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Just The Funny is South
Florida's most celebrated and acclaimed improv
theatre company. The following is every
article written, and award given to Just The Funny.
*Major articles and
awards in Bold.
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MAKING
SH*T UP
New Times
March 6,
2008
Improv -- the kind you see on Whose Line Is It Anyway? -- was born in Italy in the 1500s. In those days, it was called “commedia dell’arte.” A troupe of 10 would get together on a street and play out a scene without a script and with only a few props. They welcomed donations from onlookers. The performances tended to be about the great plebian themes: adultery, old age, jealousy, and love. The actors often wore masks, making them forerunners to the modern clown.
Flash-forward to the 20th Century, when improvisational acting was revived after a long dormancy and flourished in comedy clubs. Drew Carey and his cohorts popularized the medium, and local groups continued the Italian tradition. One such club in Miami is training the ordinary citizen, and if you think you’ve got a knack for being funny on the fly, it’s worth checking out. Tonight at 7:30, Just the Funny kicks off a seven-week course in Improv. Participation costs $200, and that’s a bargain when you consider the whole world is an ongoing improvised scenario. There are limited spaces. Call 305-693-8669, or visit www.justthefunny.com.
Thu., March 6, 2008
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THE BIRTH OF MIRTH
New Times
February
28, 2008
by: Dave Gurney
We’re two months into 2008, and you're getting that icky feeling that maybe you're not going to get everything you want this year. Your new year's resolutions are crumbling, and you've developed a deep spiritual malaise that's threatening to turn into humorless self-pity. Yikes! “Laughter is the best medicine,” says Reader's Digest, but you need professional help. Comedy might be the cure. Here’s what you’re looking for: One of Miami's finest comedy-improv troupes, Just the Funny, is celebrating its ninth anniversary tonight with two rollicking interactive performances.
These special shows will feature the troupe's best sketches and characters from the past almost-decade, jazzed up with new bits based on audience suggestions. They dare you to bring strange and unusual objects (no, not that) for use in the show. The Just the Funny Theater and Training Center has weekly shows as well as improv and sketch-writing classes for kids and adults. Come laugh away that spiritual malaise. Tickets for the ninth-anniversary shows cost $10 for the 9 p.m. performance, $5 for 11 p.m., or $12 for both.
Sat., March 1, 2008
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COMICS
MOVING INTO THEIR DREAM HOME
Miami Herald
February
2, 2008
by: Christine Dolan
Most improv troupes are peripatetic. They rent space from another theater company, use a small auditorium, create their funny late-night art wherever they can. Just the Funny, the company behind the Miami Improv Festival, is kicking it up a notch: The group is opening its own 125-seat theater at 3119 Coral Way in Miami.
The grand opening is Saturday, with shows at 9 and 11 p.m. Artistic director David Christopher says of the move: ``Opening our very own theater dedicated to improv and sketch comedy has been our dream at Just The Funny from Day One, when we started back in 1999. It's incredible to be able to have a permanent home. We will now be able to produce the level of shows we have always wanted to.''
The company will perform weekly at the theater, which is six blocks east of Miracle Mile, also offering improv classes for adults, teens and kids. Tickets to the grand opening are $10 for the early show, $5 for the late show or $12 for both. For more information, call 305-693-8669 or visit www.justthefunny.com.
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Improv comedy troupe finally has home on Coral Way
Just the Funny begins
offering comedy shows and classes this weekend from its
new permanent location on Coral Way.
Miami Herald
January 29, 2008
by: Priscilla Grear
First they trekked to Oz in a rainstorm in search of a new heart and the wizard. Later they built an Egyptian pyramid. Before it was all over, they were chickens struggling to stop the sky from falling with a ribbon of love.
The improvisational scenes, part of a recent rehearsal of Just the Funny Theater Company, will be the kind of spontaneous creative energy the troupe will offer to South Florida audiences Friday and Saturday at the grand opening of its first permanent home, 3119 Coral Way, Miami.
''It's really an edge-of-your seat, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants art form,'' said David Christopher, the company's artistic director, actor and instructor. ''The audience gets to see something where they really don't know what will happen next,'' said Christopher, who in 2000 produced Universal's TV reality show Blind Date.
The troupe performs sketches written by actors typically connected to pop culture and current events, and improvisational comedy and drama based on audience suggestions.
''It's about getting on stage and making the scene happen and making it meaningful and enjoyable for the audience,'' said Manny Carballea, 29, who lives in Westchester and works as an engineer when he's not making people laugh as part of the 16-member troupe.
Just the Funny also is South Florida's only improv training center. Starting in March, class offerings will expand to include improvisation for adults and teens and sketch writing. Each of the classes concludes with a student performance and a certificate of completion.
Founded in 1999, Just the Funny relocated four times before settling in 2003 at the Miami Science Museum, 3280 S. Miami Ave. Coconut Grove.
''It's been a struggle'' to be recognized as an art by the theater community, Christopher said. But the troupe persevered with a goal to open its own theater. Along the way, it initiated the South Florida Improv Jam and hosted five Miami improv festivals.
The new space ''has really solidified our group and pushes us to take things to the next level,'' said Christopher, 35, a Miami resident. ``Everyone is really inspired by the potential of this space.''
The former 2,500 square-foot antique shop is now painted red and black. The company has a 10-year lease and a theater that accommodates about 125 patrons. For the grand opening, the company will perform two shows on Friday and Saturday. The 9 p.m. shows are for all ages and feature short-form improvisation, during which audience members can suggest a setting or define actors' relationship for a scene. Another short format involves audience members giving the answers in mock-Jeopardy format.
''It's a very fun, fast-paced improv,'' Christopher said. ``It's kind of like Whose Line Is It Anyway meets Saturday Night Live.
The longer-form 11 p.m. shows can contain more adult language and situations. For either show, attendees can bring ''strange and unusual'' objects for actors to incorporate into the improv.
''It's really getting to see comedy or theater without a net,'' Christopher said.
``This grand opening is our coming out party. We want people to find out who we are and see us before we go into all our specialized shows.''
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house of
laughs
Just The Funny
finds a home for its comedy.
Miami
New Times
January 29, 2008
by: Priscilla Gomez
After a long week in the office, you might think the last thing you need is another half-ass joke made by some amateur about Fidel Castro or Hillary Clinton. But greater jokes are in store for anyone in search of a real laugh tonight. After nine years of living a nomadic existence, Miami’s comedic troupe of heroes, Just the Funny, is proud to announce the grand opening of the Just the Funny Theater, a permanent performance space and training center for the group.
To celebrate, they’ll be putting on two original, interactive grand-opening shows tonight at 9 and 11, including all kinds of hilarious parodies, sketches, and more improv than you can shake a stick at. The troupe encourages anyone attending to bring wacky ideas and props to be used throughout the show. Ten dollars will get you into the 9 p.m. show, five bucks for the 11 p.m. show, or you can really give your funny bone a good tickling by paying $12 for both.
Sat., Feb. 2, 9 & 11 p.m., 2008.
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HO HO HO!
New Times
December 6,
2007
by: Priscilla Gomez
Attention, Scrooges! We know Black Friday holiday shopping (and the post-Black Friday holiday shopping hangover) has already gotten you down. (Just who was lucky enough to grab that $400 laptop?) It definitely did not get you feeling much like Christmas -- with 80-degree weather, who can blame you? Praise be to Saint Nick there’s a troupe of merrymakers already preparing to cheer you up with festive hysterics: Just the Funny is putting on its Ha!Liday Spectacular show at the Miami Science Museum, kicking off December with some much-needed jolts to the funny bones.
The show will include several holiday-theme skits as well as some improv to keep audiences roaring in their seats. Fill up that flask and get ready to laugh at either or both performances ($10 for the 9 p.m. show; $5 for the unrated, uncut, full-frontal 11 p.m. show; $12 for both). Call 305-MY-FUNNY, or visit www.justthefunny.com.
Fri., Dec. 7, 2007
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WE LOVE THE EIGHTIES
Just the Funny’s gigglefest
will be, like, totally awesome
New Times
August
2, 2007
by: Tom McFadden
Maybe you spent the Eighties playing with your Transformers or Teddy Ruxpin. Perhaps you spent them moping around the corridors of your high school channeling your inner Morrissey. Or just possibly you spent countless hours trying to perfect the break-dancing moves of Turbo and Ozone. No matter. Twenty years later, there’s one thing we can all agree on: What the hell were we thinking? Thankfully, enough time has passed that we can laugh at our Day-Glo past. Miami’s Just the Funny improv comedy troupe will make sure you do just that, with two Back to the Eighties shows skewering and celebrating the era.
“What’s not funny about the Eighties?” says troupe member and admitted parachute pants owner David Christopher. “They were big, bad, loud, shameless, and over-the-top.” Dig up your Menudo lunchbox and head for the Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium tonight for two Chicago-style improv performances.
Sat., Aug. 4, 9 & 11 p.m.
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BULLS ON PARADE
New Times
July 5, 2007
by: Ben Bass
Pamplona’s world-famous bull-running festival kicks off this week, and in celebration a Miami comedy troupe has organized its own stampede this weekend. Twelve purebred Spanish bulls will be released on Lincoln Road tonight at 9:00; they will run a course from Alton to Washington, kicking over dinner tables, goring unsuspecting tourists, and possibly picking up some designer eyewear along the way.
Okay, we might be joking. But it’s all in the spirit of Just the Funny’s Running of the Bulls Improv Show, which goes down at 9:00 p.m. at the Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium. Tonight’s show offers two hours of family-friendly Chicago-style sketch comedy and improv games based on audience suggestions, all for a measly five bucks.
Fri., July 6, 9 p.m.
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BUSTING THE
BLOCKBUSTERS
Just the Funny spoofs the
summer flicks
New Times
May 31,
2007
by: Ben Bass
Remember the scene in Top Gun when Maverick and Iceman finally give in to their carnal desire for each other? How about Rocky’s dramatic heavyweight title match against Chewbacca? Or the one in which Marty McFly travels into the future to fight Bill and Ted in the Thunderdome? Of course not, because none of those scenes happened. But with the help of Just the Funny, Miami’s premier improv comedy troupe, you can bring your twisted cinematic dreams to life at Supermovie: Live on Stage! tonight at 9:00.
A special edition of Just the Funny’s weekly show at the Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium, Supermovie will feature audience-inspired mockery of blockbusters past and present, and will probably be a lot more fun than any of them. Admission is ten dollars, but for a mere two bucks more, you can stick around for the group’s 11:00 Deep Dish Improv Show – Chicago-style improv funny enough to stand a chance against Ditka. Call 305-MY-FUNNY, or visit www.justthefunny.com.
Sat., June 2, 11 p.m.
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SCARFACE GETS THE
TREATMENT
Miami Herald
June 30, 2006
by: Michael Hamersly
If ever there were a film ripe for some good-natured ridicule, it's Scarface, starring Al Pacino as a ruthless and cartoonish Miami cocaine kingpin in the '80s. Enter Just the Funny's new improv comedy show Director's Cut. Here's how it works: Actors take a noncomedic movie, including its characters and plot, and change everything per audience suggestions. Then they improvise the whole movie. It's a laff riot!! Before Director's Cut, catch The Big Show at 9 p.m.; it's $10; $12 for both shows; free for students with ID.
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SCARRED FOR LIFE
Gettin' high on their own supply
New Times
June 29, 2006
by: Patrice Elizabeth Grell Yursik
Ask twenty
rappers what
their favorite
film is, and
you’ll get the
same answer over
and over again:
Brian De Palma’s
Scarface,
1983’s bleak
snow globe of a
movie written by
Oliver Stone in
the midst of a
yayo hangover.
The film recalls
a flurry of
iconic images
that speak
directly to
Miami’s seamy
history.
According to the
Just the
Funny improv
comedy troupe,
no film is more
ideal for
parody. Howl
with laughter at
the debut of its
Director’s Cut
series, which
begins with a
ribald ribbing
of Scarface.
Though the
audience is
encouraged to
bring props,
founding member
David
Christopher
assures the cast
is well prepared
for this
particular
challenge. “We
have our own
cocaine. It
isn’t real, but
I won’t tell you
what’s in it. We
have the M-16,
the bling, the
Hawaiian shirts
... we’re
ready,” he
laughs. Snicker
at Scarface
tonight at 9:00
or later at
11:00 at the
Miami Museum of
Science and
Planetarium.
Tickets range
from five to ten
dollars. Call
305-693-8669, or
visit
www.justthefunny.com.
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COMEDY
TROUPE ADDS TWIST TO SCARFACE
Miami Herald
June 29, 2006
by: Marissa D. Clarke
Ever wanted to
see a different
ending to the
gangster film
Scarface?
Well, give the
comedians of
Just the Funny
those
suggestions as
they present
Director's Cut,
Scarface at
11 p.m. Saturday
at the Miami
Museum of
Science and
Planetarium,
3280 S. Miami
Ave.
The improv
comedy troupe
will act out
Brian de Palma's
1982 film that
starred Al
Pacino with
plotlines and
characters that
stem from your
suggestions.
Can't remember
the film? Don't
worry. The
Scarface
trailer will air
just before the
show.
Tickets are $5,
$10 for the
preceding The
Big Show,
which is
''family
friendly'' and
free for
students with ID
or $12 for both.
Call
305-693-8669 or
visit
www.justthefunny.com
for details.
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SCHOOL'S OUT
Miami Herald
May 26, 2006
by: Michael Hamersly
On
Saturday night, Stefanie Black,
pictured, and the other members
of Just the Funny present the
School's Out Spectacular, a
90-minute high-energy
interactive show featuring
sketches, parodies, music and
improvised scenes, including
everything from Whose Line Is
It Anyway to Saturday
Night Live, all based
on your suggestions. The 9 p.m.
show is family friendly;
anything goes at the 11 p.m.
show; Museum of Science &
Planetarium, 3280 S. Miami Ave.,
Miami; 305-693- 8669 or
www.justthefunny.com; $10
for 9 p.m.; $5 for 11 p.m., $12
for both shows; students free.
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SUMMERTIME GUFFAWS
New Times
May 25, 2006
by: Paul Catala
School’s out for summer and it’s
time to get wild and wacky -- or
wacky and wild -- whichever
comes first. To help ease the
transition from homework to no
work, the Just the Funny
improv comedy troupe is offering
students free tickets to
tonight’s 9:00 (family-friendly)
and 11:00 (mature -- well, sort
of) “School’s Out Spectacular”
shows. The event marks the
kickoff of a month-long deal for
middle and high school students
(with valid school ID). That’s
right, kids, you can see the
9:00 p.m. shows for free
throughout June. “We were once
in school and broke too,” says
troupe member Alex Perdomo. “We
just want to give these kids
something to laugh about.”
Things will get nutty at the
Miami Museum of Science and
Planetarium. Tickets (for those
too cool for school) cost $10
for the early show, $5 for the
later, or $12 for both. Call
305-693-8669, or visit
www.justthefunny.com.
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'SCHOOL'S
OUT' FOR IMPROV COMEDY ACT
Miami Herald
May 25, 2006
by: Marissa D. Clarke
Celebrate the
end of another
school year with
Just the Funny's
School's Out
Spectacular
Saturday at the
Miami Museum of
Science and
Planetarium,
3280 S. Miami
Ave., Coconut
Grove.
The improv
comedy troupe
will use
audience
suggestions to
perform
sketches,
parodies and
music scenes.
Just the Funny,
which has been
around since
1999, features a
host of
comedians
including Alex
Perdomo,
Stephanie Black
and Maha McCain.
School's Out is
$10 for the 9
p.m.
family-friendly
show, $5 for the
11 p.m.
'anything goes'
show and $12 for
both. Middle and
High school
students get in
to the 9 p.m.
show free. Call
305-693-8669 or
visit
www.justthefunny.com
for details.
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BEST OF mIAMI
New
Times
May 11, 2006
Reader's Choice -
Best Place for a First Date: Just The Funny
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Comedians to gather for Dirty South Improv Festival
The Herald-Sun
February 15, 2006
by: Dawn Baumgartner
Vaughan
Comedians from improv hubs
Chicago and New York City will
join others from across the
nation at the 6th annual Dirty
South Improv Festival.
When Chapel Hill native Zach
Ward started the festival in
2001, he was joined by three
improv groups, 27 improvisers
and two teachers. This year, he
welcomes more than 430
improvisers and teachers. The
festival -- which includes
workshops as well as
performances -- is as much a
conference for improvisers as it
is a showcase for both
established and up and coming
improv teams.
Ward considers the Dirty South
Improv Festival part of the top
three improv festivals in the
country after the Chicago Improv
Festival in April and the Del
Close Marathon at the Upright
Citizens Brigade Theatre in New
York City in August.
Dirty South Improv -- which
includes the Carrboro comedy
theater and traveling college
tour as well as the festival --
is solidly on the radar of the
improv subculture. Ward, founder
and owner of Dirty South Improv,
helps produce the Chicago
festival. Improvisers from the
Upright Citizens Brigade will be
performing at the Dirty South
Improv Festival. Teams from the
festival have performed at both
Chicago and New York events.
David Christopher wanted to be a
part of the DSI festival because
of "how good it is." Like Ward,
Christopher also trained under
The Second City in Chicago and
Upright Citizens Brigade.
