Washington Improv Theater: New Show Every NightCristina Flagg, DC Scene ContributorWashington Improv Theater’s summer run ends July 14th, so move quickly to catch the hilarity on G St. before it’s too late. WIT is an easy choice when looking for fun, reasonably priced entertainment. For $10-$15 a ticket, you can catch a show at either 8pm on Thursdays or 8 p.m. or 9:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. WIT has many different shows and troupes to entertain you, but I was lucky enough to catch the talents of “JINX” and “Jackie”, the pair of troupes performing Fridays at 9:30pm. |  |
 The art of improvisation became more mainstream with the introduction of “Who’s Line Is It Anyway” on Primetime TV. “Whose Line” utilizes a type of improv called shortform, also known as “improv games”. Zack Phillips, one of “Jackie’s” founding members, explained to me the difference between the improv you see on TV and the improv you see his troupe perform at WIT.In shortform, Zack explains, “you explain the rules of a specific game to the audience, get a suggestion, play the game for a few minutes, stop, introduce a new game, get a suggestion, play that game, etc. We don't do that kind of improv. We do longform improv, in which you get a suggestion from the audience at the top and then just improvise scenes for 30 minutes using the audience suggestion as inspiration. These scenes don't have any preset rules or games -- they are just comedic theatrical scenes (just like you'd see on Saturday Night Live or Monty Python, except that they happen to be made up spontaneously).”This summer, Jackie is presenting the show “Now Boarding” where the ensemble asks the audience to suggest a possible vacation spot as their inspiration for the evening. The night I saw “Jackie”, an audience member eagerly shouted, “Canada!” and cast members didn’t skip a beat. “Canada! Great! Thank you!” The lights went down and the cast began to improvise scenes based on that simple suggestion.Many of the characters spontaneously created in the first few scenes were revisited throughout the evening. The night that I saw “Jackie” their one female cast member was absent, making it an all male ensemble for the evening. This didn’t hinder the comedy, or the range of characters, in any way. Flashpoint, the location of WIT performances, provides a small black-box space for the improvisers with a capacity of around 90. It’s a good size for an intimate show, and the evening I was there was nearly sold out.“We usually have crowds as big as the one you saw or bigger,” said Phillips. “Although sometimes we have played for very small houses. One “Jackie” show way back in the day had a single audience member. It's hard to play to a smaller crowd but I think we've gotten pretty good about not letting that bother us. The show with one audience member several years ago actually ended up being really fun.”WIT has two full-time employees but the rest of the players and tech have day jobs. “In New York and Chicago, a lot of improvisers are actors by day, but WIT has a lot of professionals: a lobbyist, engineer, copy writer, consultant, video producer, etc.”The ticket prices are so low because the WIT members don’t get paid for their time on stage. Phillips explains, “I do improv because I love doing it, not for the money. My favorite part is just how fun it is -- going out on stage with your friends in front of a bunch of people who paid to watch you, taking the big risk of surrendering yourself completely to the moment (when you really have no idea what's going to happen next) and creating something funny and hopefully compelling for the audience.”The fun happening on stage is contagious, and if you witness a WIT show this summer you are inevitably going to walk out onto G Street after the show quoting one of the outrageous characters from the evening’s performance. The brief nature of the show, and WITS convenient location in Chinatown, make it a great starting point to an evening on the town. For a full schedule of shows, as well as their class schedule, check out WIT’s website at www.washingtonimprovtheater.com.Washington Improv Theater Flashpoint 916 G St. NW Washington, DC 20001 202-315-1318 |
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