Wednesday, August 07, 2024

Fringe 2024 - Review - Blackout Improv Does Something!!! - Great Comedy, Every Time - 5 Stars


Threads review, mnfringe show 20, Blackout Improv Does Something!!! OK, we’re back on track with my previously scheduled programming :) If you’ve seen Blackout Improv, I don’t need to convince you they’re great. If you haven’t seen Blackout Improv, then improve your life by starting now and seeing them throughout the rest of the year as well - 5 stars

Do you just need me to tell you to go see Blackout Improv?
OK.  Go see Blackout Improv! (my work here is done :)

Who needs convincing at this point? No matter which set of improvisors from their large and talented ensemble is participating in any given performance, you’re always going to get great comedy. There are all very smart, funny, quick and clever people, and they play well off one another in any combination. (The performers at the show I attended included Destiny Davison, Gregory Parks, Jada Pulley, Duck Washington and I believe also Alexis Camille and Vann Daley, along with musician Khary Jackson.) Their special guest for each show is always a good addition to the mix, and the guest’s introductory segment never fails to provide the crew with ample material to riff and improvise on - my performance’s special guest was Suzanne Victoria Cross, from Pangea World Theater.

“My mother is in every room I’m in.”

Blackout Improv mixes improv conventions with their own special subject randomizer the Swag Hat.  After the opening guest segment improvising run, this performance put four of the improvisors into Four Square position. Each side of the square was a pair of performers in a difference scenario - all four suggested at random by the audience, and the conductor would tell them all which way to rotate, putting a new pair in front, randomly needing to create and later pick up on the same scenario when they would return. In this case it was 1 - the location of Cheesecake Factory (with two co-workers, one struggling the learn the massive menu, the other of whom lives there and never leaves); 2 - the relationship of grandmother and grandson (who ended up skydiving together); 3 - the activity of paintball (in which one friend kept accidentally hitting the other with ricochets from their paint gun); and 4 - a Winnebago (with one friend imploring another to find a group of other random people so they can all go on a road trip, since the Winnie travels with 8).

“You are buying a lotto ticket RIGHT now!”

The Swag Hat takes suggestions for topics from the audience, written down while waiting for the house to open and then placed in the hat on the stage when the audience enters the theater.  The latter half of the show is spent having random audience members pick from the hat.  The group then sits and discusses the topic, or tangents related to it, and once they all feel they’ve got some material to work with, they rise from their chairs and start improvising more comedy.  They can get into some pretty serious topics: police killings of black people, the justice system, Confederate flags, racism in different areas of life - and in fact the Blackout folks prefer these. They ask the audience to please not hold back from giving them such subjects to talk about, not to go with a suggestion that’s "safe" because the audience member feels they shouldn’t bring up such a topic at a comedy show.

“I’m not familiar with that reference.”

But, it is all left to chance and what gets drawn from the hat so sometimes, they get a run of topics like they did at the show I attended. They were:
“biodegradable confetti” (one of the comedians busted out laughing at how random that was),
“corn” (which some interpreted as food, and some interpreted as maybe a code word for porn, because some folks use variations on the P word to avoid being flagged on the internet - but corn also led to stories involving birds pooping on people from above),

“Come, have more of my blessings!”

and finally “balloon animal artists dealing with condoms during foreplay” (which is… very specific and not really a topic for conversation first).
And yet, even with this paucity of material, the Blackout Improv folks got lively conversation going, and plenty of ideas firing in their heads to keep the comically ridiculous situations going until they ran out of time and the show had to end.

“You’ve always been my favorite.  Don’t bring shame upon me.”

If you haven’t been to a Blackout Improv set yet, then go.  Treat yourself.
If you have been to Blackout Improv before, go again.  It’s improv.  It’s a rotating cast of performers.  It’s always new.  Treat yourself.
It is such a gift to have such good comedy so easily available in the framework of the Fringe festival, don’t pass it by.  Go see Blackout Improv.

5 Stars - Very Highly Recommended
 

Here's some handy links to coverage of shows I've seen in the Fringe this year getting 5 and 4.5 Stars (Very Highly Recommended), 4 and 3.5 Stars (Highly Recommended) as well as the shows ranking 3 stars or less; also links to this year's Top 10 list and Top 11-20 list, also a full list of all returning favorites to this year's Fringe, plus a link to ALL the 2024 Minnesota Fringe Festival coverage.

While I have your attention, please VOTE :) 

Minnesota is currently in the early voting period for our Congressional and local primaries (I had the U.S. Senate, Congress, and the Minneapolis school board on my ballot) - final day to vote in the primary is Tuesday, August 13th, but you don't have to wait until Fringe is over, go vote right now :)

Early voting for the Presidential Election itself in Minnesota starts on Friday, September 20th. We're lucky to have a lot of time to get our voices heard, so cast your vote, and then make sure everyone you know and love is registered and gets to the polls to vote. Election Day, your final date to vote, is Tuesday, November 5th.

As a queer playwright and theater maker, I want a government that's compassionate and competent enough to keep us all safe and healthy, keep theaters open and running, and personally, I'd just like to be legal myself and keep the weirdos out of government and out of my personal business (and the things I post on this blog, for instance). We all have our reasons, so let's make sure we get the leaders we need and deserve, and get our friends, family and co-workers to raise their voices, too.

Find where to vote and what's on your ballot (with links to candidate websites) and other resources at the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.

For other resources on how to register, volunteer or donate, locally or nationally, check out Vote Save America.

Vote.  Raise your voice. We're not going back.

 

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