Christopher is half of the Miami
improv duo Duocity, one of the
teams participating in the DSI
festival. He is also executive
producer of the Miami Improv
Festival and is coming to the
festival to improve as well as
perform.
"We're really big on watching
other people's shows and
learning from them," Christopher
said.
Ward, a University of North
Carolina at Chapel Hill
graduate, spent four years
working with the Chicago improv
scene before returning
permanently to Orange County in
June 2004. He still goes back to
Chicago for two months each year
for the Chicago Improv Festival.
But Carrboro is his home for
good, and he hopes it will be an
improv hub, too, in a different
way than improv in Chicago and
New York.
"If you're doing improv in
Carrboro, you're not worried
about standing out. Improvisers
support each other. It's a
team," he said.
"You go to New York or Chicago
to study improv if you want to
be seen and go on to Saturday
Night Live," said Ward, who
worked with current SNL cast
member Amy Poehler when she was
an improviser for Upright
Citizens Brigade.
"If you want to study the art of
improv, come and relax, drink
some sweet tea, have a mild
winter and play with DSI."
Playing is at the heart of
improv for Ward.
The reason the local stage is
called Dirty South Improv Comedy
Theater, not comedy club, shows
the difference between stand-up
comedy and improv comedy, he
said. Stand-up comedians work
alone. Improvisers work
together.
"It's much more compelling than
stand-up," Ward said. "In
stand-up, there's something to
prove. I wanted to play. The
audience can see us play. At the
theater, you're going to
experience live performance."
Ward started the Chapel Hill
High School improv company while
he was a student there in the
early 1990s. CHHS and East
Chapel Hill High School's improv
groups are participants
alongside the professionals at
the DSI festival. (Dirty South
Improv features high school
improv groups every Sunday at
the DSI Comedy Theater.)
"I
wanted to give them a showcase.
I would put Chapel Hill High
School's improv company against
a number of professional teams.
They're dedicated to the art
form," Ward said.
His love of improv stems from
what everyone wants -- to be
loved. He feels that on stage
four times a week and it is
intoxicating, he said.
For Jason Curtis, improvisation
was filed under the "things he
always wanted to do" category of
his life. He joined the
subculture a year ago as a
student at N.C. State
University. After taking classes
and working the DSI box office,
now he is an associate producer
of the festival. Curtis will
also perform with one of the
house teams, Community Bike.
"It is an honor to be a member
of a team that was such an
integral part of me falling so
madly in love with improv as a
whole," Curtis said.
Out-of-state improv teams --
other than Chicago and New York
-- hail from Washington, D.C.,
Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Florida,
Rhode Island, South Carolina,
Georgia, Texas, Indiana,
Michigan, California, Missouri
and Virginia. Some have local
ties. The artistic director for
Upright Citizens Brigade is a
former Chapel Hill improviser.
Festival teacher and performer
Eric Hunicutt is a UNC Chapel
Hill graduate.
For more information or tickets
to the festival, visit http://festival.dirtysouthimprov.com
or call the DSI box office at
338-8150.
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COOP D'ETAT
New Times Broward
- Palm Beach
January 12, 2006
by: Diedra Funcheon
Why did the chicken cross
the road? “Well, that is an
excellent question,” says Jack
Reda, a man who wears a chicken
suit for a living. “I don’t know
if I can answer it now. It would
ruin it for anyone who is going
to come to the show” – namely,
the “Boneless Chicken Cabaret,”
one of a whopping 50
presentations at this year’s
Miami Improv Festival. The
chicken show – presented by
Reda’s troupe, the District of
Columbia’s Unscripted Players
(D-CUP) – is a combination of
“improvisation, sketch comedy,
music, dance, and interactive
theater, performed by men
dressed as chickens. Without
speaking any intelligible
English, the chickens explore
birth, art, karate, and more.”
The chicken’s motivation for
crossing the infamous road is
indeed “one of the mysteries of
the universe that we try to
unravel,” says Reda. He also
notes the date – Friday the 13th
– and says, “It’s a little bit
scary… and we will certainly try
to exploit that.” The festival
is the brainchild of Miami
improv troupe Just the Funny.
While many of their peers ran
off to Chicago, New York, or
L.A. to pursue comedy, only to
disappear in an overcrowded pool
of unemployed wannabes, the cast
of Just the Funny went
wee-wee-wee all the way to…
well, just over to the Miami
Museum of Science and
Planetarium, where they hunkered
down and perfected their craft
with weekly shows. After several
years of toiling away on home
turf, the group now has traffic
moving the other direction, as
the country’s funniest folks
head south to the museum for the
troupe’s now-nationally-renowned
fest. For example, on Friday
evening alone, D-CUP will be
joined by national acts like the
clever and subversive Upright
Citizens Brigade (they perform
at 8 p.m.) and the Groundlings
(whose alumni include Will
Ferrell and Phil Hartman; they
perform at 9). Jupiter’s
aptly-named improv troupe Gated
Community goes on at 7; and a
program called Inside the
Out-of-work Actors’ Studio
starts at 10. (“Join host ‘James
Tetley’ as he re-lives [these
actors’] single high, and most
importantly, their multitude of
lows through an in-depth
interview and a look back at
their very short demo reel.”)
Through Jan. 15, $8 to $25,
866-468-7630.
http://www.miamiimprovfestival.com
Miami Museum of Science,
3280 S Miami Ave, Miami.
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JUST THE FUNNY
Newest improv festival, long and uncut
New Times
January 12, 2006
by: Octavio Roca
David Christopher has reason to
gloat. The fourth edition of the
Miami Improv Festival, presented
through Sunday on two stages at
the Miami Museum of Science and
Planetarium, is "our biggest one
... not just in terms of the
number of shows and workshops,
but also in stature," says the
event's executive producer.
The festival will include the
South Florida debut of the
Upright Citizens Brigade, the
return of The Groundlings, and
workshops led by comics from
Second City. Overall there will
be 50 events. The three troupes
are without doubt the real farm
teams of American comedy,
particularly of the fast, edgy,
and surprising variety
hilariously represented by
now-famous alumni such as Lisa
Kudrow, Will Ferrell, and half
the casts of Mad TV and
Saturday Night Live.
It
doesn't take a genius to predict
that many of the young comedians
scheduled to improvise their
stuff this weekend are set to
follow in those funny footsteps.
As for the workshops, well, do
you think you're funny? Here's a
chance to expose yourself in
public. Big time — with the
pros, and among whatever peers
you choose, from little kids and
teens to seasoned veterans.
"We're not just a weeklong event
that comes into town and then
leaves," Christopher says.
"We're local, and our mission is
really to cultivate an improv
community in Miami. The shows
are great, but the workshops are
a huge component of the
festival: to get people involved
not just by watching but by
doing. You learn the improv
lingo, the ground rules, you are
immersed in comedy. And the
great thing is we get not just
the general public but also some
really experienced improvisers.
"And our workshops are small. We
keep them really limited in size
so instructors can really come
in and teach."
Can you teach anyone to be
funny? Christopher, a comedian
who is set to headline three
shows this weekend, believes
that "people are either innately
funny or not funny, and some are
funnier than others."
But, he adds, "Improv doesn't
necessarily have to be funny
either — there are a lot of
dramatic improv acts."
More and more acting exercises
as well as new full-length plays
and musicals begin with
improvisation, with audience
suggestions. Just don't go for
the obvious. "I always tell
people it's not just about
comedy," Christopher says. "The
more you try to be funny, the
less funny you'll usually be.
You don't find love, love finds
you; it's the same thing with
improv. You find your own voice,
and comedy finds you. We can
prepare people to be funny, to
allow themselves to find their
voices."
And to be surprised. The one
sure thing about improvising
from audience suggestions — as
many of these acts routinely do
— is you can't ever be sure
what's next. A man walks into a
bar, Dubya walks into a door —
who knows? Depending on the
mood, the weather, or the crowd,
the festival might move toward
bathroom jokes, political barbs,
slapstick, or intricate
wordplay. "The cool thing about
improv," Christopher says, "is
that you have to be quick to
connect references. You find out
what the audience wants, and you
give it to them instantly. You
have to adapt instantly."
Perhaps the most adept at
adapting are I Sebastiani, a
Boston troupe billed as "the
greatest commedia dell'arte
troupe in the entire world" that
is making its local debut at the
festival. Their masks hark to
the Renaissance, and their stock
characters, including Arlecchino
and Pantalone, are archetypes.
But their plots come from the
audience and — within the rough
scenario that begins it all —
their humor is of the streets.
From Los Angeles, where the film
industry makes live theater feel
like an endangered species, come
The Groundlings, definitely live
and now celebrating the troupe's
31st season. Its history is
rich, and the list of comedy
all-stars who first strutted
their stuff in the Groundlings'
stage on Melrose Avenue is long:
Kathy Griffin, Phil Hartman, Jon
Lovitz, Julia Sweenie, Maya
Rudolph, Lisa Kudrow, and even
Paul Reubens, who created his
Pee-wee Herman character as a
Groundling.
The Upright Citizens Brigade,
originally from Chicago and now
fully bicoastal with theaters in
Los Angeles and New York,
performs locally for the first
time at the Improv Festival.
Just the Funny, in the middle of
a busy local season that
continues without missing a beat
after the festival, offers three
shows: revivals of the local
hits The Big Show and
Duocity, plus the premiere
of the sonic improvised
spectacular 4 Track. What
else to expect? Among others,
there is what sounds like a
twisted and very funny Canadian
show called Inside the
Out-of-Work Actors Studio. Then
there is the Miami premiere of
Personal Assistant,
Celisa Grayer's saga about one
woman's search for identity,
self-worth, and balls.
There's a movie too: a
mockumentary called Yes And,
from Jack Reda, founder of
Washington's DCUP (District of
Columbia Unscripted Players).
That might sound risky — the
last comedy troupe to make the
national rounds, Capitol Steps,
was about as funny as C-SPAN
with a piano. Still, "It's just
like This Is Spinal Tap —
awesome even for people who
don't know all the conventions
of improv.
"It's hysterical," Christopher
swears.
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MIAMI'S A
LAUGHING MATTER THIS WEEK
Miami Herald
January 8, 2006
by: Brett O'Bourke
On
Wednesday, the fourth annual Miami
Improv Festival takes over the Miami
Museum of Science and Planetarium
for five days (and nights) of
laughs, jokes and assorted
silliness.
Created and organized by local
improv group Just the Funny, the
festival features 29 improv and
sketch comedy groups from all over
the United States and Canada
performing 50 shows on two stages,
along with 14 workshops, and two
film screenings of the improv
mockumentary Yes And.
The
groups will perform everything from
the short Whose Line Is It
Anyway?-style games to long-form
improv -- where a single idea or
scenario (usually an audience
suggestion) is built on over the
course of scenes -- to duo shows and
novelty acts.
The
festival's headline acts are The
Groundlings and The Upright Citizens
Brigade, from whose ranks have come
the likes of Phil Hartman, Will
Ferrell, Julia Sweeney, Chris Kattan,
Lisa Kudrow, Amy Poehler, Horatio
Sanz and a host of other sitcom and
stand-up comedians.
According to David Christopher, the
festival's executive producer, ``if
you want to see people who are the
next cast members of Saturday
Night Live, Mad TV, Curb Your
Enthusiasm, or whatever the next
latest, greatest sitcom is -- this
is where you'll find them.''
* * *
Christopher and his cohorts at Just
the Funny created the festival in
2002 in an effort to grow the South
Florida improv scene and get a close
look at what the best improvers
where doing in Chicago and Los
Angeles.
''We really wanted to learn how to
do long-form improv but we couldn't
really afford to hire a teacher or
travel, so we decided to bring the
groups to us,'' says Christopher.
``Now, we're doing long form all the
time in our weekly shows and we're
the ones being invited to other
festivals.''
Christopher says the exposure to
other styles has expanded and
refined the South Florida improv
scene, which has as many as six
established groups from Coconut
Grove to Jupiter.
It's also helped build the audience.
'We
get a lot of people who hear about
The Groundlings being in town and
come out to find all the local
groups as well and say, `I didn't
even know this was here,' ''
Christopher says.
But
the fledgling festival is perhaps
most popular with the groups it
brings.
''It's a really fun festival for
us,'' says Krista Gano, The
Groundlings' executive director.
``There are some festivals where we
just perform and leave and there are
others where it's really fun to hang
out and spend time with the other
acts. This is one of them. And, it
doesn't hurt to hang out on South
Beach for a week.''
This will be the L.A.-based
Groundlings third year in a row
coming to Miami.
''It's a good crowd. We're bringing
our long-form show -- the audience
responds to it immediately. And it's
been tremendous watching the
festival grow in both audience and
number of acts,'' Gano says.
In
its first year, the festival hosted
16 groups and about 2,200 attendees.
By last year, the event swelled to
29 groups and about 7,500 attendees.
* * *
This year, aside from the headline
performances, Christopher says he's
looking forward to what he feels is
a very strong lineup of workshops,
some of which -- like the master
class led by Mark Sutton of
Chicago's famed Second City -- have
already sold out.
There are classes for kids, teens
and rank beginners and even classes
that offer performance spots later
in the evening for selected
students.
'It's our way of saying `Just get
out there and do it,' '' Christopher
says.
This year's breakout stage will
feature up-and-comers like i
Sebastiani, a Commedia dell'Arte
troupe that performs the traditional
masked comedy of the Italian
Renaissance; Out of Work Actors, who
tell you what it's like to be them;
and Razowsky & Clifford, two Second
City alum who perform a long-form
improv that -- they say -- follows
the random placement of two chairs.
Christopher says the festival is all
about ``elevating the exposure of
improv and sketch comedy in South
Florida, while showing the rest of
the world what South Florida has to
offer, and having a great time doing
it.''
He's not kidding . . . or maybe he
is . . . hard to tell.
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GET READY
TO LAUGH A LOT THIS MONTH
Sun-Sentinel
January 6, 2006
by: Jeff Rusnak
Two festivals, four solo performances, three
touring shows and an acidic A-list stand-up
booked at two clubs make this one of the best
months for comedy South Florida has ever seen.
Here's the calendar, beginning with the
festivals.
Miami Improv Festival: Presented by the Miami
troupe Just the Funny, the fourth annual event
begins Wednesday and concludes Jan. 15 at the
Miami Museum of Science, 3280 S. Miami Ave.,
Miami.
Executive Director David Christopher and staff
have booked 50 shows and 14 workshops in the
five days, with the Groundlings, Upright
Citizens Brigade Theatre Touring Company and the
female tandem Keilly and Roeters among the
out-of-town acts performing Friday and Saturday.
Just the Funny opens the festivities Wednesday
night and also performs Friday and Saturday.
Also booked are Palm Beach County's Mod 27
(Saturday) and Gated Community (Friday), and the
high-school group Child's Play from the Fort
Lauderdale Children's Theater (Sunday).
"Our niche in improv circles is we help break
out new talent and new workshops," Christopher
said. "One of the things we're also trying to do
is elevate the way people see improv. It's more
than just a training ground. These are polished
shows."
Tickets are $8-$10 per show, except for the
Groundlings and Upright Citizen's Brigade, which
are $25. Nightly and festival passes are
available.
Call 866-468-7630 or visit
Miamiimprovfestival.com.
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HALLOWEEN COMEDY SHOWS
Miami Herald
October 28, 2005
Fear-prov,
terror-themed improv comedy that spoofs horror
films suggested by the audience and Scary
Tales, interactive show in which comedians
make up horror stories based on titles provided
by the audience; 9 p.m. Fear-prov and 11
p.m. Scary Tales Oct. 29; Miami Museum of
Science and Planetarium, 3280 S. Miami Ave.,
Miami; $10 for 9 p.m. show, $5 for 11 p.m., $12
for both shows. 305-693-8669 or access
www.justthefunny.com.
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A BIG SHOW
WITHOUT THE SCARY CLOWNS
New Times
October 27, 2005
by: Margaret Griffis
From the cobwebbed, comedic corners of South
Florida emerge Just the Funny performers to
tickle the funny bones of every skeleton in
town. In tonight's show, the much-lauded
improvisational group will perform ghoulishly
gut-busting comedy at the Museum of Science &
Planetarium (3280 S. Miami Ave., Miami).
Beginning at the prewitching hour of 9:00 p.m.
is Fear-prov, a holiday-themed take on the
troupe's popular variety act Big Show. At 11:00
is Scary Tales, which consists of twenty stories
based on titles trepanned from the creepy
craniums in the audience. Tickets cost ten
dollars for Fear-prov, five for Scary Tales. The
double-disembodied-header costs only twelve
bucks. Call 305-693-8669, or visit
www.justthefunny.com.
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GET READY TO RUMBLE
Miami Herald
September 15, 2005
by: Marissa D. Clarke
Two teams of
comedic actors put their best jokes forward
Saturday and get suggestions from the audience
in Just the Funny's DeathMatch. During
the interactive show, each team competes to
create scenes, games and songs -- all without a
script. Tickets are free for students with a
valid ID to the 9 p.m. ''family friendly'' show.
A more raucous ''anything goes'' show hits the
stage at 11 p.m. at the Miami Museum of Science
and Planetarium, 3280 S. Miami Ave. Call
305-693-8669 or visit
www.justthefunny.com.
