Indy Theatre Habit

Last Saturday night I judged an Encore show that let out relatively early.  I didn’t feel like going home yet, so I drove to downtown Indianapolis to Massachusetts Avenue to see if ComedySportz had a 10:00 improv show on Saturday nights. I was delighted to find that they did.

I had been to see the Three Dollar Bill Comedy Company - a current-events-based sketch comedy troupe – in the Friday 10pm guest slot at ComedySportz several times before, and had a great time.  I had also seen various Indy Fringe Festival shows on the ComedySportz stage last summer.  In other words, I already felt very comfortable with the venue.  I also had seen some of the ComedySportz improv artists perform as part of the Laugh-a-thon Fundraiser for various charities at Theatre on the Square several weeks ago. I had been meaning to see what a whole evening of their work would be like.

It was SO…MUCH…FUN!

The Match

A ComedySportz match really is like a sporting event, only it is much more engaging than most sporting events that I’ve ever attended.  I was impressed by the layers of audience participation that have been carefully built into the show’s format. 

The audience stands and sings the National Anthem before the match begins, same as at a regular sporting event, for example.  There is a well-grounded referee with a whistle, plus a big, electronic scoreboard that displays the points awarded to the two teams of improv artists that are up on the compact stage, or “playing field,” competing against each other to make the audience laugh. 

However, the audience members are asked – in a skillfully guided way – for suggestions to help make the games go.  We help call fouls, too, and we help award points.  The whole process is very energizing, and we all leave feeling like winners, whether the red team won the big trophy this time or the blue team did, and whether we ourselves are shy rookies or confident veteran improv audience members.

Each match consists of several different improv games, which is another reason this artistic sporting event is unusually interesting.  You might think you would get bogged down with learning the always-changing rules, but you don’t because the team players already know how each game works, and the referee, who is actually more like a master of ceremonies or a time-and-energy manager, knows what questions to ask to get you to give good suggestions. 

There is another board under the scoreboard where over-used words go for a time-out.  I think it was called the “suggestion graveyard.”  Apparently, everyone says “toilet” first, for example, when asked to name an object, so that word is now off-limits.  No one wins if the games are not freshly funny.

The ref calls fouls for “groaners” (something too stupid or icky or punny) and for “brown bag” content (something too rude or crude for an all-ages, family-friendly audience.)   This doesn’t feel restrictive, however.  It feels exciting.  Somehow the ComedySportz format acknowledges and embraces the competitive nature of human beings, yet keeps us from wallowing in our baser natures.

As I say, this was only my first time to attend a regular ComedySportz show, but I can see how it would be fun and continually interesting to attend on a regular basis.  Not only do the games change constantly, the content within each game is unique every time because the ref always takes the first audience suggestion she or he heard, and the audience changes a little every night.

In fact, when I was standing in line to use the restroom before the show started, the woman ahead of me told me that this was their (her and her husband/boyfriend’s?) fourth time to attend.  They liked coming to ComedySportz so much that this time they had invested three extra dollars to receive the special judges’ paddles and the privilege of judging special events within the show. 

I decided I had better go back to the box office and pay my three dollars, too, in order to get the full ComedySportz experience.  During the show, I enjoyed waving either my blue flyswatter or my red flyswatter depending on which team I thought had been funnier.  I’m keeping my judge’s paddles in my car for the next time I go to ComedySportz.

The players, referee, and announcer change every show, too.  I’m sure audience members who attend regularly develop favorites, but the wide variety of players in an even wider variety of potential combinations keeps everyone minty.  My program lists 47 players, but only six compete at a time (three on each team.) 

The players take turns being servers, too, on nights when they are not playing.  Saturday night, I recognized Ed Trout and Jon “J-Co” Colby from seeing them at the TOTS Laugh-a-thon, and but I did not know the other players.  I asked my server, Erin “The side of caution” Hopkins, to mark them on my program:

Lynn “The Big Cheese” Burger was the referee in a black-and-white-striped shirt.  The team players included “Strange” David Fuller, Mookie “Kevin” Harris, Eric “When Harry” Metcalf, Brent “E I E I” Owens, and Kelsey “Mini” Van Vorst.  Ed “Over the Rainbow” Trout was up in the announcer’s loft, serving as The Voice of the Director in a game called “Auditions” and moo-ing and making other sound effects with his voice and his microphone as needed.

