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Justin Testa from the Wednesday night class is one of the performers in a Stand Up Comedy Show of graduates from the Ojai Comedy Workshop. In case the scan of the poster isn't completely legible, here are the particulars:
Friday February 23rd and Saturday February 24, 2007
Starting time is 8:00 pm
It will be at Theater 150 in Ojai
$10 admission also gets you a beverage
Call for reservations and tickets at 646-4300
Caught In The Act will be putting on our first show of 2007 this coming Saturday January 6, 2007. This will be the first of our regular, monthly shows. We're very happy with our location and now that we have a larger team of players to call upon, we plan to perform the first Saturday of every month. With a more reliable schedule, we will be putting more effort into promoting the show and building up our audience.
Our audiences have made our shows a fun place for us to perform. We want to keep building upon that energy in the coming year. And, with new players and games, we hope to keep it fresh for our returning audiences as well as those new to our shows.
The particulars for this next show:
Saturday, January 6, 2007, 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm Jefferson Hall, 1525 Santa Barbara Street Tickets are $5 at the door
We hope to see you there!
Caught In The Act will be putting on a show this coming Saturday December 2, 2006. We have some new players joining us this time, and it should be a great start to the holiday season. The particulars:
Saturday, December 2, 2006, 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm Jefferson Hall, 1525 Santa Barbara Street Tickets are $5 at the door
We hope to see you there!
Here are a few photos from Caught in the Act's October 21, 2006 show. We had a good sized crowd and it was a fun show. These images are all captured from video, and may be a bit blurry.
The Gibberish Translator scene was pretty good with Neil translating a disagreement on cooking styles between Victoria's character and Mike's character. Needless to say, the gesticulation and miming was wildly beyond the mundane argument.
Here, Jim Andrew, and Neil are playing a Who Am I? scene where Jim is trying to determine his profession. For this scene, he was a baker, although the event being portrayed was the oddest bar-mitzvah.
This was a beautiful Opera scene, with Mike translating an Indian opera for Victoria and Andrew. Some great physical work.
This is a moment in the oddest scene that came out of Scenes From a Hat. Eric is a porcupine, and Jim, Andrew, and Victoria are international mosquitoes. Whatever it was, it was funny.
Now that's a song. In this case it was the Fight Song, but just look at that enthusiasm. Wonderful to watch.
This photo pretty much captures the essence of this Arms Through scene. It's a French cooking show, and yes, that is a raw chicken in "my" hands. They were Mike's hands, actually. And Neil was the one getting instruction. I'm not certain I can make clear how messy this scene became. Let's just say that I still smell of mustard.
Ah yes, Eric, Mike, and I are performing ballet. This was the hit of the Repeating Scene, Changing Genre scene. Nothing more amusing than three guys trying to dance ballet.
This is an Expert Panel with Magazines scene. Jim was from Good Housekeeping, Eric from Cat Fancier, Victoria from (I believe) Teen Life and I'm from The National Enquirer. Neil is the moderator.
Our final piece of the evening is, as usual, a Montage. This particular piece was the ending scene where we had hired people off the street to come to Neil's party.
There were quite a few more pieces in the show (19 total) but I thought this was a pretty good representation of what we did. A fine show.
Mike updated our poster for the Caught in the Act show, this Saturday Oct. 21 at Jefferson Hall.You can find the poster here, or click on the image.
The specifics for the show are:
Saturday October 21, 2006 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm Jefferson Hall 1525 Santa Barbara Street
Tickets: $5 at the door
I was just directed to a Santa Maria improv group named Mission Improvable by someone from work (thanks Rick). I recognize some of the players in the group from John Kinde's days running the Theatresports franchise up there, including Jeanne Sparks who was always a political oasis for me. Several of us from the Santa Barbara Improv Workshop used to travel up and perform with John's group. They always had large and enthusiastic crowds, and we had a good time performing with their players. Michael Passarelli is the director of this group, and according to an article in the Santa Maria Times, he's also the director of a San Luis Obispo based improv group. I'll try and get more info on that for another post.
In the meantime, Mission Improvable is performing regularly on the 2nd Friday of each month, with shows posted for the following dates: October 13, November 10, and December 8. They perform at the Accoustic Lounge, which is located upstairs in the Santa Maria Town Center East. That's the S.E. corner of Broadway and Main Street (Google Map).
They also teach a class on Monday nights from 5:30 to 7:00 pm at the same location.