Admission is $10
for nonstudents at the 9 p.m. show; $5 for the
11 p.m. show, or $12 for both shows.
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GET SCHOOLED
Miami Herald
September 2, 2005
by: Michael Hamersly
College students are getting back to the grind,
and Just the Funny, 'Miami's Home for Improv,'
feels your pain (including Carlos Rivera,
above). That's why they're offering a free
ticket for the 9 p.m. 'family friendly' College
Survival Guide Show Saturday night to students.
A more raucous 'anything goes' show hits the
stage at 11 p.m.; head foe the Miami Museum of
Science and Palanetarium, 3280 S. Miami Ave.;
305-693-8669 or
www.justthefunny.com; tickets are $10 for
the 9 p.m. show, $5 for the 11 p.m. show, or $12
for both shows.
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HA HA!
See, the
laughs are better with two
New Times
August 18, 2005
by: Margaret Griffis
Will this be the comeback year for the comedy
duo genre? Although still taking a back
seat to solo and ensemble acts, this uniquely
twentieth-century form is gaining new fans after
about 30 years of relative disinterest.
Not only are the old-timers working again, young
unknowns are finding a pair of seats at the
table as well. To cap it all off, Atom
Egoyan's film Where the Truth Lies, a
drama about a fictitious Fifties comedy duo, was
a crowd favorite at Cannes recently. In
such a happening atmosphere, it was only a
matter of time before the South Florida comedy
scene poured out its own double act.
Tonight members of the popular Just The Funny
Improv Comedy Theater will appear as Duocity.
Thanks to their complementary personalities and
experience, David Christopher and
Carlos Rivera have the lively dynamics
necessary for a successful duo. But
there's a twist: The audience plays the "third"
member. The pair will be counting on a
willing crowd to provide them with absurd
situations and ridiculous characters to adapt to
their duo routine. Expect it to get weird.
Tickets for the 11:00 show are five dollars.
If you prefer to start laughing at 9:00, you may
also "intervene" in Just The Funny's The Big
Show, a variety comedy show. Tickets
for both shows cost $12. Double up on the
laughs at the Miami Museum of Science and
Planetarium, 3280 S. Miami Ave., Miami.
Call 305-693-8669, or visit
www.justthefunny.com.
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ROLE PLAY
Impromptu
skits hone comedy skills at workshop.
Palm Beach Daily
News
August 14, 2005
by: Michele Dargan
A
guy and a girl are working in a rice cake
factory.
Guy: "I thought we were going to work at
K-Mart."
Girl: "It didn't pay well enough."
That was just one of the fast-paced, skits
performed during an improvisational workshop
held at the Kravis Center's Cohen Pavilion
Saturday.
Twelve participants – some with stage
experience, others without – received a two-hour
crash course in long form improv from David
Christopher, a co-founder of the Miami-based
Just the Funny troupe.
The way Christopher explains it, long form is
just a series of scenes that run into each other
with no break in the action. The scenes can
start with a word, a setting, a facial
expression or a situation and the performers
must develop a scene totally off-the-cuff.
"The hard thing about improv is that we are the
actor and the writer and we're doing the writing
on the fly," Christopher said. "Trust yourself.
You don't have to be funny. You don't have to be
perfect. Slow it down. Physicality can be your
best friend."
Christopher began the scenework by suggesting
different settings to pairs of performers, who
immediately launched into 60-second skits using
the suggested setting. Some of the later scenes
called for the actors to start a scene as far
away from the other actor as possible, with one
person remaining silent the entire time and
ending up as close as possible.
"There's a lot of power in silence," Christopher
said. "Actions are more powerful than words."
The actors progressed to learn "sweep edit,"
where one scene rolls into another. Six people
stood on the stage, four in back, with two
actors performing a scene in front. When another
actor circles in front of the scene, that actor
then begins a new scene with someone else. The
actors were given the word "cheese" to start the
ball rolling.
Jeff Quintana of Miami and Adam Lescht of Lake
Worth became two guys selling cheese. When the
conversation led to Lescht confessing his
interest in Quintana's sister, a near fight
erupted. From there, the scene changed to hell
with Alek Kaknevicius of Tequesta and Patricia
Perry of Palm Beach Gardens ending up in the
inferno.
The scenes changed fast and furiously, with some
of the themes returning to the cheese theme,
while others did not.
The workshop led into the fourth annual South
Florida Improv Jam, a show held Saturday night
by five South Florida improv troupes. Proceeds
from the show benefit Gilda's Club in South
Florida, which provides support in a home
setting for people living with cancer. Gilda
Radner, who rose to fame on Saturday Night
Live, died of ovarian cancer in 1989.
"Gilda Radner was
a comedian," Christopher said. "This is like
giving back to someone who gave so much to this
art form."
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Comedy to flow at
Improv Jam
Performers for Gilda's Club benefit to eschew scripts in
workshops, show Saturday at Kravis Center
Palm Beach Daily
News
August 7, 2005
by: Jan Sjostrom, Daily News Arts Editor
So, you
think you're funny. Or maybe you'd just like to be.
Either way, you can sharpen your wits during the free
improvisational comedy workshops Saturday at the Kravis
Center for the Performing Arts.
The
workshops lead into the South Florida Improv Jam, held
that night at Persson Hall in the Cohen Pavilion. Five
improv troupes hailing from Palm Beach to Miami-Dade
counties will participate.
The
Miami-based troupe Just the Funny started the event four
years ago, "to get the groups to finally start talking
and working together," said David Christopher,
co-founder of Just the Funny. They've played to packed
audiences at the three previous jams.
Five
years ago, South Florida had only a couple of
professional improv troupes, said Christopher, who
created Just the Funny in 1999. Now,
www.improvsouthflorida.com lists eight companies
in the tri-county area. Saturday's lineup will feature
Impromedy, Just the Funny, Laughing Gas, Mod 27 and THEY
improv.
Improv
is getting a boost from several quarters, Christopher
said. Although it's been around since the 1950s, improv
really hit its stride when television shows such as
Whose Line Is It Anyway?, Saturday Night Live
and MADtv began exposing it to broader audiences.
"People have gotten interested from there and have
formed their own groups and shows," Christopher said.
Other than
Second City, which is booked again this season, the
Kravis hasn't presented much improv. But there's a lot
of interest in it locally. "Many of our high schools and
colleges have improv troupes as part of their drama
clubs or a separate activity," said Tracy Butler, the
Kravis' director of education.
The
workshops, which are taught by the performers, came
about because the Kravis is committed to education, and
because teaching improv is a good way to build
audiences, said Dave Hyland, co-director of Mod 27, the
Lake Worth-based troupe hosting this year's jam.
Although
improv's popularity is growing, most troupes have
trouble finding places to perform regularly, which is
why they typically get stuck in late-night slots,
Christopher said. Theaters are busy with their own
programming and comedy clubs prefer more profitable,
well-known comedians. Mod 27 is among the few improv
troupes with a consistent venue. It performs on the
first and third Saturdays of the month at Klein Dance in
Lake Worth.
Improv is
often imperfectly understood. "A lot of people when they
hear the word improv think it's stand-up," Hyland said.
"That couldn't be further from what we're doing."
Stand-up
comedians typically work from a script, whereas improv
players rarely have more than an outline as a
springboard.
The show
on Saturday will impose even more uncertainties. Instead
of working with their usual colleagues, the troupes will
be broken into four mixed groups. The groups will get
three or four hours to rehearse, then they'll go on
stage, where they'll have about 25 minutes each. The
show will end with all players united in a mega jam
session.
Improv
comes in a number of packages — short form (based on a
game), long form (extended into full scenes), sketch
(pre-rehearsed), extreme (like short form, but with
elements of danger), dramatic (not necessarily funny).
Audiences on Saturday probably will see examples of them
all.
Not
knowing what will happen next is the allure of improv.
"It's so scary it's exciting," Hyland said. And anyway,
"A lot of times my sense of humor gets me into trouble,"
he said. "This is a way for me to have an outlet without
getting into trouble."
Improv can
be a channel for others, too, he said. "Everybody can be
funny, if we just get out of our own way," he said.
Workshop
topics are: long form, sketch writing, short form and
scene study. The workshops will be held from 11 a.m. to
1 p.m. in the Cohen Pavilion. Reservations are required.
The show, which costs $12, will start at 8 p.m. Proceeds
will benefit Gilda's Club in South Florida, which
provides support in a home setting for people living
with cancer.
For information, call the
Kravis at 832-7469.
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SCHOOL OF HARD LAUGHS
Lesson plans for class clowns
New
Times
August 4, 2005
by: Christina Kent
If you've ever stood up
your friends to enjoy the humor of Tina Fey and Horatio
Sanz on Saturday Night Live, you should really
spend a Saturday night with Miami's own comedy masters.
The improv group from Just the Funny is ready to deliver
a sixth season of laughter at the Museum of Science and
Planetarium (3280 S. Miami Ave., Miami). During their
Back to School Special through August and September,
take your buddies to the 9:00 show, regularly ten
dollars, but free for middle school, high school, and
college students with a valid student ID. Tickets for
the "Anything Goes" show at 11:00 cost $5, or $12 for
both shows. Bring unusual objects. Call 305-693-8669, or
visit www.justthefunny.com.
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ALL-AMERICAN FUNNY
Miami
Herald
July 1, 2005
by: Michael Hamersly
Just The
Funny, Miami's Home for Improv and Sketch Comedy,
celebrates everything about American Independence with
its Fourth of July show Yankee Doodle Improv at
9:00 p.m. Saturday (family-friendly) to be followed by
Deep Dish Improv at 11 p.m. (anything goes) at the Miami
Museum of Science and Planetarium, 3280 S. Miami Ave.,
Miami, 305-MY-FUNNY (693-8669) or
www.justthefunny.com; $10 for 9 p.m.; $5 for 11
p.m.; $12 for both shows.
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JUST THE FUNNY PROMISES HUMOROUS LOOK AT JULY 4
Community Newspapers
June 28, 2005
What could
be funnier than getting a splinter in your wooden teeth?
How about hilarious improv comedy based on the Fourth of
July?
Just The Funny, Miami’s Home for Improv and Sketch
Comedy, celebrates everything about American
Independence with its Fourth of July show Yankee Doodle
Improv at 9 p.m. (Family Friendly) to be followed by
Deep Dish Improv at 11 p.m. (Anything Goes) on Saturday,
July 2, at the Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium,
3280 S. Miami Ave. (where US 1 and I-95 meet).
Just The Funny’s actors will get the fireworks going
early in Yankee Doodle Improv with 90-minutes of
interactive, improvised scenes, music and sketches
lampooning everything from the signing of the
Declaration of Independence to July 4 holiday
traditions.
Later at 11 p.m., Just The Funny heads to the heartland
with comedy from “The Windy City” in Deep Dish Improv
featuring “Chicago-style” improv that creates a wild and
“anything goes” improvised comedic play based on
audience suggestions.
Just The Funny asks the audience to get into the
patriotic spirit by bringing unusual objects to the
show. Tickets for Yankee Doodle Improv are $10 (the 9
p.m. show); $5.00 for in Deep Dish Improv (the 11 p.m.
show), or $12 for both shows. They can be purchased
online at
www.justthefunny.com or at the theater.
For more
information, call 305-MY-FUNNY or 305-693-8669.
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FREEDOM: SCHOOL
IS OUT, AND JUST THE FUNNY IS IN
Community Newspapers
May 31, 2005
No
more waking up early to catch the bus. No more finals,
research papers, or the FCAT for the next 2 and a half
months.
You
have just finished another school year and what do you
have to show for it? Just some notebooks you’ll never
open again, and an upcoming report card.
How
about a free ticket to an improv comedy show? Or a free
ticket to Universal Studios Orlando?
Well
Just The Funny, Miami’s Home for Improv and Sketch
Comedy feels your pain, and that’s why they are offering
a free ticket for the 9:00 pm show to any middle or high
school student sporting a valid school ID for their
Schools Out Spectacular on Saturday, June 4, 2005,
at 9:00 pm (Family Friendly) and 11:00 pm (Anything
Goes), at the Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium.
And
if that wasn’t enough, Just The Funny will be raffling
off a free ticket to Universal Studios Orlando to a
lucky audience member after the show.
The
event kicks off a month-long promotion for middle and
high school students with a valid school ID, as Just The
Funny will be offering a FREE TICKET to every 9:00 pm
show in June.
Just
The Funny’s band of comedic actors will present a
90-minute high energy interactive show featuring,
sketches, parodies, music and improvised scenes,
including everything from Whose Line is it Anyway
to Saturday Night Live, and it’s all based on
suggestions from members of the audience. Miami’s most
celebrated improv troupe will offer a wide variety of
shows for students to come back and see during the June
promotion.
When
asked why the troupe giving away tickets to middle and
high school students, troupe member Alex Perdomo
responds "We were once in school, and broke too, so we
just want to give these kids something back and
something to laugh about."
Don’t
worry if you’re not a student, Just The Funny is getting
everyone involved with cool giveaways to all patrons
throughout June.
Just
The Funny dares audiences to come prepared, by bringing
strange objects for them to use in the show! Tickets
for Just The Funny’s Schools Out Spectacular are
$10.00 for the 9 pm show (for those who aren't in middle
or high school); $5.00 for the 11 pm show, or $12.00 for
both shows, and can be purchased at
www.justthefunny.com or at the theatre box office.
The
Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium is located at
3280 S. Miami Ave. (where US1 and I-95 meet).
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IS THE FORCE WITH YOU?
Miami
Herald
May 20, 2005
by: Michael Hamersly
With all the hoopla
surrounding Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the
Sith, it's only natural the crazies at Just The
Funny would get in on the act. Miami's Home for
Improv and Sketch Comedy parodies the franchise with its
own Star Dorks at 9 (family friendly) and 11 p.m.
(anything goes) Saturday at the Miami Museum of Science
and Planetarium, 3280 S. Miami Ave.; 305-my-funny
(693-8669)
www.justthefunny.com; $10 for 9 p.m.; $5 for 11
p.m.; $12 for both shows. Audiences are encouraged
to come prepared, by bringing strange Star Wars
objects for the comedians to use in the show. Wear
a Star Wars costume and get in free!
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EWOKKA-WOKKA-WOKKA
New
Times
May 19, 2005
by: Patrice Elizabeth
Grell Yursik
George Lucas's 1977 sci-fi
epic Star Wars captured the hearts of a truly devoted
group of fans. For these fanatics, this film is the
Bible, and George Lucas is God. Just the Funny will pay
homage to these Jedi disciples with good-natured sketch
comedy. See Star Dorks tonight in the entirely
appropriate setting of the Miami Museum of Science and
Planetarium, 3280 S. Miami Ave., Miami. Tickets cost ten
dollars for the 9:00 p.m. show, but you can get in free
if you come dressed as a Star Wars character. Call
305-693-8669, or visit
www.justthefunny.com.
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BEST OF mIAMI
New
Times
May 12, 2005
Reader's Choice -
Best Place for a First Date: Just The Funny
Reader's Choice -
Best Festival: Miami Improv Festival
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The Ticket
Miami
Herald
May 6, 2005
by: Michael Hamersly
'Seis de Mayo':
Sure, Cinco de Mayo celebrations have come and gone, but
that doesn't mean the celebration must end.
Celebrate the Mexican holiday a day late with Just The
Funny's Seis de Mayo, featuring a special
60-minute Mexican-themed interactive show with sketches,
parodies, music and improvised scenes, all based on
audience suggestions. The troupe - including
Carlos Rivera and Rei Arguelles, above - will provide
the free chips and salsa. Audiences are encouraged
to bring strange objects for them to use in the show.
Showtime is 9 tonight at the Miami Museum of Science and
Planetarium, 3280 S. Miami Ave., Miami; 305-693-8669 or
www.justthefunny.com; $5.
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FRIDAY PICK OF THE
WEEK
New
Times Broward-Palm Beach
May 5, 2005
by: Dierdra Funcheon
According to legend,
"While walking around the 'Things You Don't Stick into
Electrical Outlets' exhibit at the Miami Museum of
Science," a guy known simply as the Seer "suddenly
tripped and stuck... something into an electrical
outlet! This cost him his sight but gained him a second
sight: the power of the psychic realm." Actually, the
Seer is just one in a cast of characters developed by
Just the Funny, Miami's favorite improv comedy troupe.
Tonight, the troupe laughs away yesterday's tequila
hangover with a Seis de Mayo show. So don't be
surprised if they bust out their Latino characters, like
Mariachi Con Cojones ("a famous wrestling superstar from
the country of Mexico -- he's looking for a sexy
American tag team partner so he can cross over into the
U.S. and become an American citizen") or Carlos Valdez
Jr. ("a Hialeah kind of guy who lives with his parents
and cruises la Calle Ocho for jevitas in his
Mustang 5.0"). You are instructed to bring "strange
objects"; the actors will incorporate them into the
show. Chips and salsa are on the house, and tickets are
half-price ($5; normally $10). The venue: the Museum of
Science and Planetarium (3280 S. Miami Ave., Miami).
Call 305-MY-FUNNY, or visit
www.justthefunny.com.
