Battle Improv @ DC Improv: February Edition

First, as this is my blog, let me take a moment to air out a gripe: Really, staff? If your place isn’t ready for people to enter, don’t open the fucking doors. That’ll save you the trouble of going out of your way to tell a paying customer (or, I would have been) to leave while you adjust the chairs or light the candles or something.

All of that said, this is my sixth time back at the DC Improv and the place is as classy as ever. Or, really, as classy as it is won’t to be, staff not considered. Good rock music over the PA system almost soothes my irritation. Almost, until I remember that I don’t particularly care for rock. That said, I am mega excited to see tonight’s show.

Two troupes enter, one troupe leaves. Well, er, more like four in two rounds of competition. Here is the lineup:

Round One
Charles and Joe vs The Neighbors

Round Two
Dirty Laundry vs The Punctual Drunks

For those of you not familiar with the concept of battle improv or, really, a competitive talent show, what happens is that each troupe goes up for ten minutes, commands its laughs and the applause of the two troupes are compared for the purpose of determining the winner.

The first round began with Chris and Joe, the stunning two-man troupe, coming out to a cold, but liquored audience. (Side note here: really, folks? It’s Wednesday, take a quick break and order a glass of water. Lushes…). With the prompt of “Vulnerable” they launched into a hit-or-miss story about a young man applying to Northern Virginia Community College because he wanted to be with the “salt of the earth” people. Charles managed to simultaneously play a Shakespearean Professor previously kicked out of Harvard while simultaneously playing a true “salt of the earth” professor. Joe’s hand at a teaching character had him contend with a fire which resulted in some furniture throwing and an ill-fated idea to “blow the fire out.” A strong showing.

The Neighbors, tasked with “Taco,” brought a strong game. (Side note #2: Taco? Wth, Zeitgiest, just go get a fucking taco already.) After a quick ‘reminds me of’ sequence, they moved into a couple loosely related skits, most noteably a simple but chucklingly effective attraction

The applause at the end was far too close to call by the anonymous celebrity judge so, then, there was a dance-off. Still, with the phenomenal skill if the two troupe representatives, a winner could not be determined. So, the dreaded alphabet game was introduced. Each contestant rep had to have a conversation with dialogue beginning with the next letter of the alphabet. So, for example: joe: Hey, can you clear out so I can clean these spotless tables? Me: I don’t understand. Joe: just that we aren’t open yet. Me: fuck you! My feet hurt. I obviously would have lost, my word not beginning with the letter k.

And that just what happened out there on the great stage. Charles and Joe came out with a fast J and The Neighbors’ rep wasnt able to get out a K in time. (Ok, here’s the thing, and I want to point this out for the sake of fair and balanced reporting, the rep for The Neighbors had a stutter and I could see that he was tripped up by a sudden stutter and that led to their loss. I feel as though they were robbed.)

So Charles and Joe went on to the third round.

Round Two
Dirty Laundry v (Champs) The Punctual Drunks

Dirty Laundry came on stage all bright eyed and bushy tailed, completely prepared for the dark and gruesome melee of battle improv. With the prompt of “Running Cactus” their troupe quickly attached themselves onto a highschool theme, complete with love triangles, a nerdy girl, known to sell test answers, the school hot guy, wanting the scores, his dumb friend who cheats off of another person cheating off him (circular, yes, but hilarious), and the erstwhile friend of the nerd, encouraging her to stand up for herself. The tale they wove had me in stitches (see what I did there?) and honestly spoke to me. I could identify with all of the characters and I attribute that to not only portraying them with skill, but choosing aspects of them to focus on that I imagine spoke to a lot of high schoolers in the audience.

Champions two times running, The Punctual Drunks came on stage to expertly execute a tale of a family torn apart by the revelation that Henry Rollins (who, hilariously, none of the troupe could identify) was the daughter’s father at their mother’s funeral. Let me just say something here: The Drunks seem to have mastered the “framing device” or, the method by which a story is told. While I have seen other troupes tell a set of cohesive stories, none have done as well as The Drunks have as it pertains to keeping it relating to the central story. This skill, coupled with fantastic performances, led to The Drunks’ victory.

Final Round
Charles and Joe vs (Champs) The Punctual Drunks

Unfortunately, after a stellar first round, Charles and Joe came out only half-swinging with a Jersey Shore set of vignettes that was mostly miss than hit. Damn you “Snookie!” While I will not criticize their performances (they have a very unique stage presence) I think that if they intend to remain a two-man troupe, they should tighten up the lulls in their scenes. It is this that led to the fall of the Snookie prompt and their ultimate defeat.

The reigning champions, The Punctual Drunks, came on stage right after, pumped up and reari g to go. They called up an audience member, asked her about her favorite fairy tale, got in a few questions and digs (she couldn’t remember how it ended, and mixed the Disney classic with the Hook movie) and the. They were off.

Okay, let me just say something here, because 1 it needs saying and 2 all that fair and balanced reporting stuff (Pfft, ethics, who needs them?): I’ve been following The Punctual Drunks since their inception and I must say that each time I see them, they have gotten that much better. From being comfortable with each other and themselves on stage, to taking chances and toeing the line, to developing resonant characters with believable and relatable motivations, the Drunks are rapidly forming into the kind of troupe that reliably delivers hilariosity.

That said, the Drunks Won, holding the title for 3 consecutive competitions.

Whew, did I ramble on long enough?

DC Improv rawks.

IC