Caught in the Act will be putting on a show! It's been a bit too long since the last show, and once again we'll be changing some of our players around. The particulars are: Saturday October 21, 2006 8:00 pm to 9:30 pm Jefferson Hall 1525 Santa Barbara Street
Tickets: $5 at the door
We'll be trying to be a bit more organized with our publicity for this one. Thanks Patricia!
Here they are: the 15 screen shots I've collected from last night's recital. I laughed almost as hard replaying the video as I did during the show. I tried to pick out a representative frame for each piece, and the only games I missed were those that didn't really look good in a single, static image - like Tag Out Story.
Opening and Warm UpI was pretty pleased with this opening shot, until I realized I was missing Andy, Victoria, and Mike. They get enough exposure from Caught in the Act, so I'm glad all the other players have a good clear shot (well, and me of course). From the left we have Neil, Justin, Marika, Eric, Alan, Scott, Patricia, Allegra, Teri, and Ben.
PillarsWe had two great volunteer word-givers from the audience. Mike and Neil were given "laundromat" as their starting location, and at this point, the word "twit" was given out to be applied to Neil. I think our volunteer word giver surprised and embarrassed herself. Neil, on the other hand, is in a pretty typical pose.
Story Story DieThis is the start of the piece, so everyone is still in play. Andy is starting off, and he had been given something like "ineffectual evil" as his emotion/attitude. Victoria, Eric, Alan (from behind), Teri, Patricia, and Ben round out the players in this frame.
Irish Drinking SongTeri, Victoria, Patricia, and Andy belted out this song about Irish immigration in the 19th century ... oh no, wait. This one was about NASCAR.
I have it on good authority (well, the one Irish person who attended the show) that this isn't really an Irish song.
Really?!
AlphabetMike, Justin, and Scott were given the set up "prison camp". At this point in the scene, the warden (Scott) is trying to get on with a pottery class while the prisoners are spending a lot of time talking about escaping.
Almost all of the letters in the alphabet were used in this scene, although I do not guarantee that they were used in the order they are normally given.
Open SceneAndy and Allegra had "nurses" as their starter. So, of course Allegra was stealing drugs (and anything else she could get her hands on) from the hospital. In this frame, Andy, the holy and pure co-worker, has discovered that she has tracks on her arm.
Our shows are all about providing life lessons for the kids.
It's odd how many scenes that night involved drug abuse in one form or another. Not normally a theme for us, they weren't particularly out of place. Just noticeably different.
Surprise LinesMarika, Allegra, and Ben were given "train station" as their location. I think the surprise lines were delivered fast and furious, just like they should be. It was a good scene.
My favorite surprise line was "I'm 64". I just found it delightfully mundane.
PuppetsFor me, this was the funniest scene in the whole show. It was physical, situational, and Neil played his positions with some wonderfully simply but appropriate lines. From left to right, we have our volunteer puppeteer Mark, players Scott and Neil, and our second volunteer Kelly. By this point, Kelly was lost in hysterical laughter and was basically rough-handling Neil around the stage. Scott continued to set him up, and Neil just played out lines that addressed the wacky poses Kelly was putting him in. I finally stopped the scene because I couldn't breath anymore.
Emotional ZonesThis scene had the funniest single line of the night. In this shot, Teri is showing a cow's tail to Eric and Andy. The setup was a cattle drive, and Eric's character had been preparing steak for dinner. But, Andy's character was a vegetarian. Teri's character, trying to be helpful, said "...try this tail, it's almost a vegetable".
Hmm, it was MUCH funnier in the show.
Continuing Scene, Changing GenreIn this shot, Victoria, Scott, and Neil are playing their scene as a Film Noir. The setup was the location "amusement park". I love the way Victoria is just vamping it up. Look at that pose...and in sneakers!
This scene went on to be about incest. As I mentioned before, we are nothing if not educational.
Expert PanelSorcery was the topic for this expert panel made up of Justin, Allegra, Ben, and Marika. Neil did a great job as MC. In this frame, Justin is discussing finger painting and sorcery. Allegra's character is trying to hit on Ben's character, and Marika is contemplating being 300 years old.
My favorite moment during this scene was when Neil dealt with a question from the audience that was off track. He claimed there was a technical violation because the asker hadn't raised her hand, allowing him to avoid the having to get an answer to the question. Nice!
Open SceneEric and Mike were given "hairdresser" as a profession, and in this shot they are discussing the Parisian Finger Cut.
I liked the physicalizing that occurred during this scene. The chair helped a lot as both players got in and out of it throughout the scene. Eric was really expansive in his miming. It was wonderful to watch him dunk his head into a water bassin while washing his own hair.
