OKC Improv finishing up inaugural run of shows Saturday
Twinprov
From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.
Improv showcase to close successful first run
Oklahoma City’s first ongoing professional improv showcase ends its inaugural run this weekend with an improvised musical, standup comedy and a double-the-fun hip-hop concert.
OKC Improv will close its initial seven-week series with shows at 8 and 10 p.m. Saturday at Ghostlight Theatre Club, 3110 N Walker.
“The response has been fantastic. We have been getting in a lot of people … who have never seen improv before, just really diverse crowds. And the feedback we’re getting at almost every show is ‘That was amazing,’ ‘I’m going to bring everyone I know,’ ‘I can’t believe this is happening in Oklahoma City,’ ‘I didn’t know we had improv,’” said Eric Webb, OKC Improv co-founder and co-producer.
During the first run, about half the shows sold out, and almost every improv troupe in the state took the Ghostlight stage. Among the groups that performed were Oklahoma City’s Red Dirt Improv and The Ones Your Mother Warned You About, Norman’s Obviously Unrehearsed Improv!, Tulsa’s Crayons, Stillwater’s Ham Wallet and Cueless, along with the state’s longest-running troupe, Everybody and Their Dog.
“Generally, the responses from the troupes have been fantastic and … overwhelmingly positive. They love that they have the space they can perform in; they love being able to see what other improv performers and troupes are doing. And they also get the opportunity to play with people they’ve never played with before,” he said.
The showcase’s inaugural series also included the development of the OKC Improv All-Stars, a comedy “super-troupe” with a rotating cast doing a fast-paced mix of short-form and musical improv.
“Having all those improvisers there together, warming up together, in the green room together, we realized that we were wanting to create a scene, we were wanting to create a community, and it was happening,” Webb said. “And that really happens at every show.”
This week, standup comic Brad Porter will open the 8 p.m. show, followed by the debut of a new show from Clint and Buck Vrazel, performing as Twinprov. Twinprov’s “The Doppelgangstas: Live in Concert” will feature the brothers improvising new raps and remixes of their previous songs backed by local musician Stephanie “Dr. Spach” Bidelspach and San Francisco’s DJ Philonious Tao.
The 10 p.m. show will feature the OKC Improv All-Stars and the premiere of “Villain: The Musical!,” an improvised three-act 45-minute musical inspired by the Broadway hit “Wicked” and Joss Whedon’s “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog.” The Vrazels, Bidelspach, Cristela Carrizales and Raychel Winstead will star in the musical, told from the antagonist’s point of view.
Though the performers have developed a loose structure, Webb said the musical’s characters and conflicts will be devised on the spot from audience suggestions.
OKC Improv will go dark in March as Ghostlight Theatre Club stages its production of Tom Stoppard’s “The Real Thing.” The improv showcase will launch its next five-week run April 3.
In April, Webb and his fellow producers — the Vrazels and Marcy Fleming — plan to refine the showcase’s format to feature one show with three acts every Saturday. Along with Oklahoma troupes and performers, they are in talks to book improv groups from Austin, Texas, Dallas and the Kansas City area. They also hope to see the debut of a new local all-female troupe, which is now in the works.
“This has been a new experience. It’s certainly been successful,” Webb said. “We definitely like the idea of new acts, new shows and improv concepts being staged at OKC Improv. We are excited to see that happen.”
For more information, call 343-1570 or go to www.okcimprov.com.
-BAM
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