed so long in front of audiences.”
Located right here in Westwood, the Empty Stage also trains
actors for success. Directed and founded by Stan Wells, an improv
teacher at UCLA extension and the former director of “The
Groundlings,” The Empty Stage creates sidesplitting humor in
a smaller setting. The focus here is on student/actor learning, as
the theatre holds many classes and even allows the advanced
students to perform in their own group, The Waterbrains.
“We are actor and audience friendly here,” Wells
said. “We are not competitive; we allow everybody the chance
to get onstage.”
One of the outstanding groups within the company is The
Transformers. This experienced bunch is comprised of award-winning
writers and professional actors who have been improvising together
for 10 years, doing more than 400 performances.
Amazingly, The Transformers take one suggestion from the
audience at the beginning of the show and run with it for almost an
hour, changing the situations and “transforming”
whenever it fits.
If one aspires to be the next Transformer or the newest addition
to “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” both The Empty Stage and
L.A. Theatresportz offer instruction for all acting levels, from
which people can move up to the performing level (L.A. Connection
requires an audition before one can join the company).
“People definitely have fun in the classes,”
O’ Connor said. “A lot of people who want to be
directors, writers, or even lawyers and doctors have taken class
from us, just as a way of having better communication skills. So
it’s not just for actors … And we don’t yell at
people.”
COMEDY: For reservations or information about show times or
dates for L.A. Connection call (818) 784-1868, for Theatresportz
call (323) 469-9689, and for The Empty Stage call (310) 470-3560.
L.A. Connection will offer a 2-for-1 discount for those who mention
this article.