By the end of the scene the two characters had switched roles, with Mike's character giving Eric's the haircut.
Step Out MusicalAt this point in their scene, Victoria, Andy, and Allegra were dancing their way off stage in the final number of the musical.
Their scene had involved a mother that had "tried everything" to raise her kids, like abandon one and spoil the other. They finally came together at the end and this final group song was about teamwork. It involved a lot of stomping and train noises as they worked their way off stage. It really worked much better on stage than it sounds from this description.
Really.
Switch DubbingI'm sorry this frame is so blurry, because this was one of the cleverest moments of the night. Eric had timed the rhythms of my calling "switch" for this scene, and he set up a big kiss just before I switched him and Victoria into the scene. So he was celebrating his success before a big smooch on stage with Victoria. Nice.
Final BowsOkay, in this somewhat blurry shot, captured from the video of our final bow, I've gotten at least a smidge of every player's face. From left to right: Patricia, Mike, Justin, Eric, Scott, Teri, Ben, Victoria, Allegra, Marika, Alan, Neil, and Andy. All are taking a well deserved bow at the end of a very successful show.
It's official. We have Jefferson Hall reserved for the next class recital. Here are the specifics so that you can start letting friends and family know: Date: Saturday, September 30, 2006 Time: 8:00 pm until 9:30 pm Location: Jefferson Hall, 1525 Santa Barbara Street
I passed around a sign up sheet at the last class and I'll continue signing people up at the next. If you don't have a chance to sign up and would like to participate, please contact me.
Okay, this should be the last post about Laughingstock 3. Here's a group picture taken by the VATS folks documenting our participation in the festival. From left to right: Mike Gordon, Jim McRobie (kneeling), Andy Devore, Alan Irwin, and Patrick Desnoyers.
Whew! The last night of Ventura Area Theatresports (VATS) Laughingstock 3: Rumble in the Comedy Jungle was a full on, short form extravaganza, and they went out with a very successful bang. They started the same as every night with a Free-For-All. Jim, Mike, Patrick, and I all participated in that first performance, along with players from VATS and Chimps (the Chadwick Improvisors). I think we all had a good time, and I really enjoy the challenge of working with other improvisers.
Then it was a Micetro knockdown. There were a total of 3 shows, in an elimination match to determine the Master of the Universe. At least in Improv. And maybe just in our region. And pretty much just Theatresports folks. But still, it was damn good improv, and really funny.
There's a better descriptions of the Micetro here, but briefly the idea is a large group of players compete by performing scenes in small groups chosen randomly. Each piece is assigned points by the audience, and all players in that piece are awarded those points. At the end of a match, the top point winners move on the next round.
The first two Micetro shows of the night were preliminaries with 12 to 13 players in each match. The players came from VATS, Chimps, Rapid Fire Theatre (the Edmonton guys), and LATS (LA Theatresports). The top 6 from each met in the final match, with some alterations made to accommodate some of the guests. It was a lot of short form improv, and I was pretty tired by the end, but to their credit, that last show just got funnier.
At the end, there was a multi-way tie, and frankly I don't remember who won what. It really didn't matter, since it was the end of the festival, and they didn't even bother with any sort of a tie-breaker. They invited all the performers from the entire weekend up on stage for a final thank you, and it was all applause and appreciation. VATS was a great host, and Tom Mueller and Judy Gottlieb deserve a lot of credit. Thank you both.
Actually, I'd like to thank several of the folks from the VATS group who were very welcoming and helped put on a great show: Tom and Judy I mentioned before; George Morgan, the piano player who added mood to every piece and made each musical number sound like real show tune; Gary Best who MC'd many of the shows; Katherine Boring and Jim Kasmir who directed Sunday's Free-For-All; and a general thank you to so many of the VATS members who would check in to be sure we had whatever we needed or just to make us feel welcomed.
Wow. Some amazing long form improv on the second night of the Ventura Area Theatresports (VATS) Laughingstock 3: Rumble in the Comedy Jungle. I've got some pictures, so let's get right to it. First, there was a workshop put on in the afternoon that I missed, but a couple of players from Santa Barbara attended. It was taught by Dan O'Conner from the LA Theatresports (LATS) group, and both Andy and Patrick reported that it was terrific.
The first show of the evening started at 5:00 and I missed that, also. It was a performance by Straight Up, a youth improv group from Ventura County.