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NIGHT AND DAY
Miami
New Times
May 5, 2005
by: Patrice Elizabeth
Grell Yursik
Ay caramba. If you did
yesterday right, you're hurting bad and it tastes like
the Taco Bell Chihuahua curled up and died in your
mouth. Hang on, hangover sufferers. At tonight's Seis de
Mayo Just the Funny show, you'll discover that laughter
really is the best medicine. This prolific theater
company will put on an hour-long collage of
Mexican-themed sketches and parodies. Audience members
are encouraged to challenge the quick-thinking improv
comedians by bringing wacky objects for them to include
in the show. You can nosh on free chips and salsa, and
because this laugh-a-palooza takes place at the Miami
Museum of Science and Planetarium (3280 S. Miami Ave.,
Miami), there's no two-drink minimum. Get your dose at
9:00 p.m. Tickets cost five dollars. Call 305-693-8669,
or visit www.justthefunny.com.
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WHERE TO FIND
S. FLORIDA LAUGHS
Miami
Herald
April 15, 2005
by: Daniel Chang
A ''proctologist,''
a ''veterinarian'' and a ''chicken cleaner'' meet on a
small stage inside the Miami Museum of Science and
Planetarium.
They will clash as
superheroes and villains and, according to the whims of
the flighty director, they will perform their encounter
in the melodramatic style of a Spanish-language
telenovela.
''I need to check
your rectum,'' utters the superhero proctologist, who
proceeds to examine an imaginary animal, a cow perhaps,
or a pig. Suddenly, the so-called villain strides on
stage. His shirt is unbuttoned, down to his stomach, and
he pronounces, with a syrupy drawl: ``I've come to clean
your chicken.''
Don't worry, you
didn't miss the punch line. There is none. What makes
the scene laughable is the cast's spontaneity -- and the
silliness of it all, like when the scene is repeated in
the style of a kung fu movie.
This is improv, as
performed by the Miami group Just the Funny, and nobody
has come looking for dramatic art. They want to laugh,
and in South Florida, that can sometimes seem like a
lost cause.
Only two comedy clubs
ply the humor trade in Miami-Dade and Broward counties:
the Miami Improv in Coconut Grove and the new Improv
Paradise Live in Hollywood.
Not counting Boca Raton
and Palm Beach, the rest of the laughter landscape looks
pretty barren, unless you discover the handful of
independent improv troupes that perform each weekend at
small theaters.
Stand-up comedy, the
type most often found at the clubs, is typically a
rehearsed monologue; improvisational comedy, the kind
practiced by the troupes, creates characters, situations
and environments based on random suggestions from the
audience.
In some ways, though,
live comedy defies categorization. In Little Havana, for
instance, Las Máscaras Theater has presented
Spanish-language comedy, typically of the sexual farce
variety, for years. And arts groups often incorporate
comedy into their performances or add comedic acts to
their schedules.
But for consistent live
comedy, South Florida audiences have only the comedy
clubs and improv troupes.
Gerald Owens is
president of Laughing Gas Comedy Improv Theater, a group
that performs Friday and Saturday nights at the Main
Street Playhouse in Miami Lakes. As a member of the
Mental Floss improv troupe from 1986 to 1992, Owens
remembers the height of South Florida's comedy scene in
1990, when Miami-Dade was home to five clubs and Broward
had three.
Back then, Mental Floss
was the only improv troupe in Miami-Dade, Owens says.
Now there are three that perform regularly.
Owens says Mother
Nature shut down Mental Floss' Coconut Grove theater
after Hurricane Andrew struck Miami-Dade in 1992 but he
believes a man-made force changed the comedy club
business: TV.
The arrival of programs
like Def Comedy Jam and the HBO One-Night
Stand series -- as well as sitcoms like Seinfeld
and Ellen -- provided fans with regular doses of
stand-up comedy.
''Audiences can get the
same thing on TV without exerting themselves or spending
any money,'' he says.
A night at the Improv
comedy club can cost upwards of $25 per person for
admission to a name performer, like Saturday Night Live
alum Colin Quinn, (who performed at Improv Paradise Live
April 2) plus a two-drink minimum. The clubs also serve
food. Improv groups generally charge between $5 and $10
for a show and they do not sell alcohol or serve meals.
What's more, clubs are
there to make a profit and must satisfy overhead like
payroll and rent; they also feel the pressure of
competing for big name comedians. Improv groups are
generally made up of volunteer members and they rent
space at small, local stages.
But comedy is not all
about dollars and cents. Improv audiences generally seek
out the genre because they enjoy interacting with the
performers, as opposed to passively watching a stand-up
comedian deliver his monologue. Audience participation,
Owens says, also makes improv less predictable.
''You're going to see
basically the same stand-up act on Friday night that you
did on Thursday night,'' Owens says. ``Improv is going
to be different every night.''
Still, South Florida's
two Improv comedy clubs draw larger crowds than the
independent troupes and they enjoy distinct advantages
as part of a franchise.
With a 17-club chain
nationwide, Improv promoters can book a performer in
numerous clubs at once, leaving independent stages with
little chance of attracting a headline act.
Andrew Dorfman, a
former stand-up comedian, closed Uncle Funny's comedy
club in Davie last August to partner in the Improv at
Paradise Live, which opened in December.
Located in the bustling
Seminole Paradise entertainment complex and bearing the
recognizable Improv name, Dorfman says he now has
leverage -- and a personal life -- he couldn't achieve
at Uncle Funny's.
''It helps in booking
and for me. I've got three kids now, and I was tired of
running clubs by myself,'' Dorfman says.
Besides, he adds, ''The
market can only hold so much because there's only so
much talent and there's only so much advertising. . . .
You can't have a comedy club on every corner. It's not
like a bar.'' Others, though, believe the local market
can be manipulated to demand more live comedy.
Ronnie Khalil,
president of the Miami Comics, a collective of local
stand-up comedians, says South Florida needs to develop
more homegrown comics, performers who capture the
essence of a region. In Miami's case, Khalil says, the
core values are materialism, vanity and a joy for life.
''Anything that comes
with going to bars, going to clubs, fast cars, hot
women,'' he says with a laugh. ``We don't tackle as deep
issues as you sometimes see Bostonians or New Yorkers
trying to do.''
Of course, those values
can work against a comedian in Miami, says Khalil, who
sometimes feels frustrated that comedy rates as an
also-ran against other entertainment.
''With a city as large
as Miami,'' he adds, 'if you can get them believing in
the comedy and thinking of it as a first option, rather
than walking by and saying, `Oh, let's go see a comedy
show' . . .,'' his voice trails.
''People just don't
seem all that interested [in comedy],'' he continues.
'It's like, `Oh, comedy, that's all right. But there's a
fashion show.' ''
David Christopher,
president of Just the Funny, has been working to bring
greater attention to improv since founding the troupe in
1999. The group produces an annual improv festival that
has drawn some of the best-known troupes from around the
country, including Los Angeles's Groundlings Theater and
Chicago's Second City.
Though it can be
daunting to develop an audience for mostly-English
language humor in a region as ethnically and
linguistically diverse as South Florida, Christopher
says the troupe's membership has nearly doubled in the
last year and audiences are returning regularly.
His formula for
success, though not easy, has been simple.
''What ends up
getting people in the door,'' he says, ``is they want to
laugh. They want comedy.''
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WHO'S FOOLIN' WHOM?
Miami
Herald
April 1, 2005
by: Michael Hammersly
What better way to
celebrate April Fool's Day than to catch a comedy show
(other thank seriously punking your family/friends/boss,
etc.)? At 9 tonight, bust a gut as Just The Funny
presents its April Fool's Show at the Miami Museum of
Science and Planetarium, 3280 S. Miami Ave., Miami;
305-693-8669 or
www.justthefunny.com; $5. It's a 60-minute
interactive show featuring April Fool pranks, sketches,
parodies, music and improvised scenes, all based on
audience suggestions. Come prepared: Bring strange
objects for the comics (including Al Peña, Jossalyn
Thiel and Chris McQuade, above) to use in the show.
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FRIDAY NIGHT PICK
New
Times
March 31, 2005
by: Lyssa Oberkreser
Miami New Times loves
you, baby, so we've set up this special deal just for
you. Wherever you go tonight, just mention our name and
you'll get in free. APRIL FOOL! Ha ha! Everyone loves a
jokester, so when you're done hoodwinking and
bamboozling your friends and neighbors, take them to see
Just the Funny's special April Fools' Day show. The
press release states that "the audience is encouraged to
bring strange objects to the show," so things are sure
to get nutty. But remember this is a family-friendly
show, so leave those really strange objects in your
nightstand where they belong. Get rolling with a
hilarious hour packed with April Fools' pranks,
sketches, parodies, music, and crazy improvisational
scenes starting tonight at 9:00 at the Museum of Science
and Planetarium, 3280 S. Miami Ave., Miami. Tickets cost
just five dollars. Call 305-693-8669, or visit
www.justthefunny.com.
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JUST THE FUNNY TO PERFORM IN aPR. 1 SHOW; NO FOOLING
Community Newspapers
March 22, 2005
Just The Funny, Miami’s
Home for improv and sketch comedy celebrates comedy’s
special day, April Fools Day, with its “April Fools
Show!” at 9 p.m. on Friday, Apr. 1, at the Miami Museum
of Science and Planetarium. The most prolific and
celebrated improv theater company in South Florida, Just
The Funny’s band of comedic actors will present a
special 60-minute interactive show featuring April Fools
pranks, sketches, parodies, music and improvised scenes,
including everything from “Whose Line is it Anyway” to
“Chicago-style” improv, and it’s all based on audience
suggestions. Just The Funny dares audiences to come
prepared, by bringing strange objects for them to use in
the show. Tickets for the April Fools Show! are $5 (half
off the regular ticket price), and can be purchased
online at
www.justthefunny.com or at the theater.
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THIS CLOWN IS
WACK
New
Times
March 3, 2005
by: Kris Conesa
Any rapper worth a dime
bag knows that to succeed at his craft he must master
the art of freestyle. The same can be said about any
good improv troupe, and after six years of making people
laugh, the Just the Funny crew has it down to a science.
Why should you check out this special "best of" show?
Where else can you hobnob with the crack-rock-addicted
Crack-O the Clown? In his best Tony Montana voice,
actor/producer David Christopher says the real reason to
enjoy the interactive shows is this: "Ju gotta come to
da cho becuz if ju don't, jour womb will be palutted,
man." Get cracked at Just the Funny's sixth anniversary
shows tonight at 9:00 and 11:00 (the unrated version!)
at the Museum of Science and Planetarium, 3280 S. Miami
Ave., Miami. Tickets cost six dollars. Call
305-693-8669, or visit www.justthefunny.com.
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JUST THE FUNNY
PERFORMANCES TO MARK SIXTH ANNIVERSARY
Community Newspapers
February 25, 2005
Just The Funny, Miami’s
Home for Improv and Sketch Comedy, which brought you the
Miami Improv Festival, celebrates its Sixth Anniversary
with its Sixth Anniversary Extravaganza on Saturday,
Mar. 5.
Shows are 9 and 11 p.m. at the Museum of Science and
Planetarium, 3280 S. Miami Ave. (where US1 and I-95
meet).
The improv theater company has grown quite a bit since
its modest beginning, when it had no money and was
performing at a movie theater. Now, the group performs
in a theater at a museum and is the most prolific and
celebrated improv company in South Florida.
Just The Funny’s band of comedic actors will present two
special 90-minute interactive shows featuring the
troupe’s best sketches, music, characters, and
improvisations from the past six years, including
everything from Whose Line is it Anyway to
“Chicago-style” improv, and it’s all based on
suggestions from the audience.
To celebrate six years, the group is charging $6 for
each show, or $12 for both ($4 off the regular ticket
price), and will be giving out valuable and off-the-wall
door prizes.
For information, call 305-MY-FUNNY or 305-693-8669, or
visit online at <www.justthefunny.com>.
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Shoot that poison
arrow
New
Times
February 10, 2005
by: Lyssa Oberkreser
The red and flowery
holiday about love is upon us, and whether you're the
type who passes out homemade construction paper tokens
of affection or someone who prefers to stay in bed
watching the Westminster Kennel Club's annual dog show
to avoid dodging flower delivery vans all day, you
should break out of that heart-shaped box and do
something new. Because Valentine's Day falls on a
Monday this year (and no, you don't get the day off
unless you call in sick, so start practicing fake
coughing if that's your plan), there's a bevy of
Valentine-inspired activities planned for the entire
weekend. Call your dog, your buds, your children, or
your lover(s), and try out one of these activities:
Do you have a funny
story about how you met your significant other? Well, if
it's not humorous now, it will be after the
improvisational cast of Just the Funny spins the tale
into their Saturday night show during "How We First Met"
at the Miami Museum of Science (3280 S. Miami Ave.).
Shows start at 9:00 and 11:00. Tickets cost ten dollars.
Call 305-693-8669.
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Funtastic and fast, Improv fest will be blast
Miami
Herald
February 2, 2005
by: Christine Dolan
They're the high-wire
artists of live performance, explosively energetic
actors who make it up as they go along.
Supported only by
technique, the adrenaline-rush experience of soaring or
failing in front of witnesses, minds that sift
alternatives and make choices at hyperspeed, both young
and veteran talents of the improvisational comedy world
are in South Florida this week for the 2005 Miami Improv
Festival.
Beginning at 7 tonight
at the Museum of Science and Planetarium Theatre, 29
groups will perform 48 shows over four nights on two
stages, marking continued growth in the third year of a
festival hosted by Miami's Just the Funny.
''This is really a huge
event,'' says David Christopher, the festival's
executive producer. ``In the first year, 2,200 people
came; last year, it was 5,000. . . . We're trying to
grow the [improv] community, get actors to stay and be
involved in improv here.''
The festival has also
raised Miami's profile as a magnet for improv groups.
Performers from Seattle, Toronto, Chicago, Minneapolis,
Detroit and New York are joining groups from around
Florida in this year's festival. But the marquee
attraction is unquestionably The Groundlings, the
30-year-old Los Angeles-based company that helped launch
the careers of such now-famous talents as Will Ferrell,
Kathy Griffin, Chris Kattan, Lisa Kudrow, Jennifer
Coolidge, Will Forte, Cheryl Hines, Maya Rudolph, Jon
Lovitz and the late Phil Hartman.
This year the group is
bringing its Crazy Uncle Joe Show, improv in the
long-form format (as opposed to short-form, games,
sketch comedy, solo or musical improv), to the festival.
Company members Brian Palermo and Stephanie Courtney
both have extensive experience in comedy and scripted
acting, but both say improv is where their hearts lie.
''Improv is so much
fun, so free, so open and easy,'' says Palermo, one of
the leads on Bravo's improvised Significant Others
sitcom. ``It's like playing childhood games.''
Courtney, who played
the ''before'' version of a missing made-over beauty
queen on the most recent episode of the CBS series
Without a Trace, had done stand-up comedy and
studied acting at New York's Neighborhood Playhouse
before moving to Los Angeles and getting hooked on
improv at a Groundlings performance.
''In that first show I
saw, the acting was so good that after awhile,
you forgot they were making it up,'' she says.
In the Crazy Uncle
Joe Show, the Groundlings get three suggestions from
the audience, do a short sketch on each one, then blend
the ideas for 45 minutes. Some characters and ideas
don't make it from start to finish, and there's no
traditional theatrical arc to what happens -- but, says
Palermo, ``we hit everything so quickly that the
audience doesn't care that there's no transition.''
Though he concedes that
''you can't teach someone to be clever or funny,''
eight-year Groundlings veteran Palermo teaches at the
company and says there are several other things that
factor into making an improv actor successful.
''Technique can help
you. If you're free and comfortable in front of an
audience, that helps, and so does a broad imagination.
And broad knowledge helps -- it helps to have a lot
of references,'' he says. ``But no matter whether you
know something or not, you go with it. You go along with
the joke, no matter how stupid it may be.''
With its breakneck
pace, bite-sized scenes, youthful performers and
of-the-moment content, improv appeals to younger
audiences in a way that theater often doesn't, though
Just the Funny's Christopher thinks improv is often
regarded as ``the bastard child of the theater
community.''
He aims to change that,
with the festival as one element of the campaign.
''We're forming our own
local improv alliance,'' he says. ``And we want to see
improv included in the Carbonell Awards.''
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COAST TO HOST
MIF continues to spread its wings ...and wealth
YESand.com
February 1, 2005
by: Jim Doyle
With each passing year the Miami
Improv Festival grows in leaps and bounds. From its
first year in what many people thought of as an improv
wasteland; then to their second year with such notable
headliners such as Second City and The Groundlings, not
to mention the incredible amount of sponsor support.
This third year will be no different in the amount of
evolutionary strides that the festival will make.
David Christopher,
Executive Producer of MIF, wanted something different
this year as far as classes went. He asked all teachers
that were returning to modify their workshop a little to
offer a varied experience to those who would be back to
take the workshops. One such progression is the offering
of “The Scramble,” a workshop with a performance the
same evening for those who participated. The festival
experimented with a performance class in their very
first year when Andy Eninger taught a solo improvisation
class and the participants went on to perform in a
showcase-like presentation that evening. On top of the
list to teach a performance class this time around was
Joe Bill as he coaches many groups Christopher figured
“it would be right up his alley.” Discussions began with
Joe Bill in October who mapped out the class as a
four-hour session. Organizers wanted to make sure they
worked out the kinks before offering the workshop to the
public, going as far as taking a dry run of the program
by flying Joe Bill out in December and having him work
with six people representing three different groups in
Miami (Just the Funny, Mod 27, and Joystick) and later
that day put up a long form show. “It was the best
workshop I’ve ever taken and one of the best shows I’ve
ever performed,” said Christopher of the pilot Scramble
class. The group that was formed that night later
performed a benefit show for another Miami theatre
company andl had such a great time together that they
will be performing at the festival under the name the
South Florida Scramble.