A young man named Josh was in the box office.  He told me that he will graduate from Pike High School in three days and then he will be eligible to join the regular team of ComedySportz players.  CSz sales manager Troy “T-bone” Hanna told me later that Josh has been on Pike’s high school ComedySportz team and that when the high school league is going on, CSz is packed with enthusiastic parents and other fans.

The Press Kit

That’s Troy Hanna in the photo at the top of this post, by the way.   He is wearing a CSz blue team shirt and preparing to walk in the Humane Society’s Mutt Strutt.  Ed Trout said I could use a photo from the CSz website, and that one made me laugh out loud, so that’s the photo I went with.

Troy gave me a juicy press kit.  You know me: I’m a sucker for press kits, especially when they are filled with interesting information and other goodies.  I was surprised, and then filled with admiration, to learn that ComedySportz Indianapolis offers a wide variety of professional improv-related services in addition to their standard Thursday/Friday/Saturday night shows.

One example is their Group Unity Training Seminars (G.U.T.S.) for businesses.  According to the brochure,

“The fun, supportive improvisational learning in G.U.T.S. teaches teambuilding, communication, sales techniques, customer service, leadership and creative thinking. Through active participation, people in a G.U.T.S. session enjoy games and exercises that challenge them to work with others to solve problems.”

The ComedySportz people work with each company to design the exact G.U.T.S. experience to meet the company’s unique needs.

The brochure lists several companies that have hired the CSz people to do this work, including Eli Lilly and Company, Well Point, Key Bank, the American Cancer Society, and many more.  My press kit also includes a letter from a Ball State University representative thanking the ComedySportz people for presenting their “Leading with Confidence” workshop to students.

Another brochure suggests several variations of customized corporate entertainment events.  That brochure says:

“ComedySportz is completely flexible and scalable, from a 15-minute United Way Kickoff to a fully produced World Tour; in spaces from living rooms to outdoor festivals, and everything in between.  Our show always tailors itself to your group, and it’s always positive, hilarious, and clean.”

The list of private show clients is even longer than the G.U.T.S. list.

Yet another brochure tells about CSz’s Summer Improv Theatre Camp.  It is designed for high school students, grades 9-12.  The camp will run July 20-24, 2009, 1:00-5:00 pm, at the air-conditioned ComedySportz venue and includes a showcase performance for family and friends at the end.  Cost is $199 and there are some scholarships available.

“Through improv games and warm-ups, professional ComedySportz improvisers will teach: creating funny characters, building scenes, rhyming and music, and miming and object work.”

Man, that sounds like fun!

My press kit also includes a copy of a satisfyingly detailed article by Steve Carr from Nuvo a few years back, when ComedySportz Indy was celebrating its tenth anniversary.  I wasn’t able to quickly find the article online to include a link to it in this post, but if I do find it, I will add it here.  It tells about how the ComedySportz Indianapolis troupe grew from a group that originally called itself Below the Belt.  I envy Carr’s smooth writing style and the content itself is a fascinating piece of Indy theatre history.

Another piece in my press kit says that ComedySportz Indianapolis offers performances as fund-raising events to help not-for-profit organizations.  Troy told me a little about this in person, too:

“We charge a flat fee of $500 and they can charge whatever they want.  We can hold it here, if they want, but they can make more money if they hold it in their own venue.”

There are some other goodies in my press kit, but I haven’t fully explored them yet so I’ll have to tell you about them another time.  Well, okay, I also want to tell you now that a refrigerator magnet in my press kit says that on Saturdays at 4:30 there are shows just “4 kidz.”  Tickets are only $8 for everyone at those shows, and CSz welcomes birthday parties and school/scout outings.

There were three adults celebrating their birthdays at the 10pm show at ComedySportz on Saturday night.  I think people go there as part of their anniversary celebrations, too.  I would, anyway.  I don’t know about you, but I rate “laugh together” as right up there on my list of romantic things to do with a partner.

I went home alone on this particular Saturday night, but I was smiling.

Souvenirs and More Info

ComedySportz is a smoke-free facility.  You can buy beer and snacks from a “fun ballpark-style menu.”  I had nachos and lemonade Saturday night and they hit the spot.  I also added a fifth plastic souvenir cup to my collection of ComedySportz cups.  Plastic souvenir cups definitely remind me of college sports events.

To make a reservation for a ComedySportz show (recommended), or for more information about any of the services I mentioned above, please call 317-951-8499.

Hope Baugh – www.IndyTheatreHabit.com