I did get there in time for the 6:00 show, which was a Free-For-All consisting of VATS players, some performers from Chimps (the Chadwick Improvisers from Palos Verdes CA), the Rapid Fire Theatre (from Edmonton Canada), and maybe some LA folks. It was a pretty big group (13 players) so I don't quite remember them all. I didn't start taking pictures until it was almost done, so I don't have a good group shot. I do like this shot, which is one of the players from VATS and one of the Edmonton guys (Okay, tonight I'm getting a program and recording everyone's name).
Next came the first long form of the evening, titled a Quirky English Comedy. One of the LATS groups put it on, and I enjoyed it. I know it got mixed reviews because it wasn't laugh-a-minute funny. But, it was touching at times, and I enjoyed the characters. I especially liked a couple of scenes where one player had to portray two different characters in the scene at the same time. Everyone supported the technique and I think it played well.
Next was a brilliant Operetta put on by VATS along with Tristan from San Diego (as the itinerant podiatrist). This was another long form, where all the dialog was sung in that very distinctive operetta style (think Gilbert and Sullivan). This was funny all the way through and the singing was just so darn impressive!
Next up was the most impressive show of the evening and was performed by LATS. I've got several pictures from that one piece, and so I'll spend a bit more time rambling on about it.
They started with an extended warm-up that by itself could have been their entire show, and still have been one of the best of the night. It was called My Movie, and consisted of a series of movie titles and pitches made up on the spot. Any pitch that sounded interesting then had a scene performed. It was a high energy piece that they performed for about 20 minutes. Wonderful.
Then came their long form performance piece, which was a Tennessee Williams play. I believe their starters from the audience were puberty and wedding. The performance was amazing! A full range of characters, most were important to the plot and really compelling. The main plot was straight forward, but the secondary plots were very well constructed, added nicely to the texture of the characters, and each was beautifully tied up by the end.
And this was clearly a Tennessee Williams play. There was the young, naive summer gardener raising money for his coming marriage and who somehow never wore a shirt while in the garden; the man of the house (a dentist) who always had a drink in his hand and had a couple of hidden secrets; his wife (named Frustration) who had bouts of 'sickness' when reminded of her dead daughter (who was named Opportunity, and yes, she did knock at one critical plot point) and who lusted after the young worker; the younger (not dead) daughter (Honesty) who also lusted after the young worker but was convinced by her mother that she wasn't pretty (and who never seemed to be wearing pants); the sheriff looking into the dark secrets of the dentist and his 'tutoring'; 'Big Daddy' who was the patriarch of the family; and the local politician who wanted the wife as his own. There was also a soda jerk who was less involved, but did bring in a few key plot elements.
I can't speak highly enough about this piece. In my mind, it's what long form strives to be. Interesting, funny, rich, touching, and memorable. This was a gem in what still would have been a great night. An extra treat.
And of course, it didn't end there. Next was an Improv Jam, and it was pretty fun. Players from VATS, Edmonton, LATS, and San Diego put on a series of short form pieces that had some really fine moments. This picture came from a scene where two girlfriends were in a bathroom comforting a young woman at their prom after her date had said a few inappropriate things. A great scene.
Finally, the last show of the evening was Jimmy Mooks, a trio of players from VATS that put on a short form show where there are no holds barred. At this point I was pretty tired, so after only seeing a few games, I left for the night.
Okay, that's more than enough for now. One more night tonight, which I recommend you get out to see. A few of us from Santa Barbara will join in the Free-For-All at 6:00. Get out there!
Last night was the first night of the Venture Area Theatresports (VATS) Laughingstock 3: Rumble in the Comedy Jungle, and I'd say we all had a great time. Five of the Caught in the Act players joined in the first Free-For-All at 6:00 pm, mixing it up with players from VATS, the Chadwick Improvisors (Chimps) from Palos Verdes CA, and Rapid Fire Theatre from Edmonton Canada. Afterwards, we stuck around to see several really fun improv shows. It started with a traditional Theatresports match which I enjoyed, except of course for the horribly deluded judging (boo! hiss!). Players from VATS, Chimps, and LA Theatresports (LATS) challenged each other to some very funny scenes. And I must say that this show included the best portrayal of a spaceship using a chair that I have ever scene. Ever.
Then the Rapid Fire group performed a very funny long form structure. Three very appealing guys spent an hour taking suggestions they fished from the audience (you'd have to see that process to appreciate it) to put together some wonderful scenes, running the gamut from bullies at school to dealing with a delusional girlfriend.