Another big change is
there will now be two performance spaces at the festival
held in the Miami Museum of Science, the mainstage and
the “breakout stage,” a more intimate black box space to
be used mainly for solo acts, duos and small groups. The
museum made the offer to the festival to use the gallery
space for shows last year but the group held back as
they felt they were not ready for the growth at the
time. The challenge was to make it feel like part of the
festival and not a just satellite space. Says
Christopher: “Just because we have a new stage and it’s
not a big as the main stage doesn’t mean it’s not going
to get as much attention.” So a good deal of time was
spent closing off the space from the rest of the museum
and installing a set-design that was true to the feel of
the rest of the festival.
To fill the new time
slots even more groups were accepted to the festival
doubling the attendance from last year. The previous
years organizer wanted to give the groups a decent
amount of time to perform (45 min) without going
outrageously late so they kept the number of performing
groups down. Now they can to offer a greater variety
from show to show. The decision to call the new space
“the breakout stage” was to say that the groups
performing there were different from, but equal to
events on the main stage. “These groups offer a
different experience…they are more conducive to a
smaller venue.”
The business seminar
program is also expanded this year. Returning from last
year is Stacey Hallal to hold a very popular marketing
seminar which last year was a round table discussion on
what people were doing and advice from not only Stacey
(a marketing professional) but from representatives from
other groups who attended the seminar. Executive
director of The Groundlings, Krista Gano will be holding
a seminar on the business of being an improv actor.
David had lunch with Krista on a visit to Los Angeles.
and what he thought would only be a half hour
conversation turned into the inspiration for her
seminar. She spoke at length about how to make the
transition from a smaller market to a large one and this
will be one of the key points of her seminar. She has
requested that folks bring their headshot and materials
for critique and to come prepared with questions. Also
there will be a panel discussion with a representative
from each group attending the festival sponsored by
YESand.com and moderated by Asaf Ronen to cap things
off. Those reluctant to spend all day in Miami listening
to people talk about improv might want to know all of
this will be preceded by a FREE cruise offered by one of
the festival’s sponsors. “How many festivals can you go
to in February were can go out on a boat and hang out in
the sun?” says Christopher, explaining that it was an
idea designed to both get more people at the seminars
and to get their minds going and awake before the
meetings.
Many sponsors are
returning this year. The Hampton Inn is offering
discounts on rooms to groups. And Yuengling is
returning, much to the enjoyment of festival goers. “We
thought, what is it that improvisers would like? We
figured beer.” Beer indeed. It just so happened that
Yuengling, traditionally a beer of the Northeast, opened
shop in Tampa, Fl. They were more than glad to help
sponsor this event and sent cases of beer, gratis, in
exchange for added exposure in the South Florida market.
“They just wanted to push the product and we were
willing to push it,” says Christopher, adding, “we
definitely have the consumption power.” Everyone loved
having beer handy while either when chugging a couple
between shows or enjoying a drink after their set (or
even before). Mark Sutton added, “I hate warming up. My
warm up comes in a 12 oz. bottle.”
Along with several
other groups, The Groundlings will be returning this
year due to mutual desire and the fact they were very
happy with the press and publicity they received by
coming to Miami. But they won’t be performing their
trademark sketch or directed short form. The group will
be performing their unique director-less longform “The
Crazy Uncle Joe Show” with some of the folks from last
year return including Brian Palermo who has been all
over place this past year (including a role on the last
episode of Friends). “It seemed like one of the bigger
[festivals] It seemed successful...,” Brian said last
year of MIF, “and we also thought it would be fun to
come down to Miami and see what else is out there.” All
of this just one week after their 30th
anniversary.
Even with all the
additions and changes from, new workshop concepts to an
additional space and twice as many groups, everything
still fits in line with the MIF mantra: “Take care of
your performers and they will take care of you.”
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Country's best improv comedy troupes will go for the
guffaws in Miami
Sun-Sentinel
February 1, 2005
by: Jeff Rusnak
Fans of
the largely improvised TV comedies Curb Your
Enthusiasm and Whose Line Is It Anyway might
think that having a quick mind and an even quicker
tongue is a prerequisite for the cast.
Not so, says actor Brian Palermo, who makes his living
performing on the fly with the Los Angeles-based improv
troupe The Groundlings. Like real life, Palermo says,
improv comedy rewards those who pay attention and
respond naturally.
"It's a fallacy to think you have to be clever or witty
with a lot of verbal ability," says Palermo, who also
starred on Bravo's improvisational comedy Significant
Others. "It helps, but I just say listening and
reacting to whatever is coming at you is the secret."
Attendees of the third annual Miami Improv Festival,
being held at the Miami Museum of Science and
Planetarium this week, would be wise to keep that in
mind. One of the few events of its kind in the United
States, the five-day festival will feature 29 troupes
from around the country performing 46 shows. Seven South
Florida groups will participate, including festival host
Just the Funny.
Most prominent among all the incoming talent is The
Groundlings, which performs at 9 p.m. Friday and
Saturday. Now in its 31st year, the troupe's list of
alums includes Will Ferrell, Lisa Kudrow, Paul Reubens,
Jon Lovitz, Julia Sweeney and the late Phil Hartman.
Named for the paupers who sat on the dirt to watch
Shakespeare plays in England, The Groundlings' main
company has 30 players, who perform four nights a week
at their 99-seat theater in Los Angeles. The company
also counts 4,200 students who take classes each year in
its School of Improvisation.
The Groundlings took part in the Miami Improv Festival
last year and return this week with The Crazy Uncle Joe
Show, a 45-minute long-form set that isn't based on
anyone named Joe. "It's a complete non sequitur,"
Palermo says of the title.
For The Crazy Uncle Joe Show, Palermo and four fellow
Groundlings will ask the audience to suggest three
scenes, usually seeking an activity or a location to get
things started. Once they're given a general outline,
they go where the premise and their fellow actors take
them.
"In Miami, we could get a swamp reference or a Keys
reference and go from there," Palermo says. "And it can
go in any possible direction. I like to compare it to a
supercollider, with atoms flying all over the place and
you have no idea where it's gonna go."
For all its unpredictability, Palermo says a good improv
scene must be believable and its comedy shouldn't be
forced. That has been the foundation of shows such as
HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm and Bravo's
Significant Others, in which Palermo played an
uptight newlywed opposite his free-spirited bride.
(Bravo is showing a six-episode marathon on Feb. 12.)
It's a method that has a growing currency in Hollywood,
where, according to Groundlings executive director
Krista Gano, a number of improv-based shows are being
pitched this pilot season.
"What they're pretty much saying is when doing an improv
show, they let you know where you are starting, this is
where you need to get to, and these are a couple of
details in the center -- go!" Gano says. "That's pretty
much how [the film] Best in Show and some others
were done."
Palermo says improv appeals to producers because it
saves money on writers and rehearsal. It's also in
vogue, he says, because it's a more creative way to
build a show.
"For 50 years, we've had the family sitcom where the
wacky neighbor walks in without knocking," he says. "And
we will always have that. But, by giving actors room to
improvise and create on the spot, it seems so much more
spontaneous. And it's more believable because it's a bit
more credible and identifiable."
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FUNNY FESTIVAL
New
Times
January 27, 2005
by: Lyssa Oberkreser
You need laughter in your
life, now more than ever. Thanks to David Christopher
and his team of hilarious comrades, the 2005 Miami
Improv Festival Presented by Just The Funny is back
for its third year to give you a heaping dose of guffaws
and full-on body-rocking belly laughs.
Moving beyond the
Whose Line Is It Anyway? Attention Deficit Disorder
type of fast-paced funny bits, many groups are now
touting a long-form format of fully improvised plays or
musical productions based on audience suggestions. "We
started doing long-form improv at the first festival,
and we see more groups doing it every year," says
Christopher, who has been performing improv since 1995
and created Just The Funny with some friends in 1999.
"We've seen our improv evolve from crass to clean, and
now totally professional," laughs Christopher.
Besides Just The Funny,
other local groups bringing their shtick to the stage
include the South Florida Improv Jam, Impromedy, Just
Kidding, and Mod 27. Christopher enjoys the community-
building aspect of the festival: "The biggest thing for
the festival is that it's a great way for local groups
to get exposure and go on to do other festivals."
One of the highlights
this year should be the infamous improv group The
Groundlings. Celebrating their 30th year of giving LA
something to laugh about, The Groundlings are at the top
of the giggle pile, having helped launch the careers of
Phil Hartman, Jon Lovitz, Paul Reubens, Julia Sweeney,
Lisa Kudrow, and everyone's favorite anchorman, Will
Ferrell. Be sure to catch their show, and the stars of
tomorrow, at 9:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 5.
Now you're thinking,
Hey! I'm funny. I'm crazy. People say that I should be a
comedian. Well, what are you going to do about it?
Here's your chance to see if you have what it takes to
make it in the funny-eat-funny world of improv. The
festival offers a weekend chock full of workshops led by
some of the top instructors in the business. Pick up
valuable tips to improve your long-form improv skills,
get inspired by the masters of The Groundlings, or learn
how to improvise musicals with "Structured Improv
Singing." Tickets for the workshops range from $60 to
$160 if you register by Monday, January 31; otherwise
they're bumped up ten bucks. E-mail
workshops@miamiimprovfestival.com for more
information, and maybe you'll find yourself in next
year's festival.
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JUST THE FUNNY
TO PRESENT '05 IMPROV FESTIVAL
Community Newspapers
January 27, 2005
by: Robert Hamilton
The 2005
Miami Improv Festival (MIF 2005) presented by Just The
Funny, a five-day festival featuring improv and sketch
comedy from across North America, opens its doors to the
humor hungry on Wednesday, Feb. 2, at the Miami Museum
of Science and Planetarium Theatre, 3280 S. Miami Ave.
12.
Presented
by Just The Funny, Miami’s home for improv and sketch
comedy, MIF 2005 promises to top talent from prior Miami
Improv Festivals.
Headliner, “The Groundlings,” imports LA’s most coveted
comic actors to Miami for two MIF 2005 performances.
Since 1974, The Groundlings have been one of the most
notable improv groups in the nation, boasting alumni
such as, Phil Hartman, Will Ferrell, Julia Sweeney,
Chris Kattan, Lisa Kudrow, and Michael McDonald.
The hub of improv comedy, Chicago, also sends its best
to MIF 2005. Audiences will recognize Chicago mainstays
like Annoyance Theatre’s “Bassprov” and the two-man show
“Bare.” South Florida locals will recognize Miami’s own
mainstay, Just The Funny, and its popular “Lust &
Revenge” show.
MIF 2005 offers offbeat, witty wonders such as “The Mike
and Duane Show,” treating audiences to comedy
accompanied by acoustic guitar and the long-running
cabaret-style Orlando act “Oops Guys!” The Seattle-based
show, “The Election Show,” rounds out MIF 2005 with
political play; audiences follow faux candidates though
a brutal primary, debates, attack ads and scandals all
based on audience suggestions.
South Floridians can learn how to improvise like the
professionals at the MIF 2005 workshops taught by the
nations leading instructors.
Visit
www.miamiimprovfestival.com for more information and
to purchase show and workshop tickets or call
305-668-4821.
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OFF CUE
New
Times Broward - Palm Beach
January 27, 2005
by: Jason Budjinski
So the legendary Second
City comedy troupe chose to sit out this year's Miami
Improv Festival. A loss, no doubt, but hardly a
deterrent; with six more troupes than last year's
festival (including the Groundlings, the alma mater of
megastars like Will Ferrell and the late Phil Hartman),
the five-day, 28-troupe event is a potpourri of
impromptu skits, long-form plays, song parodies, and
even several workshops.
Presented by
Miami-based improv theater company Just the Funny, the
MIF kicks off Wednesday night with local yukrakers Gated
Community. The Jupiter-based six-piece features Frank
Licari, owner/director of the Atlantic Theater and a
former member of the Blue Man Group. Licari's been in
more than 40 stage plays from New York City to Chicago,
but he's still got a soft spot for improv. "Unlike
classic theater scenarios, where the audience sits back
and observes the story as a spectator, improv demands
that the audience be an active participant," he says.
"You never know what kind of show it's going to be."
Actually, we do. Well,
we know the theme -- "Rock You Like a Hurricane,"
based on 2004's overly busy hurricane season (the irony
of giving said show in the city of FEMA boondoggles
notwithstanding).
Other local acts
include Hollywood's Joystick -- two average Joes who
contemplate life while playing Pac-Man -- and West Palm
Beach's Mod 27, who are probably glad they don't need a
plane for this gig, having taken part in similar events
in Texas and Toronto. Plus, being locals, they get to
join other SoFla groups for Wednesday night's South
Florida Improv Jam, a multitroupe improv-along.
And for actors looking
to improve their improv, instructors hold workshops on
character, singing, scene work, directing, and that
all-important comedic skill, physicality (yes, there is
a proper way to pratfall). The MIF takes place
Wednesday, February 2, to Sunday, February 6, at the
Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium (3280 S. Miami
Ave., Miami). Tickets cost $10 to $25. Call
866-468-7630, or visit
www.miamiimprovfestival.com.
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MEET...
David christopher
funny
guy
Street
November 25, 2004
by: Jessica Sick
David
Christopher thinks he's pretty funny. Apparently, a lot
of other folks do, too, as Christopher's Just the Funny
improv troupe (www.justthefunny.com)
is in its fifth year of making audiences pee their
pants. Despite his love for karaoke, Meet decided to
pass him the mic, to talk about, among other things, his
love for Steve Martin, Dungeons and Dragons, and a song
about rocking crustaceans.
Do you come from a
family of jokesters, or are you the oddball?
I'm totally the oddball
in the family. My father is a real estate broker, my
mother is an office manager -- they're pretty socially
conservative. My brother is very shy and timid. I, on
the other hand, wasn't afraid to be outspoken, and my
comedy was always at somebody else's expense. [Laughs.]
What I like about improv is it gives me a chance to be
quick-witted, to really come up with intelligent humor.
That's not to say my family didn't get me because they
aren't intelligent -- they didn't get me because I'm
strange.
Who, or what, did you
laugh at growing up?
One my favorite films
is The Jerk, with Steve Martin. It's full of
intelligent humor, but, at the same time, it's stupid. I
think in doing improv, you really try to think, ''Why do
people laugh at this?'' Because when you write comedy,
you can create these wonderful situations and really
refine it and make it funny. When you're doing improv,
you don't have that luxury -- you have to be funny right
away. One thing I've realized is that people laugh
because they relate to things, they recognize things
that are wrong with society or things that are strange
or funny about themselves or people in general. Some of
that is about being quick-witted, but some of it is also
about being totally absurd. Absurdity is fun to watch.
What's funny about
Miami?
What's not funny
about Miami? What's funny about Miami is you definitely
have a language barrier. The politics of Miami are
funny, and just the whole culture clash. Also, there are
so many things that embody Miami. For example, I do a
character, Tony Montana, who runs a summer camp for
kids. Another member of our troupe plays a guy from
Hialeah -- Carlos Valdez, Jr., who is the last guy you'd
want to go out with or even be in an elevator with. It's
just a stereotype of what is already there.
As part of Just the
Funny, you're a stage performer, but you studied film at
New York University. How was that experience?
The film degree is a
great conversation piece, and it gets your foot in the
door in a lot of places. And there's a ''cool factor''
that comes with NYU: You're in New York City, not on a
college campus; you actually have to compete with other
film shoots, you have to go through the film office in
NYC.
Have you used your
degree?
Totally. I started
working in the video and film business and I actually
still do -- my day job is being the director of media
services at Miami Dade College. I used to produce [the
TV show] Blind Date out in L.A., I worked here at
WAMI back in the day, and in New York I worked on films.
But I want to do things for me, and that's why I'm
trying to step away from all that. I want to work on
projects I can really get into.
Like Just the Funny.
Exactly. I just kind of
fell into it by accident. I was in Miami working on a
film I was producing and the funding fell through. I
decided to stay in Miami for awhile and I saw an
audition notice for an improv group. I started doing
some improv and really liked it, so I started Just the
Funny in 1999; just nine veteran actors who decided to
form a group to do the kind of improv we wanted to do.
The Miami Improv
Festival, which will make its third run in February, is
your baby. How did you come up with the idea ?
When I moved out to
L.A., I started looking seriously at improv. I saw
troupes like Improv Olympic West and the Groundlings,
and I felt that it would be great to expose our group
and the improv community -- and just the arts community
in general -- to what was out there, in other places,
and that's when I came up with the idea for the Miami
Improv Festival. I think that's the producer in me. I've
been in environments where it's produce or die. If you
don't produce, you get fired. I come with that
mentality, and that's why we have a festival that's
going into it's third year.
