Wipe the Slate!

Recently, a friend of mine invited me into Chicago to see an improvisation show. We were going to the iO (ImprovOlympic) Theater, a well-known company among improv players that has pumped out big-name comedy stars such as Mike Myers and Tina Fey (iO Chicago Theater). My friend, Freddie, had been taking classes in their own Improv Intensive this summer (check out his blog, The Speed of Lux: LI @ IO, if you want to learn more about what goes on in class) and got free admission to their troupes’ shows. We were originally planning on seeing one of their resident troupes, Improv Shakes, an improv team completely devoted to using Shakespeare’s language in improvisation (sounds super cool, huh?), but unfortunately the night was completely sold out. So in the true fashion of improvisation, we had to make an impromptu change of plans. We bought tickets to the show playing downstairs: their signature piece, The Harold, featuring two resident teams that went by the names of “Henrietta Pussycat” and “Revolver”.

As we sat down in the intimate little bar room, Freddie quickly explained to me that The Harold is long-form improvisation. “Long form improv,” he said, “is what happens when a group of people join together to make something out of nothing for a long period of time. Sometimes long-form is a collection of scenes, sometimes it’s a single scene that goes on for a long time. Whatever shape it takes, long form improv is the product of our imaginations when we set them free.” This type of improvisation was born and bred in the iO Theater; created by Charna Halpern and Del Close, the two believed “that improv was capable of more than the short games and competition-style shows… a deeper, more robust form of improvisation based on trust and agreement” could be possible. What makes that any different from Who’s Line Is It Anyway?, you may wonder. I wondered as well, but I was able to see right away just how unique The Harold was.   

                The lights dimmed, and the first player came on stage. He shamelessly plugged the bar (a unique feature at iO Theater – drinks and a show!), introduced the troupe, took a suggestion of a noun (“CATFISH!” someone in the back yelled) and hilarity ensued. The team clustered together at the front of the stage, all observing an invisible catfish, and a team member spoke up. He began describing the beauty of the catfish as if we had just flipped to the nature channel on TV. When one of the members decided to venture his way into the catfish’s mouth, sexual innuendos started coming up in the scene: “Enter the space slowly, stroking its tentacles tenderly,” Our nature guide began, taking the cue from his partner’s action. The audience laughed at his suddenly seductive tone.

This must have triggered an idea in another member because a man in the back of the cluster suddenly stepped out of the group and walked in front of all his team members. It was as if he was wiping the slate clean – all the other members immediately took his cue and turned on the spot to stand at the back of the stage to begin the new story he had brewing in his mind – scene change! All of a sudden, we were watching a teenage boy in the “deep south” asking for permission from a thick-accented, sex-crazed mother (played by a male member of the team!) to date her daughter (played by another male member!).

The night went on in this specific fashion. Each “scene” arcing as any story would until something was said that triggered a new idea among the members. It was exciting to watch a scene unfold and try to guess what line of dialogue would give birth to a new idea and who would begin the next scene by wiping the slate clean again. In this way, each story was interwoven by the links in ideas – how else could they have started studying catfish and ended up raving about Dorito-flavored Taco Bell shells and building a time machine so they could sign the Declaration of Independence. The scenes continued until the whole team triggered enough ideas to circle them back to their nature channel cluster.

                This was a very unique form of improv, indeed! I could tell that these were professional improvers who studied their craft intensely – there was a method to their madness. Watching the team play, I could see that even though the dialogue was improvised they had definitely rehearsed the style and flow of the show. Stock actions were set (the wiping of the slate, for example) as an outline, a foundation, and the team built on this outline to create fresh and funny scenes. Without this outline, transforming little scenes into an eventual interlinking story would probably be near impossible, and transitions would definitely not be as tight and precise as they were. These people weren’t just playing a game, these people were actors. They took their cues from their scene partners, playing off each other’s dialogue to develop a story, giving the spotlight and taking the spotlight, creating characters, and saying “yes” when a team member wiped the slate, allowing a new scene to unfold. There was an arc. I could follow the rise in action, climax, and fall in action of the whole show. There was technique. I could pick out (recalling lessons from an old theatre class) standard “rules of comedy” – Comedy in 3s, the Snowball Effect, Repetition. And the cherry on top was that it was all highly entertaining and quite hilarious!

                The iO Theater is located on Clark Street in Chicago – right across the street from Wrigley Field – and there is something happening every night, so you will never be bored. A warning, however: the humor will be crass, and expletives and sexual innuendos will be dropped – not a show to bring the kids to. The night was geared towards 20- and 30-somethings (or 20- and 30-somethings at heart!), so if you’re looking for a good laugh, I wouldn’t pass it up. This company is definitely a must if you want to see improv at the top of its game!