There was a Gorilla Theatre competition, which I thought was some of the best improv all night. The four experienced improvisers put on a great show. Three were from the VATS group, and one fellow was from San Diego. For me, he was the hit of the show. When performing, his characters had a riveting physical presence, creating some really wonderful scenes. I believe he won the competition, but who can understand the subtleties of scoring?
The night ended with an Improv Jam, where they had 8 players from VATS, Chimps, and Edmonton on stage putting together whatever came to their crazed minds. It lasted about an hour, and although the scenes were risky and didn't always work, they hit to some fun moments, and their enthusiasm really made the show.
I'm sorry I didn't get more of the players' names. Tonight I'll try and get a better list, and I may come back and add some to this post. I need to take better notes, but it's all so delightfully distracting.
On a final note, I want to thank the VATS organizers, and let everyone know how damn well they treat their guest performers. Besides the logo tee shirts and food, they always made us feel welcome and appreciated. They put on a great festival. Get out there!
I just got word that players from Caught in the Act will be performing at Laughingstock 3: Rumble in the Comedy Jungle this Friday, September 1 at 6:00 pm. That's scheduled to be a Free-For-All, so we'll be mixed in with other players. At this point, the players from SB Improv will be Jim, Andy, Mike, Patrick and myself. There are shows scheduled through the night on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday so set aside some time and head on down to Venture.
The Ventura Area Theater Sports group is hosting their annual Improvathon this Labor Day Weekend at their Livery Theatre. This year the event is called Laughingstock III: Rumble in the Comedy Jungle. They host an extended weekend of improv shows and events, hosting groups from around California, and this year at least one group from Canada is being featured. Players from our Caught in the Act group participated last year, and we had a blast. Several of us plan on being part of the show, and I hope to get down to watch a lot of great improv. Check out their schedule and get yourselves down there.
Last Saturday's Caught in the Act show was great fun. We had 5 players for this one: Andy, Jim, Mike, Patrick, and myself (Alan). We got 18 games into the hour and half show. We always video tape the shows for the players to review and so here are a few images I was able to capture:
This was from a Slideshow scene. I've got to complement Jim for taking the pose on his head, and holding it for Patrick's explanation. All I kept thinking was "Hurry up! Jim's gonna pass out"
Eric volunteered to be the Frozen Audience member. As I recall, Jim and Andy were endowing him with trying to pick out a Victoria's Secret gift for their mother.
Oh yeah, Patrick was describing the viscous lion that Andy needed to tame as I was petting it. From the Blind Dubbing scene.
Our two volunteers, Krista and Mikki, were providing Patrick and Andy with words for their Pillars scene about earthquake safety.
Hmm, it will be hard to appreciate this Movie Review scene without having been there. Jim had just consumed Andy's arm while Patrick was singing Hungarian revolutionary songs. Mike and I were reviewing their little art film.
In this shot from a Montage scene, we were all consuming Andy's fresh-out-of-the-oven baked goods as he was getting ready to douse us with a glass of water.
There's no way the humor translates from my description of these still shots. Still, it was nice for me to relive them while trying.
And don't we all just look great in black.
It's official. Caught in the Act will have a show on Saturday, August 19. It'll be our usual format, starting at 8:00 pm and lasting about an hour and a half. I don't have a list of the players, yet. I'll be putting up a page for the show and sending out an email announcement later this week.
There are still a couple of weeks left for the San Francisco Improv Festival. This festival has been going from June 15 and has shows through July 29th, so if you are up in the bay area during that time, check out the ensemble performance schedule. There are still a couple of workshops, so check in on the workshop schedule if you are interested.
There is another performing group in the Santa Barbara area, out at UCSB: Improvability. They have two shows on Friday nights. The first show is at 8:00 pm, and the second show starts at 9:30 pm. I've not been to a show myself, but folks who have say that the show is great. Also, I've worked with one of the players (Tawnie) as a member of Caught in the Act and she's a wonderful improvisor, so go check out a show. I just revisited their website and they had a big 24 hour improvathon over the June 2-3 weekend, but the site hasn't been updated since then (other than some unfortunate spam on their forum). So, it's possible they are off for the summer since it's a student group.
The Ventura Area Theatresports group has been around for a long time and is run by a very talented group of folks. They are part of the Theatresports franchise (Keith Johnstone's group), and I highly recommend their performances and their workshops. The same folks also operate the Livery Theatre and so you can check in at http://www.liverytheatre.org/ for the latest info. Currently, their open workshops are on Saturday morning and Monday evening, and their shows are generally on Friday and Saturday evenings.