Miami's arts community
isn't exactly a cash cow. How is JTF faring?
We're one of the few
theater companies that are for-profit, and we do very
well. When I say ''very well,'' it's all relative -- we
do well enough to make sure we can exist. Nobody is
getting paid -- myself included. All of our money goes
back into supporting our company, bringing in
instructors from out of town to do workshops, holding
parties, promoting our shows to really grow a community
of people who want to come back.
Have people tired of
the Who's Line is it Anyway? style show, which is
what a lot of improv troupes tend to lean toward?
We wanted to stretch
beyond our typical Who's Line is it Anyway? type
of improv and start doing long form. Imagine, if you
will, a bunch of scenes that somehow, some way, have
something to do with each other, and putting them all
together. It's become a crowd favorite. That's one thing
that was really enlightening -- audiences here in Miami
are a lot more intelligent than people give them credit
for. We thought they were coming for the over-the-top
character stuff that may have some sexual innuendo or
some risqué quality to it. But they also really like
the intelligent humor of our long form stuff, which is
basically putting strange people in strange situations.
Can you give an
example?
Long form is really
where you see the ''art'' of improv. We have one format
called Family Issues. We ask the audience for an issue
facing a family, an occupation, and a last name. From
those three things, we do monologues -- our actors come
out and become the mother, the father, the grandmother,
whoever, and the monologues build off of each other.
After they set up everyone in the family, you see scenes
where the family interacts. The issue is generally the
storyline -- the big problem, the big hurdle. Maybe the
son is gay, maybe the father is an alcoholic, maybe the
mother has a secret desire to be a Las Vegas showgirl.
We try to find funny things you normally wouldn't find
funny.
JTF also conducts
workshops and improv courses. Can you learn to be funny?
You can learn to be
funny to a certain degree. I think you can become a very
skilled technician in improv. People think improv is
just getting on a stage and making stuff up, but there
is a technique and a structure and a form behind it.
That's what we teach, that's all we really can
teach. After that, you're on your own. Being good at
improv and being funny is a combination of two things --
being innately funny and being intelligent.
Comedy-wise, who are
you liking these days?
Doing improv, I can
really appreciate what Mike Myers does, like in Austin
Powers. The character development he creates and how
a lot of that is probably some sort of improvisation.
Chris Rock, because I love brutal honesty. And I love
Dennis Miller. I'm not a big fan of what Saturday
Night Live has become -- it's very difficult to
watch.
Most of the brilliant
comedians -- Robin Williams, Steve Martin, Jim Carey --
they've all got a screw or two loose. Do you have a
demento side?
I'm a huge dork. I love
everything '80s -- I played Dungeons and Dragons when I
was young. I'm the type of person who makes up words. I
call my daughter a different term of endearment every
week, things I'm too embarrassed to let anyone else hear
because they're so stupid. When I'm driving to work
during rush hour, I'll look over at the person in the
car next to me and smile or wave. Or I'll blow a kiss if
she's good looking. At the same time, I'm known for my
road rage. If somebody cuts me off, it's like a Quentin
Tarantino film.
Do you tend to find
yourself ''on stage'' even when you're not doing improv?
Totally. We do karaoke
all the time, at least once or twice a month. Wherever
we can find it. When you get a bunch of improv people
doing karaoke, it's crazy.
Do you have a song?
The B-52's ''Rock
Lobster'' -- I get to be spazzy, I get to do my Fred
Schneider southern gay voice. I did it once in L.A.,
when I was around a lot of really high-strung producers,
and they had karaoke at the restaurant we were at. I put
my name and my song in a hat -- nobody knew -- and they
called me up. So I did ''Rock Lobster'' and I had a
wireless mic, which is dangerous. I was getting in
people's faces, screaming, ''rock lobster!'' One
everybody asks me to do is ''My Way'' by Frank Sinatra
-- but as Tony Montana.
You won the Street
Elite award in the Local Theater category. What are you
going to do with the smashing award you'll be receiving
in six to eight weeks?
I'm going to make it a
hood ornament for my car and drive around town, and then
we'll take pictures with it naked.
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Street elite 2004 - elite
local theater
Just The Funny Improv Comedy Theatre
Company
Street
November 18, 2004
For under $20, you can sit back and enjoy two shows
featuring the best and brightest improv and sketch
comedy Miami has to offer. Just the Funny merges the
manic energy of Whose Line is it Anyway? with the
wry comedy of SNL. Best of all, it's interactive!
The crew at Just the Funny doesn't just entertain the
audience, they exchange ideas. Who knows, maybe your
snide comment will spin into their next sketch.Back
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off-the-cuff comedy
Improv-style shows keeps the laughs
coming
New
Times
November 4, 2004
By:
Dan Hudak
Just the Funny, like all companies of its type, is only
as good as its performers, who must work with constantly
shifting material.
The actors, who perform at 9:00 and 11:00 p.m. every
Saturday, provide constant amusement. Although the
subject matter and jokes vary with each show, some of
the skits remain the same. They include: "Pick a Line,"
in which a scene is created using phrases submitted by
audience members before the show; "JTF Jeopardy," in
which the response that gets the loudest laugh wins; and
"Luv Machine" (think The Dating Game), which garners
some of the biggest guffaws.
Carlos Rivera is the most talented and versatile of the
group, morphing into old women and hooligans (to name
two) without missing a beat. David Christopher and Alex
Perdomo frequently go the extra mile for a hearty laugh.
Al Peña's "Elder Al" character in "Luv Machine" is
worth the price of admission alone. During one scene,
religious zealot Al responded to a question from an
audience member with a long speech about why the young
woman needs him, and God, in her life. After much
prodding, he got her to shout: "Oh God, please come
inside me!!" The audience laughed uproariously.
Although you will leave the self-described "home for
improv and sketch comedy" in Miami wanting more of some
skits and less of others, you'll also leave with a
smile.
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NOT-SO-ROMANTIC
COMEDY
A
home-grown Improvisational troupe gives Valentine's Day
a twist with its quirky characters in a rendition of the
Newlywed Game.
The
Miami Herald - Neighbors
February 19, 2004
By:
Idy
Fernandez
Three
single women, chosen randomly from the audience, sat
nervously onstage. They wrung out crumpled white sheets
of paper, anxiously waiting for their ''husbands'' --
and the beginning of the Newlywed Game, Just The
Funny style.
The
Miami-based improv comedy group combines games, audience
suggestions and Saturday Night Live-type sketches
every Friday and Saturday
at 9 p.m. at the Miami Museum of Science Planetarium
Theater at 3280 S. Miami Ave.
On
Saturday, Valentine's Day, the Just The Funny cast added
a romantic twist by performing a version of the Newlywed
Game.
For
Candy Chaves of Hialeah Gardens, Saturday was just
supposed to be a girls' night out with younger sister
Ines Chaves, 27.
But
suddenly, Candy, 29, got a spot on the Newlywed game as
''wife'' No. 1.
Her
''husband,'' Master Chief Johnston, played by actor
Carlos Rivera, was a drill sergeant on military leave.
Decked
out in 1980s-era aviator sunglasses, camouflage and
steel-toed combat boots, Chief Johnston told the
audience he was always ready for action -- in and out of
the bedroom.
The
men in the audience grunted back with approval and shook
their fists in the air. Some women smiled -- others
rolled their eyes as the level of testosterone rose in
the theater.
Host
and director Stefanie Black, who has been with the
comedy cast for over
three years, asked the couple a question: ''My spouse
has a really blank, tushy. Fill in the blank.''
Scoffing
at the word ''tushy,'' and screaming a vulgar
replacement for it, Master Chief Johnston answered.
His,
he said, was camouflaged.
''I
had it tattooed years ago so that I can go into combat
naked,'' he said. ''If you can't see it, you can't shoot
it.''
The
audience howled. The men cheered him on. But when
''wife'' Chaves had to fill in the blank, she said her
spouse had a really ''rainy'' tushy.
Rainy?
Wrong.
The
couple was thrown off the island, er, stage. Chaves
seemed to take it all in stride, laughing as hard as the
audience.
''I
wish I would have known what the questions were going to
be,'' she said after the show. I would have tried to
pick better [answers], but still, I had a lot of fun.''
Next
came husband No. 2: Carlos Valdez Jr., played by Alex
Perdomo.
With
a beer bottle in one hand and a cigarette in the other,
Valdez took a seat on the stool behind his wife, Sheri
Kempinski.
He
wore a fishnet tank top, spandex shorts and accessorized
with a gold eagle chain that took up his entire chest.
With his hair stuffed beneath a dingy Hialeah Park
baseball cap, he finished off his look with a string of
beepers and cellphones.
He
purred in the ear of his spouse for the night,
affectionately calling her his ''gringita.''
Kempinski,
on the other hand, didn't seem so pleased with her lot.
She rolled her eyes at his antics.
Black
asked them a question: ''My spouse loves to do what
in the nude?''
Sell
churros, Valdez answered.
Kempinski
held up her sign: ''Bounce.''
Wrong
answer, but Valdez wouldn't give up on a chance to win.
He insisted he often bounces to get customers' attention
when he's selling the churros.
Black
left it up to the audience to decide whether the answer
was correct. The loud applause scored the couple a
point.
''Ay,
I knew we could do it,'' Valdez said as he gripped
Kempinski's shoulder and whispered in her ear, finally
drawing a smile from her.
Another
character, played by troupe apprentice Al Peña, glided
in on a bicycle, which he parked behind his
''wife.''
Taking
the time to adjust his tie and bike helmet, Peña
blessed the audience with peace and happiness.
Black,
the announcer, then asked what he most liked to do in
the nude.
Peña
said his religion prohibited him from being unclothed
unless he's in the shower.
But
his ''wife'' for the evening instead answered that he
liked to fly in the buff.
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yOUR
LOVE STORY FOR ALL TO HEAR
The
Miami Herald - Weekend Section
February 13, 2004
By:
Michael
Hammersly
Couples:
How did you first meet? Are you willing to share your
funny, romantic or just plain embarrassing stories to a
crowded theater? C'mon, it'll be fun! Just the Funny,
Miami's home for improv and sketch comedy, invites you
and your sweetie to share your true life love story in
How We First Met. Couples from the audience are
interviewed live onstage about how they met one another,
while Just the Funny's skilled improvisers recreate
their story with improvised sketches and songs. Also
showing at 9 p.m. Saturday. To volunteer your love
story, send details to howwefirstmet@justthefunny.com.
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THE
SURE THING
How
We First Met
Street
February 13, 2004
By:
Mary
Sutter
Ahh,
Valentine's Day. A time for couples to 1) show
their devotion by forking over their hard-earned dough
for red roses, chocolates, sentimental cards, and a
romantic dinner by candlelight, and 2) wonder how they
got into this mess in the first place. Ergo
How We First Met. This improv show, first
created and performed for Valentine's Day 2001 at San
Francisco's Bayfront Theatre Steps, is based on
interviews with two couples selected from the audience
(one chosen in advance from willing victims, the other
drawn from a hat that night). The performers then
recreate the stories via sketches and songs.
Hundreds of couples from all walks of life have been
featured in shows around the United States, Canada, and
Australia. This weekend, Miami's own Just The
Funny takes on love 9 p.m. Friday, February 13, and
Saturday February 14, at the Miami Museum of Science
Theatre, 3280 South Miami Ave., Miami. To
volunteer your story in advance, send the details to howwefirstmet@justthefunny.com.
$10 gets you in.
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STAGED
READINGS
Improv-ing
your love life
New Times
February 12, 2004
By:
Juan
Carlos Rodriguez
Okay,
don't get mad, but Meg Ryan is not a member of Just
the Funny, Miami's rollicking group of
improvisational actors and sketch comedians. This is
important to keep in mind during the troupe's upcoming
performance of How We First Met, a Valentine's Day show
celebrating those first-encounter stories that transform
people from lonely sops into hitched and happy campers.
First-meeting stories from couples in the audience will
become improvisational stage fodder, so don't be upset
if the person playing you is not drop-dead gorgeous.
Truth is, neither are you. The performance starts at
9:00 p.m. at the Miami Museum of Science Theater, 3280
S. Miami Ave. Tickets cost $10. Call 305-693-8669.
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PROMISE:
IMPROV FESTIVAL WON'T MAKE YOU GAG
The
Miami Herald - Weekend Section
January 23,
2004
By:
Daniel
Chang
A
lot of preparation goes into the Miami Improv Festival.
There
are hotel rooms and theaters to book, performances and
workshops to schedule, corporate sponsors to solicit.
But
in the end, the homegrown comedy confab is all about
spontaneity -- the kind of spur-of-the-moment thinking
and acting that can transform a prosthesis into a plot
line.
Alex
Perdomo, a founding member of Just the Funny, a South
Florida troupe of actors who launched the Miami Improv
Festival in 2003, remembers the time a member of the
audience offered up his artificial leg as a starting
point for the troupe's comedic performance.
''We
didn't want to do anything that may offend the guy,''
Perdomo says. ``Then we started doing scenes. It became
landing gear. It became antennae. The troop just had a
ball with it and the guy was in the front row, without
his leg, hysterical.''
Such
is the hit-or-miss nature of improvisational theater and
comedy -- audience and actor working together to cobble
a skit, a musical or a one-act play out of a simple
prop.
For
Perdomo, a Miami native whose improvisational insights
include side-splitting caricatures of Hialeah alpha
males (more on that later), the collaborative journey is
``almost like watching the guy at the circus do the high
wire act. Can he do it? Will he fall? Will he mess up?
Will he get stumped?''
Improv
fans can tune in for answers when the Miami Improv
Festival brings 21 troupes to the Miami Museum of
Science & Planetarium beginning Tuesday for a week
of shows and workshops.
David
Christopher, a member of Just the Funny and executive
producer of the festival, says the conference has helped
raise improv's profile in Miami.
A
graduate of Killian Senior High, Christopher, 31, had
left South Florida for Los Angeles to work as a TV
producer in 2000. There, he gained an education on the
different schools of improv, particularly long form,
where actors create the equivalent of a one-act play.
Inspired
by his experience, Christopher returned to Miami in May
2001 and found his beloved comedy troupe in trouble:
membership was down, audiences had shrunk, and the group
was performing in a Holiday Inn conference room.
That's
when he got the idea for a festival that would bring
nationally recognized troupes, such as Chicago's Second
City and Los Angeles's The Groundlings, to Miami and
educate audiences on the different schools of improv
comedy.
Aside
from the TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway? -- which
focuses primarily on short-form, game-oriented skits --
improv hasn't received the same sort of attention as,
say, stand-up comedy.
''A
lot of people don't even know what it is,'' Christopher
says. ``Improvisation isn't just getting a bunch of
people running on stage and making stuff up from the top
of their head. People make a goal and improvise their
way to that goal with what the audience gives them.''
Sometimes
the actors get things rolling with a loosely defined
plot or a recurring character. (Despite the inherent
structure of such devices, Christopher and Perdomo say,
the performance and dialogue differs each time because
of the audience.)
Perdomo,
35, tapped into his experience growing up in Miami to
create a character named Carlos Valdez Jr.
''He's
a great guy,'' says Perdomo, a teacher at Barbara
Goleman Senior High. ``He's basically a Hialeah kind of
guy. He likes to cruise in his Mustang 5.0, South Beach,
Coconut Grove. He's the kind of guy who lives at home
with his parents. But he's the typical alpha male. This
guy is always looking for the next hill, next conquest,
next trophy.
``Of
course, this guy has no idea how bad he looks wearing
Spandex shorts, a fishnet T-shirt, a gold medallion
chain actually cut out of a flagpole, sunglasses, a
mullet [haircut], cell phone and a beeper.
Christopher,
a video producer for Miami Dade College, came up with a
skit about one of his favorite films, Scarface, while
running errands one day.
He
wondered, ''What would be a funny situation that
Scarface would find himself in,'' he says. 'I thought,
`Wouldn't it be funny . . . if Tony Montana had his own
summer camp?' ''
Within
minutes, Tony Montana's Little Friends Summer Camp was
born.
''The
first line,'' Christopher says, 'is, `Say hello to my
little friends.' It just gets crazy. It's absurd. Tony
Montana, drug overlord, is serving community time. . . .
He and his sidekick, Manny, are now running the summer
camp, and he's showing Manny the summer camp and the
first kid in the camp is crying because the other kids
won't play with him.
'Tony
says, `I'm going to tell you something: When I was your
age, I was a little slow too. Why don't you sniff some
of this?' Then the kid tries it and convulses and dies
of heart failure right there.''
Now
who would have seen that coming?
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FAST
LAUGHS
Improv's
so funny, honey
New Times
January 22, 2004
By:
Humberto
Guida
So
the senseless wit of improvisational comedy isn't always
as funny as rehearsed routines? At least nobody's
wasting time writing it. And in times when nobody has
time, skipping a consuming phase of the creative process
embodies modern ingenuity, not laziness. But
appreciating the spontaneity of improv is less about
lack of preparation and more about taking part. Most
improv routines rely heavily on audience participation.
