Friday, May 20, 2005

Vas nu with you?

I am still recovering from my trip to a galaxy far, far away.

Improv is taking over Utah by storm.
Such is the allure of improv comedy, which has taken Utah by storm since Quick Wits debuted in Salt Lake City 11 years ago. As recently as the late 1990s, there was one established improv troupe in the Salt Lake Valley. Today, there are half a dozen, plus entrenched groups in Provo, Park City and Ogden.

"It seems like every other month there's a new improv troupe," says Tonia Freeman, owner of two ComedySportz franchises in Salt Lake City and Provo. "They're popping up everywhere."[...]

Improv, Utah style: American improv comedy traces its roots to the 1920s, when a camp director named Viola Spolin invented unscripted acting games to introduce theater to children in inner-city Chicago. Spolin's sons later brought their mother's improvisational methods to a Chicago theater company that became the fabled Second City troupe - launching pad for the careers of such comics as Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray and Mike Myers.
Improv arrived in Utah in 1994, when Quick Wits began staging comedy shows at the 250-seat Off-Broadway Theatre on Salt Lake City's Main Street. The troupe originally mounted theatrical spoofs, then added late-night improv shows almost as an afterthought. Before long, the improv became more popular than the scripted shows. The genre was a novelty in Utah, and Quick Wits was the only game in town.
Improv is so fun and I just might be moving to Chicago.

Speaking of improv, it appears that Second City Toronto's touring company was in London recently.
For their part, Second City's national touring lineup of Jim Annan, Lauren Ash, Julie Dumais, David Milchard, Jason Reilly and Julie Dumais finished with a loving tribute to the Winnipeg Jets set to the disco classic "I Will Survive."
Did FOX find their missing funny bone? I hope. Crap, they moved Arrested Devlopment to Mondays at 8 eastern. So much for watching that show anymore.

Montclair celebrates Booker T.
On a more dubious note, Cropper and Dunn were part of the Blues Brothers band in the'70s. Cropper continues to tour with the current Blues Brothers duo, Dan Aykroyd and James Belushi.
I listen to that stuff too. Great music.

Enjoy your weekend.

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