Jam
on It
Six improv comedy troupes get
together and Jam
New Times - Broward/Palm Beach
August 11, 2005
By Deirdra
Funcheon"Our
philosophy is, never try to be funny," Dave Hyland says.
Surprising words from a member of an improv comedy
troupe. But Hyland, who at age 34 considers himself one
of the genre's "elder statesmen," explains the thought
process used by his group, Mod 27: "If you force the
issue, it ends up being significantly less funny. Being
funny is a byproduct of what we do, which is creating
quality characters. We focus on letting them live and
exist in the moment. That ends up being funny."
This weekend, Mod 27
hosts the Fourth Annual Improv Jam, which
provides a rare opportunity for six of South Florida's
improv groups to get together. The show is a benefit for
Gilda's Club, a support group for people living with
cancer. Hyland expects the format to be the same as last
year, when the troupes mixed together and split into
four entirely new groups. That makes performances more
challenging and exciting, Hyland says, because "people
get to work with people they don't normally work with.
At the end, there'll be a jam in which all [25 or so]
performing members do something together."
In addition to Mod 27,
the troupes Impromedy, Just the Funny, THEY, Laughing
Gas, and Name Change Pending will perform. "Every
group," Mod 27 member Kat Kiernan says, "does their own
take on improv." Whereas Impromedy focuses on sketch
comedy à la Saturday Night Live, Just the Funny
and Laughing Gas often try long-form improv, in which
they start with a single audience suggestion and develop
it into a full-on play.
Kiernan, who is 22 and
one of just a few women performing, says that she's
trying to stretch the audience's expectations. When she
walks on stage, "I don't want people to assume I'm going
to be the wife or the daughter. My favorite type is a
physical, oddball type -- something you wouldn't
normally see a girl doing. We've been working on
abstract stuff lately. For example, if we're doing an
Alice in Wonderland-type skit, I'd want to be the
clock instead of the main character." What would a clock
say? "When you're up there, it's so organic. It kind of
just happens. You're not really thinking. You are who
you're portraying, and stuff's just going to come out of
your mouth naturally."
Improv shows have yielded some of the
most hilarious characters in recent history. Members of
Impromedy have given birth to such gems as Wang & Chung,
the Ping-Pong Guys; the Incredibly Gay Hulk; and Drunken
Bald Man in a Kimono. Just the Funny has hatched Les B.
Anne and Mariachi con Cojones. Although Kiernan says
that she never wants a "staple" character lest she start
to lean on it, her day job can always provide
inspiration: She's a Hooters girl. "I get some stuff
from there," she says. Improv players are "always
people-watching. There's always characters around." And,
she adds, "Real life is funny enough."