Second
City and the Groundlings, two pillars of the
increasingly embraced comedic movement (most notably
advanced by the American spinoff of the hit British
series Whose Line Is It Anyway?), will headline the
fifth annual Miami Improv Festival. The troupes have
showcased improv at its instantaneous best for more than
two decades each. Skimming through their past rosters
reveals a who's who of comedy stars: Mike Myers, Bill
Murray, Gilda Radner, Martin Short, Chris Farley, Phil
Hartman, and Paul Reubens (the latter two created
Pee-wee Herman while in the Groundlings). Today's
lineups include talents who are assuredly the "next
big thing in comedy," according to Alex Perdomo,
one of MIF's organizers.
Perdomo,
part of the local improv troupe Just the Funny (also
performing at MIF), explains the nature of improv is
"all about support; it's like improvisational jazz
where one player feeds off the other, or
Ping-Pong." He also dispels the notion that
"shills," or plants in the audience, aid
improv-ers by suggesting preconceived bits. All the
humor here is "performed on the spot," he
says.
In
addition to the headlining troupes, the fest will
feature nineteen acts from across the country, including
the Transactors, who perform an improvised post-World
War II Broadway musical; Miami's own A Pair of Nuts,
whose two-man sketches are "intended for mature
audiences"; and Impromedy, which promises to
"bring urine into your pants." If you fancy
yourself a quick wit, workshops instructed by festival
stars will be offered all week.
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MIAMI
IMPROV FESTIVAL
"Yes,
and..."
New Times
Broward - Palm Beach
January 22, 2004
By:
Diedra
Funcheon
Don't
leave the house without your plunger, your statue of St.
Ignatius, and your anal beads... or items of that sort.
Audience members are encouraged to bring unusual objects
to A Man, A Boombox & A Blowup Doll -- the live,
interactive, one-man comedy show that kicks off the
Miami Improv Festival. With 33 shows spread over five
nights, plus workshops in acting, singing, and business,
the festival has become a unifying event in the national
improv community. Last year's inaugural festival was
snubbed by big shots of the genre -- namely, Chicago's
Second City comedy troupe and the Los Angeles-based
Groundlings. This year, however, both groups are
clamoring to get in on the action. One of the festival's
organizers, Alex Perdomo (a high school teacher who
masquerades as Cracko the Clown with Miami's Just the
Funny troupe), stressed the unique opportunity to catch
tomorrow's rising stars of comedy today -- before they
go on to join the cast of Saturday Night Live and then
switch to making horror films like The Cat in the Hat.
The festival takes place at the Miami Museum of
Science and Planetarium (3280 S. Miami Ave., Miami)
Tuesday, January 27, through January 31, and workshops
run January 31 through February 1. Tickets cost $10 to
$25. Call 305-668-4821.
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DON'T
MISS...
Miami
Improv Festival brings comedy talent home
The
Hurricane
January 30,
2004
By:
Deborah
Acosta
Picture
this: A movie theatre-like setting, where the usual
flat-screen is substituted for an intimate stage where
seven or so talents stop at no lengths to "bring
you to your knees." This is the kind of thing that
goes on at the Miami Improv Festival. Public service
announcements asking for "10 cents a day" for
the oppressed "Viking population" are just the
beginning. The festival consists of various groups of
Improv comedians from South Florida coming together
under one roof for one ultimate purpose: to tickle your
funny bone to exhaustion. Each group gets an hour to try
their wit at making the audience squeal with laughter.
To compare this experience, one may say that this sort
of art is very similar to the hilarious hi-jinks of Drew
Carey and Co. on the hit ABC show, Who's Line Is It
Anyway?-- a show which was actually inspired by the
original Improv comedians stemming from bars and clubs.
So if you like the show, you'll definitely like the
festival. It's live, un-cut, and they take on-the-spot
suggestions from the audience; so audience participation
isn't only encouraged, it's required. Now can you get
that from your T.V.? This is an excellent alternative
for all you movie theatre regulars...change it up a bit!
The festival is on till Saturday the 31st, so run on
over there tonight; it's just seven minutes away from
campus, right inside the Miami Museum of Science and
Planetarium. If you miss the festival, don't fret; you
can still catch the hosts of the festival, "Just
the Funny," every Friday and Saturday at 9 p.m.
There isn't a person on campus that shouldn't show up.
Everyone enjoys a good laugh, so show up and have a
great one. Special snaps to "Impromedy" for
their absurdly hilarious skit poking fun at the Cuban
culture and for their "AB Pen" infomercial,
"Yes, you too can have glorious abs in just
seconds!" DON'T MISS IT!
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MIAMI-DADE
COLLEGE TO OFFER 'IMPROV FOR BUSINESS' COURSE
Community
Newspapers
October 24, 2003
By:
Peter
Zachariadis
If
you are having problems networking, speaking in front of
groups or communicating with employees during the
average workday, MDC’s School of Community
Education is offering a one-day course “Improv
for Business.’’ The course is presented by Just
the Funny, Miami‘s Home for Improv and Sketch
Comedy, to give business people a helping hand.
“Improv for Business” is designed to help managers,
salespeople, and business owners improve leadership,
communication and teambuilding skills through
improvisation.
Learn how to improve your presentation and managerial
skills by tackling real life business situations with
improvisation.
“It’s about bringing in business people from all
walks of life and all ages and finding out what they
want to get out of the class,’’ said David
Christopher, a course instructor and a former actor.
“We bring them out of their shell.”
Christopher describes a previous student of “Improv
for Business” who was a manager at an IT firm. This
manager felt out of place because she supervised
technicians and had no technical knowledge herself. So
she took the class to practice how to blend in with her
workers without feeling self-conscious about her lack of
technical skills.
Another student, a manager as well, was having a hard
time networking and passing out business cards at social
gatherings. It got to the point where the student would
go to networking events, but would never make contact
with anyone.
That student practiced conversation and handing out
business cards until they felt comfortable with
classmates, Christopher said.
The
program will be offered in a one-day ‘’Improv for
Business’’ workshop, presented by Miami’s Just the
Funny and MDC’s Community Education Department, on
Nov, 22, 9 a.m.-4 p.m., at MDC’s Kendall Campus, 11011
SW 104 St. (classroom to be announced). Registration fee
is $40.
For more information, call MDC Community Education at
305-237-2612.
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cityscape
The
Miami Herald
October 24, 2003
By:
Anabelle de Gale
There's
some funny business going on at Miami-Dade College.
The
school is offering an Improv for Business class
taught by, yes, comedians. Students learn leadership,
public speaking and networking by the folks from Just
the Funny. The one-day business class is held in the
theater of the school's Kendall campus.
''`We
don't sit there and lecture,'' says instructor David
Christopher. ``We get people out of their seats.''
The
not-for-credit class uses humor to help folks relax in
high-stress business situations, David says. Part of the
curriculum: job interview skits. On stage students act
out the recruiting process a la Whose Line is it Anyway.
Says
David: ``It's edu-tainment.''
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JUST
THE FUNNY - COMEDIC THERAPY
New Times
Broward - Palm Beach
September 24, 2003
By: Audra Schroeder
An
improv comedy troupe performing at a planetarium? It
doesn't get any funnier than that! Any chance to say Uranus
is comedic gold! Every Friday and Saturday night at the
Miami Museum of Science and Planetarium (3280 S. Miami
Ave., Miami), the Just the Funny Improv Troupe, which
has performed sketch comedy around Miami since 1999,
takes on the audience in an interactive setting. Friday,
JTF presents "Lust and Revenge;" one-act
sketches about two emotions that pop up more frequently
than transsexual hookers in South Florida. "We like
the audience to be greased up and ready to divulge their
secrets," explains original troupe member David
Christopher. "Everyone has a tale of lusting after
someone who didn't lust back or wanting to get
revenge," Christopher says. "We take those
stories from the audience members and reenact how they
could have played out years later, whether it's the
best- or worst-case scenario. It's the cheapest form of
therapy there is." JTF also teaches improv classes
for teens and adults. And Christopher even teaches a
business improv class for all you aspiring
CEO/comedians. Check out "Lust and Revenge" at
9 p.m. Tickets cost $10. Call 305-693-8669, or visit www.justthefunny.com
-- Audra Schroeder
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LUST
AND REVENGE
Street
September 19, 2003
By:
Jessica
Sick
And if you like to get
it from more than one person at a time - your humor,
that is - Just The Funny will unveil a new form of
comedic genius titled Lust and Revenge, in which
the improv troupe takes the life story, or part thereof,
of an audience member and changes it into something
crazier, funnier, sexier. See just how intensely
exciting your senior prom could've been 9 p.m.
Fridays, beginning this week, at the Miami Museum of
Science, 3280 S. Miami Ave., Miami. Tickets are
$10.
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LUST
AND REVENGE IMPROV COMEDY CHANGES HISTORY
Entertainment
News & Views
September 19, 2003
Just
the Funny, Miami’s Home for Improv and Sketch Comedy,
presents Lust and Revenge, an improvised comedy, which
changes history—your history. This crack troupe
of improv actors presents tales of what could have been,
and what should have happened, and then acts them out
onstage in a hilarious improvised play based on tales of
lust and revenge from your life!
“Lust
and Revenge” runs every Friday, starting September
19th at 9pm at the Miami Museum of Science and
Planetarium, 3280 South Miami Avenue, Miami. Tickets are
$10. For reservations and information, call
305-MY-FUNNY, 305-693-8669 or visit www.justthefunny.com.
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LET
HIM TICKLE YOUR FUNNY BONE
The
Miami Herald - Weekend Section
August 8, 2003
By:
Michael
Hamersly
Just the Funny
Cares with Lonnie Quinn: 9 tonight, Miami Museum
of Science and Planetarium, 3280 S. Miami Ave., Miami;
$10; all proceeds benefit the Miami Children's Hospital
Foundation; 305-693-8669 or www.justthefunny.com.
The forecast is for
heavy laughter tonight when local weatherman Lonnie
Quinn headlines Just the Funny Cares for
a great cause. Does NBC 6 weather anchor and reporter
Quinn have what it takes to handle improv-style comedy?
Find out at this show where music and sketches based on
audience suggestions combine Whose Line Is It
Anyway? with Saturday Night Live.
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JUST
THE FUNNY CARES
Street
August 8, 2003
By:
Jessica
Sick
What the hail?
Weather Anchor Lonnie Quinn attempts to crack a joke
(hey, at least it isn't Bob Weaver) when he teams up
with comedy company Just the Funny to host Just the
Funny Cares, a benefit for Miami Children's
Hospital. The show is made up of improvised skits
guided by audience suggestions - think Who's Line is
it Anyway?, but without the funny black guy.
Yuk it up 9 p.m. Friday at the Museum of Science, 3280
S. Miami Ave., Miami. Get tickets ($10) and more
info by calling 305-693-8669 or at www.justthefunny.com.
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A
MAN, A BOOMBOX, A BLOW-UP DOLL
The
Miami Herald - Weekend Section
July 18, 2003
By:
Michael
Hamersly
Just the Funny and
Big Fish Improv: 9 and 10 tonight, Miami Museum of
Science Planetarium (MMOS) Theatre, 3280 South Miami
Ave., Miami; $10 gets you both shows; 305-MY-FUNNY
(693-8669) or www.justthefunny.com.
Improv has been all the
rage in comedy lately, as evidenced by the rollicking
popularity of shows like Whose Line is it Anyway? Catch
that renegade, anything-goes spirit tonight as Miami's Just
The Funny will host Big Fish Improv, a
Virginia-based comedy show featuring one man, a boombox
and a blow-up doll. George Herring, president of
Big Fish Improv in Richmond, also has Miami roots, being
co-founder of Just The Funny in the Magic City. He was
also assistant director of the 2003 Miami Improv
Festival and author of the news-spoof website Miami
Harold.
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Humorous
Homecoming,
Comic
trouper returns
New Times
July 17, 2003
By: Javier Andrade
The weekly improv night
fueled by the artists in the comedy troupe Just The
Funny will boast a familiar addition this evening. One
of its founding members, George Herring, now relocated
to Virginia, will return to his old stomping grounds to
debut his one-man show aptly named Big Fish Improv,
immediately after his friends in Just The Funny finish
their 45-minute set. "It depends on your
personality; people are scared to improvise," says
Herring about the difference between his kind of work
and regular plays, where actors are tied to a script.
"I love getting people to react, and I've always
gotten good reactions in Miami." Accompanied by a
blow-up doll and a boombox with lots of transitional
audio elements that allow him to change costumes in
front of the audience, Herring will debut a new sketch,
where he's dressed as a white upper-class witch doctor.
He describes it simply as "bizarre." -- By
Javier Andrade
Big Fish Improv and
Just The Funny perform at 9:00 p.m. at the Miami Museum
of Science, 3280 S Miami Ave. Tickets cost $10. Call
305-MY-FUNNY.
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Improv
at Museum? 'Just The Funny'
The
Miami Herald - Weekend Section
May 30, 2003
By:
Michael
Hamersly
Just the Funny:
9 p.m. Friday and Saturday; Miami Museum of Science and
Planetarium Theatre, 3280 S. Miami Ave., Miami; $10; www.justthefunny.com
or 305-693-8669.
Just the Funny,
the energetic South Florida improv company that brought
you the Miami Improv Festival and the South Florida
Improv Jam, has landed at the Miami Museum of Science
and Planetarium Theatre, launching weekly performances,
starting tonight. Improv is exploding in popularity
nationwide, as evidenced by the success of TV programs
like Whose Line Is It Anyway? and Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Just the Funny has consistently challenged South Florida
audiences with new improv formats and audience
participation jams.
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Street
pick
Street
May 29, 2003
By:
Jessica Sick
Just The Funny gets up
close and personal with Uranus when they move their
improv comedy show to the Miami Museum of Science this
Saturday. The same formula applies - audience
makes suggestions, comedy troupe turns suggestions into
an improv sketch, everyone laughs and pees in their
pants. Catch opening night in the new digs, 3280
South Miami Ave., 9 p.m. Saturday, or any Friday or
Saturday thereafter. Admission is $10. For
more info, call (305) 693-8669 or visit www.justthefunny.com.
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The
short List
Street
February 14, 2003
By:
Jessica Sick
At the Laundromat when
you dropped a pair of your granny underwear; in the
record store buying MC Hammer's Greatest Hits (for a
friend, of course); at the gym when you pulled your
groin on the inner-thigh machine. Where did you and your
sweetie meet for the first time? That's the premise of How
We First Met, an improv comedy show during which
couples' stories of that one moment in time are acted
out by professional funny people -- in this case,
players from Just the Funny improv troupe. The stories
come from couples in the audience, which means you may
find out more than you want to know about the old couple
next to you who are wearing leather pants. Or maybe you
and your significant other are the ones with the story
worth sharing. The show takes place 11 p.m. Friday and
Saturday at the Dreamer's Theatre, 65 Almeria Ave.,
Coral Gables. Tickets are $10, to get them and more info
call 305-693-8669 or visit www.justthefunny.com.
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Inaugural
Improv: Insipid to inspired
The Miami Herald
January 31, 2003
By: Christine Dolen
They're crazy, crafty,
kooky. Gross, goofy, surreal. Touching. Insipid.
Inspired.
and Saturday) brought
all those notes and more into the black-box intimacy of
Dreamers Theatre in Coral Gables on Tuesday,
kick-starting South Florida's inaugural celebration of
improvisational theater and comedy.
It's a form that
appeals more to younger audiences (though some
middle-aged-and-older folks partake, too), and it's easy
to figure out why.
The performers are
young, physically intense, energetic. They stud their
shows with references to contemporary culture, and
bookend them with booming electronica. Thanks to the
success of TV's Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the audience
is already attuned to improv's style and rhythms.
And the fleeting nature
of most improv scenes -- not to mention the brevity of
each 45-minute performance -- is perfectly suited to the
21st-century American's gnat-like attention span.
Miami host company Just
the Funny does a mixture of sketches and games, some
fueled by words or phrases suggested by the audience.
Some don't work (a commercial for pre-owned caskets,
some of the off-the-cuff bits, a crude kiddie show
host), but most do.
Stefanie Black is a
hoot as a ''recovering'' alcoholic who weaves
crowd-supplied nonsequiturs into her boozy monologue.
A round of faux
Jeopardy! is funny, and a Dating Game-style competition
called The Love Machine is even funnier, especially when
Alex Perdomo dons the beepers, bling-bling and teja
(South Florida's version of a mullet) of a screechingly
stereotypical Cuban guy named Carlos Valdes Jr.
Another Miami troupe,
Impromedy, also brings a South Florida flavor to its
sometimes uneven work. Best are its first sketch,
goofing on the artistic pretentions of Cirque du Soleil
as it imagines how the company would run a theme
restaurant, and another scene in which performers
repeatedly act out a day in the life of an audience
member, doing it faster and faster each time.
A charade-style
sequence falls flat, as does a bit about a one-eyed
flamenco dancer (!) summoned to help a whiny kid who's
harangued by his strict father. And the sight gags based
on the considerable girth of one young actor border on
cruelty.
Chicago actor Andy
Eninger does a weirdly brilliant one-man improv dubbed
Sybil. Working from a suggested setting -- on opening
night, he got a combo diner-gas station -- he paints a
picture with words, vividly transforming the bare stage
into a 1950s den of Commie activity called Daisy's
Diner.
Then he fills it with
the people he plays: Aging and forgetful matriarch
Daisy; her son Pedro; Pedro's beading-obsessed gal pal
Claire; an elderly ham vendor named Martin, who courts
Daisy both before and after his death.
