If you are an avid reader of TWISI, you will know that when it comes to Improv I am spoiled. In Toronto, every week, I am treated to some of the very best where I see impromptu splendors like this painted on the air:
So, with all that in mind (now that we know that Amanda is pretentious about her Improv), let’s speak of Jamie Bradley and Scott Owen’s Vern & Gregory! The Show No One Wanted Them to Give. Bradley and Owen are undoubtedly talented improvisers and very funny individuals. Here, they create a show about two improvisers/tramps (direct from Idaho!) who are reuniting after twenty years for one final frolic.
The show is made up of vaguely disguised theatre games including Freeze, Sound Effects, a genre exercise which included Gibberish, and a version of “The Rewrite” where a volunteer squeezes a bicycle horn and the improvisers much change one aspect of the line they just uttered. They are delightful to watch, especially, I’m sure, for those who haven’t taken Improv classes before.
The aspect of this show which is the most fun, is the fact that since the venue (The Living Room) is small, most of the audience is given the opportunity to play with the improvisers. This is not only funny to watch, but can also lead to the very much unexpected. For example, in the show I saw, the first volunteer who came up was quite a proficient Improviser in her own right, which added an additional layer of fun to the antics.
The most impressive Improv came at the very end of the performance, when Vern (Bradley) left the space with a member of the audience and Gregory (Owen) got a random sentence from the audience. Ours was “bowling in a hat in Portugal). Then Bradley returned and Owen had to help Bradley guess the sentence through improvised dialogue and a plethora of witty word play. It took some time, but it was worth it.
Jamie Bradley and Scott Owen may not blow your mind with the improvisation tricks they have up their sleeves, or indeed with their acting ability, but they will likely make you laugh and send you out into the night happier from 45 minutes of frivolity.
The show is made up of vaguely disguised theatre games including Freeze, Sound Effects, a genre exercise which included Gibberish, and a version of “The Rewrite” where a volunteer squeezes a bicycle horn and the improvisers much change one aspect of the line they just uttered. They are delightful to watch, especially, I’m sure, for those who haven’t taken Improv classes before.
The aspect of this show which is the most fun, is the fact that since the venue (The Living Room) is small, most of the audience is given the opportunity to play with the improvisers. This is not only funny to watch, but can also lead to the very much unexpected. For example, in the show I saw, the first volunteer who came up was quite a proficient Improviser in her own right, which added an additional layer of fun to the antics.
The most impressive Improv came at the very end of the performance, when Vern (Bradley) left the space with a member of the audience and Gregory (Owen) got a random sentence from the audience. Ours was “bowling in a hat in Portugal). Then Bradley returned and Owen had to help Bradley guess the sentence through improvised dialogue and a plethora of witty word play. It took some time, but it was worth it.
Jamie Bradley and Scott Owen may not blow your mind with the improvisation tricks they have up their sleeves, or indeed with their acting ability, but they will likely make you laugh and send you out into the night happier from 45 minutes of frivolity.
Venue: The Living Room (2353 Agricola Street)
Times: Sun Sept 6 at 7:40pm, Mon Sept 7 at 2:10pm, Tues Sept 8 at 6:30pm, Fri Sept 11 at 7:40pm, Sat Sept 12 at 6:40pm, Sun Sept 13 at 3:10pm, Sun Sept 13 at 8pm