With the story
augmented by period-perfect music and sound effects,
Sybil and Eninger take the audience on a provocative
journey into a more challenging kind of improv.
In MELINNoma, Detroit
solo artist Lisa Melinn serves up a funny, nightmarish
stream-of-consciousness piece about what's going on
inside her sleep-deprived head. She mines her neuroses,
her bad love choices, her career detours and more, for
laughter of the edgy variety.
The lessons from
watching four hours of improv? It's fun. If it isn't
working, just wait and it will.
It's great to laugh at
the weirdness that's life in South Florida. And it's
enlightening to see the artistry of the improv imports.
Christine
Dolen is The Herald's theater critic.
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No
script, no problem
Improv
troupes hook younger audiences who shun mainstream
theater
The Miami
Herald
January 26, 2003
By: Christine Dolen
Improv old-timer Joe
Bill (he's 40, which is flirting with senior status in
the improv world), remembers the night the lights went
out in Chicago, and how the quick-thinking ingenuity
common to improvisational theater and comedy saved the
Annoyance Theater's much-beloved midnight show The Screw
Puppies.
With the Windy City
doing its own version of hot town in the summertime, a
blackout forced Annoyance to do its performance of the
long-running musical Coed Prison Sluts under emergency
lights -- which burned out before the midnight show
could go on.
''We tried to figure
out what to do,'' says Bill, who's headed to South
Florida this week to perform (with actor Mark Sutton in
a two-man act called Bassprov) at the inaugural Miami
Improv Festival at Dreamers Theatre in Coral Gables.
``Should we tape flashlights to broomsticks and get the
audience to hold them? We told the crowd we were
committed to figuring it out because there was still
beer left [beer being a midnight improv show staple].
``One of the guys, a
brainy type who went to the University of Chicago, asked
if we had any candles. We rounded up 40 of them, then
took the mirrors out of the dressing rooms and set up
foot candles, like they did in old-fashioned theaters.
We promised to perform until the last person left. We
started around 1:15 a.m. with about 30 people. We
finally quit at 5 a.m. when the last five people refused
to go.''
That's improv:
irreverence (sometimes extreme raunchiness), creativity,
overcoming obstacles, a can-do spirit. Plus performers
and unusually youthful audiences leaping into the same
boat, hoping it floats instead of sinks. That
exhilaration, tension and release should create plenty
of waves when the 2003 Miami Improv Festival brings 16
companies to Dreamers for 28 performances plus workshops
from Tuesday to Saturday.
BOOSTS POPULARITY
ABC-TV's Whose Line Is
It Anyway? (9 p.m. Fridays on WPLG-ABC 10), besides
launching the careers of regulars Colin Mochrie, Ryan
Stiles and Wayne Brady, has done huge things for improv,
boosting its popularity and attuning audiences to the
rhythms of short-form, games-oriented improv.
Miami improv actors
David Christopher, Alex Perdomo and Stefanie Black (who
toils by day as a workmen's compensation attorney),
whose Just The Funny troupe is hosting the 2003 Miami
Improv Fest, all appreciate what Whose Line has done for
improv -- with qualifications.
''Short-form improv has
a stigma among insiders, who see it more as a gimmicky
game,'' says Christopher, the festival's director.
``Long-form is more challenging. Whose Line is a real
breakthrough, but it's extremely rehearsed [and edited].
I can't watch it. It's like watching a play on TV.''
What's so bad about
that, says Perdomo, is that ``...you miss the audience
dynamic.''
Even more than in
traditional scripted theater, that audience dynamic is
vital to improv. Audience suggestion and even
participation are vital to some kinds of improv, and
that back-and-forth is one of the reasons that so many
younger people with zero interest in mainstream theater
adore improv.
'AMAZING FOLLOWING'
''We have an amazing
following of young people,'' says Elena María Garcia,
whose Separate Checks improv group performs at the
Hollywood Playhouse's Blue Box theater (though it passed
on the Miami Improv Festival due to the $100 per
performer registration fee, a typical pay-to-play
practice at improv festivals).
``They bring cool stuff
from home, yell things out, get their sentences used or
get pulled up onstage. When something is on the nose,
it's electric. It's the interaction they love. This
whole generation is so fast -- it's the ADD
generation.''
Improv, despite its
made-up scenes and the quick-hit nature of short-form
improv, actually plays by numerous rules and comes in
several varieties. Nor did it begin with Whose Line Is
It Anyway?. Without delving deeply into its history,
improv was born of the separate work of two key
teachers, Keith Johnstone and Viola Spolin, was further
developed in the 1950s by Spolin's son Paul Sills and
his fellow founders of The Compass in Chicago, and
became famous via Chicago's Second City and the many
alumni (including Martin Short, Mike Myers, Mike
Nichols, Ed Asner and others) that it sent into the
worlds of television and movies.
Go to www.improvcomedy.org
and you'll discover a glossary of nearly 60 terms
commonly used among improvisers. And in addition to the
widely performed short-form, often the first kind of
improv a young performer tackles, there's long-form
improv (performers create a one-act play that may last
an hour), musical improv (actors make up a musical),
solo improv (a lone actor does a monologue or plays all
the characters in a long-form piece) and more.
That entire spectrum of
improv will be represented at this week's festival.
Stephen Guarino, an
Orlando native and Florida State University grad,
performs with Jimmy Bennett and John Gregorio in the
Manhattan-based The Nuclear Family. With a pianist
skilled in improv, the group does one of the most
difficult kinds of improv, creating a long-form musical
in which each plays a member of a family, based on
audience suggestions.
NO REHEARSAL
''We do a little
audience interaction to solidify that it's improv, but
we don't rehearse a word of it,'' says Guarino, who adds
that because the shows are built on a musical structure,
many people don't believe they're created spontaneously.
``We usually create a
90-minute musical with a beginning, a middle and an end.
We do duets, trios and a big 11 o'clock torch song. Each
character goes on a journey. Jimmy and I do full-on
dream ballets -- once, we did one as identical twins who
found each other again through their psychic
connection.''
Chicagoan Andy Eninger
does solo long-form improv, building a piece called
Sybil from set suggestions given by the audience. He has
a technical person who creates on-the-spot lights and,
from different CDs, era-appropriate sound cues. But
otherwise, he's on his own.
DRIVEN BY PASSION
He's lucky enough to
have a day job that taps into his skills: Working with
the Chicago Comedy Company, he does corporate improv
work, which involves both performances and training.
But he speaks for his
fellow improv actors when he talks about the passion
that drives them, despite the very little money most
make doing what they love.
''Onstage, I have a
joyful time. There's unmeasurable joy when it's going
well,'' Eninger says. ``And it's all the more precious
because you know it will never be done that way again.''
The Improv Fest's
Christopher, a filmmaker and MBA student who lives for
improv, knows that many of those who work in mainstream
theater look down on improv. But for him, there's
nothing that compares with it.
''My mother dragged me
to see it in the '80s, and I was blown away,'' he
recalls. ``It is like watching magic. You think: How do
they think of things that fast?''
Christine Dolen is The
Herald's theater critic.
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LAUGH
AT OTHERS FOR A GOOD CAUSE
The
Miami Herald
August, 23, 2002
By: Hannah Sampson
1st South Florida
Improv Jam: 9
p.m. Saturday, Dreamers Theatre, 65 Almeria Ave., Coral
Gables; $10 donation; http:/www.justthefunny.com/jam.html
or 305-693-8669.
Who doesn't love to be
put on the spot? Most of us, probably. Most of us truly
hate to be put on the spot. That is why most of us are
not performers who specialize in improvisation. Now, who
doesn't love to watch other people get put on the spot?
That's the opportunity we will all have at the 1st South
Florida Improv Jam, which features performers from local
improv theater companies. Each of the following groups
will offer four actors: Impromedy and Just The Funny
from Miami; Brain Freeze and Separate Checks from
Broward, and Boca Raton-based Name Change Pending. The
format is a 90-minute show (or ''jam,'' if you prefer)
that is compared to the ABC television show Whose Line
Is It Anyway?, except without Drew Carey. Proceeds will
be donated to The Miami Children's Hospital Foundation.
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The
Short List
Street
August 23, 2002
By: Jessica Sick
Jams come in all forms
-- strawberry, traffic, def comedy -- but this Saturday
is the First South Florida Improv Jam. Hosted by
Just the Funny improv troupe, the Jam was organized to
raise money for the Miami Children's Hospital
Foundation, and also to get some of South Florida's
funniest together on one stage for your laughing-til-you-pee-your-pants
pleasure. Joining Just the Funny are Miami-based
Impromedy, Broward's Brain Freeze and Separate Checks,
and Boca's Name Change Pending. Each company has chosen
their four best -- or whoever wasn't doing anything
semi-important that night -- to participate in a Whose
Line is it Anyway?-type show in which the actors are at
the mercy of audience suggestions, meaning the skits may
more often than not turn into porn. But it's for a good
cause. And who doesn't like porn? Yuk it up at 9 p.m.
Saturday at the Dreamers Theatre, 65 Almeria Ave., Coral
Gables. Admission is $10, for more info call
305-693-8669 or visit justthefunny.com.
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Have
You Seen This Crazy Cuban?
iCuban.com The
Internet Cuban
June, 2002
Check out the Craziest
Cuban in South Florida! Carlos Valdez, Jr. (as performed
by real Cuban Alex Perdomo) is the strangest looking and
funniest Cuban we have ever seen. Hear all about Carlo's
exploits selling churros from a street corner stand in
Hialeah! The guy is hilarious. (From what we read on his
website, he is also quite the lady's man!)
Carlos and a great cast
of funny people can be seen at Coral Gables' own Just
The Funny Improv Comedy Theater. For just $10 you get 90
minutes of sketches, music and improvisations based on
audience suggestions! Spend the entire evening and laugh
your head off!
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The
Short List
Street
March 8, 2002
By:
Jessica Sick
For most people,
getting up on a stage and being laughed at doesn't
exactly boost self-esteem. The only thing it does boost
is the chance of wetting yourself. But for the Just The
Funny Improv Comedy Theater troupe, getting people to
hee and haw, even if it means making an ass out of
themselves, is part of the job description. And to
celebrate three years of successfully tickling Miami's
funny bone, JTF will present its Fourth Annual...
Third Anniversary Show! A combination of Who's
Line is it Anyway? and Saturday Night Live,
the show will rely on audience suggestions and
participation, so whether it'll bust guts or simply bust
will be up to you. You provide the material. They turn
it into comedic genius. Or something like that. As part
of the festivities the troupe will host ''The Luv
Machine,'' JTF's warped version of The Dating Game.
Don't say we didn't warn you. Just the Funny's
anniversary show takes place at 11 p.m. Friday and
Saturday at the Dreamers Theatre, 65 Almeria Ave., Coral
Gables. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased by calling
305-69-FUNNY.
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Funny
Impression
New Times
September 13, 2001
By: Mia Leonin
Is the stage half empty
or half full?
Depends on your
improvisational skills, David Christopher would say.
While some consider it theater's ugly cousin,
Christopher, an actor, instructor, and one of the
founding members of the Just the Funny Improv Comedy
Theater Company, contends that improv is an
essential part of any actor's bag of tricks. The ability
to improvise, invent, and entertain off the cuff teaches
an actor how to audition successfully, work with other
actors, and develop more believable characters.
"Improvisation is a skill that you normally cannot
find in a conservatory," explains Christopher.
"It's about adding information and using it. You
are always bringing something new to the table. It also
teaches you to release any anxiety you have about
rejection." Just the Funny will offer an all-day
intensive workshop on Saturday, September 29,
that focuses on all aspects of improv training for the
professional actor including auditions, commercials,
stage, film, and TV.
Nonthespians take
heart. For the first time since it began in 1999, Just
the Funny is opening one of its workshops to the public,
owing to popular demand from the company's audience
members. "People who come to our shows have been
asking for improv workshops since we started," says
Christopher. The company offers ongoing improvisational
performances every Saturday night. The shows feature
game-show parodies, one-acts, musical skits, and
occasional scripts à la Saturday Night Live. Audience
members customize each show by contributing words,
names, places, and phrases that are used throughout the
performance. They also get to participate in regular
skits like the company's signature piece, Luv Machine, a
spoof of The Dating Game. Each week one lucky victim is
given the opportunity to win a date with some of Miami's
most eligible (and stereotypical) bachelors, as
portrayed by company members.
As Christopher points
out: "Every show is original. In improv the genre
demands that you wipe the slate clean and start from
scratch every few minutes." This is where things
can get interesting for actors and audience members
alike, a fine line that virtually disappears during
these truly interactive performances.
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BEST OF mIAMI
New
Times
May 17, 2001
Reader's Choice -
Best Place for a First Date: Just The Funny
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BEST OF mIAMI
New
Times
May 11, 2000
Reader's Choice -
Best Place for a First Date: Just The Funny
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Improv
Group Makes a Scene
Catalyst
March 6, 2000
By: Susan Anasagasti
Three
members from The Improv Comedy Theater group, Just The
Funny, visited Kendall Campus on Wednesday, Feb. 23, at
11 a.m., in Room 113.
Just
The Funny uses improvisation, a form of theater in which
no script is used. Rather, the dialogue is
assembled as the actors perform.
The
event began with tag freeze. This is a style of
improvisation in which actors stand in a circle and
continue a scene. This opening exercise allowed
the students participating to become comfortable with
each other.
Once
they began working together, the action quickly unfolded
on the stage. Their clever imaginations began with
a frog kissing her prince and ended with the last
actress salsa dancing at the Special Olympics.
The
next style used was "things you never
hear." This style involved taking the
audience's suggestions and using them to create the
scene. For example, the audience's role was to
name an event.
The
participants then had to say a phrase that was never
heard during that time. World War II was the first
suggestion from the audience. The scenes were very
funny as the students came up with phrases such as
"Captain, you have an e-mail" or "Can I
borrow your CD?"
Scenic
style, a form of improvisation that involves actors
getting a location and relationship from the audience,
was on e of the last exercises. Hernan Hernandez
and Sheli Nathan-Miller, the two actors chosen to
perform, took the audience's ideas to create the scenes.
The
audience chose cross-dressing lovers on their honeymoon
in the jungle. The scenes turned out to be very
funny as the performers' range of emotions included
sleepy, frustrated, happy and moody.
Perhaps the most important concept of
improvisation learned from this workshop was the value
of agreement. Nothing exists until the actors
create it. The performers accepted each other's
ideas, and that was the key to the process of
improvisation.
Just The Funny performs four shows a week,
every Friday and Saturday at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. at the
Holiday Inn across from the University of Miami.
Admission is $10. The address is 1350 S. Dixie
Hwy., Grand Ballroom. For more information call
(305) 69-FUNNY.
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Just
the Funny: Miami's Funniest improv comedy theater
company
Community Newspapers
March 2, 2000
By: Robert Hamilton
Just the
Funny is a group of actors who perform buck-wild edgy
Improv Comedy Theater. What is Improv Comedy?
Basically it's funny scenes, gameshow parodies, musical
skits and audience interaction without using scripts,
while making it up on the spot, from the tops of their
heads! (i.e. Who's Line is it Anyway, The Groundlings)
They also perform some scripted sketches (i.e. Saturday
Night Live, Mad TV, Living Color) and musical numbers.
What makes
them so funny and popular is their zany humor and their
ability to include the audience, making it a truly
interactive show. If you go, you just might find
yourself onstage or asked to speak up and be a part of
the show! Before the show begins, Just the Funny
asks the audience to fill out little slips of paper with
Jeopardy answers, which are basically words, names,
places or phrases. The answers are then used later
in the show in a piece which mocks the popular gameshow
Jeopardy. They also have the audience supply,
during the show, suggestions and input such as
exotic locations, relationships, genres of film or
theater, fake movie titles and foreign countries, which
are then used in the outrageous scenes they create!
By taking all of this input from the audience it proves
to be an interactive and customized show every time they
perform, no two shows are alike!
With all
of this craziness Just the Funny ups the ante by getting
into the absurd and hysterical Luv Machine, which is a
take off of the gameshow the Dating Game, and is the
signature piece of the group. However in this
incarnation, the bachelorette is a female audience
member chosen by Just the Funny. She then gets to
come on stage and choose between three of the most
eligible bachelors in Miami for a dream date of a
lifetime. The bachelors she gets to choose from
are the totally ridiculous and outrageous characters
created by Just the Funny's talented troupe. For
example there is Borax the Conqueror (George Herring),
an intergalactic space alien who has come to the earth
looking for a mate and the rare and valuable element
known as retsin.
Another
crazy character in the Luv Machine is Les B. Anne (David
Christopher), a cross-dressing stalker of women at
Living Well Lady who is looking for the woman to bring
out the man in him ... or her? And rounding off
the Luv Machine is the one and only Carlos Valdez Jr.
(Alex Perdomo), a Cuban-American lover who sells
churro's on the side of the road in Hialeah, and loves
to drive around in his Mustang 5.0 looking for hevitas
(good
looking girls).
Just the
Funny is composed of twelve members whose ages range
from 18 to 32, and who come from different walks of
life. Within the group there are teachers,
students, a disc jockey, professional actors, and a
television producer, all with a passion for making
people laugh and having a good time, and they all come
from the area.
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