Many a benediction has been written about the closing of HUGE improv theater at the end of this month - just two days away. It’s been both gratifying and overwhelming to read the many testimonials spread all over social media these past several weeks - audience members reliving happy memories as they say farewell to another theater company (a regular occurrence since the pandemic hit four years ago); artists testifying to the home they found at HUGE and all the growing they did there as performers; improv comedy amateurs just learning the craft finding it hard to say goodbye to the sense of purpose and community they discovered at HUGE. Like so many theaters, it was more than just a building, it was an ever-expanding network of artists and audiences that's going to keep spinning out through the Twin Cities for decades to come.
“She has a closet full of boyfriends.”
Around my two day jobs and work for Threshold Theater, I’ve grabbed as many different shows on the schedule as I could over the past two months. I was happy to see Star Trek: The Next Improvisation have a sold out final performance (even if that meant I didn’t get to see it), and I hung out to see the Twilight Zone improv and the Soap Prov (soap opera improv) after that on Saturday. I managed to see the Sword & Sorcery improvised fantasy campaign, an outing for random acts in Improv-A-Go-Go, and the superhero improv of Ka-Bam at different points on the calendar as well. And every time I set foot in the place I got some merch, to throw HUGE some extra money and help clear the shelves (I ended up with three different T-shirts, a scarf and a mug at last count). I also bought two tickets to each of the last two shows I saw, because there were two other shows I wasn’t going to get to see because of my schedule, but they had the seats, so buying an extra ticket wasn’t going to keep anyone else out. (They could still use donations to help them close the books so, if you can afford to throw them a bit of extra money, please do.)
“No one’s chasing us - except for time.”
It’s cold comfort, but a comfort nonetheless that the last show on the HUGE improv theater stage will be another edition of HUGE Wednesdays. I had the pleasure of seeing this line-up of improv groups for a HUGE Wednesday last month, and it was amazing. A great way to go out, if out you must go.
“Our bodies are prepared for the rigors of art. It may destroy you.”
HUGE Wednesdays offers a program of four different improv comedy acts - in this case all very different from one another. There’s “Party Slice,” which is probably the most straightforward of the quartet - a group of friends doing long-form improv comedy launched by a couple of simple audience suggestions, largely based in reality (not a concept show built around sci fi or fantasy or pirates or superheroes or soap operas, etc.). It’s intriguing to watch a group of people working together to create something that didn’t exist a minute ago, and flesh out a whole neighborhood of characters that keep looping back in on one another.
“I’ve been a ghost this whole time.”
There’s “Love’s Labors WON?” which is two guys in period garb pretending to be a pair of great actors with storied careers reminiscing about great stage, movie or TV work they did together or separately. It’s a great gimmick and the performers clearly have a good time riffing off of one another, creating fake additions to their resumes on the fly. The night I went they recalled scenes from a CB long-haul trucker movie they did together, which turned into a meditation on the meaning of existence and connection to other human beings in a solitary profession. There was also a biopic exploring the career of Vin Diesel which took a hard turn into psychological thriller territory. There was a gig doing motion capture for a Scooby Doo video game, as well as a fake commercial, and each of them got a closing monologue - again, all of this was conjured out of nothing. Just two people riffing.
“Call me when you’re ready to get mauled.”
There’s also “A Sketch Show,” which is three improvisers who are also artists, creating elaborate drawings based off audience suggestion, and at the same time they provide all interested audience members with clipboards, paper and markers so that they, too, can create sketch art on the fly based on the unfolding story that everyone is making up together in real time. The trio’s personas are all an exaggerated affectation of a self-important artist, clearly making fun of the stereotype and not the audience that these “artists” pretend to be looking down on. It’s quite amusing.
“I’ve developed an immunity to embalming fluid.”
Finally, the truly stunning comedy character work of Nels and Stacey, the duo behind “When Harold Met Sally” taking a chunk of the traditional three part “Harold” improv structure and using it as the foundation for the creation of a two-person relationship over time. Two characters meet on an awkward first date. Then those same two characters are out on a date later in their relationship (an ax-throwing venue). And the final part is the two of them, many years later, sharing a home together.
“You’re not being set up to take the fall for anything.”
Honestly, as a playwright, I should feel somewhat threatened by improv this good because they make a script seem entirely unnecessary. If two performers like these can create two fully formed human characters as they go, just exchanging lines of dialogue made up off the top of their head, and it’s actually very, very funny, and then it evolves, and then evolves again. And you get a complete experience to two people’s lives that didn’t exist half an hour ago. And it’s also genuinely sweet, and touching, even moving, without veering into melodrama or sentimentality? Just grounded, detailed character work - out of thin air? Hell, who needs playwrights?
“Don’t poke the bear unless you want to have sex with the bear.”
The final edition of HUGE Wednesdays is sure to be a great sampler of just some of the many things improv comedy can offer an audience. It’s a fitting farewell to a significant chapter of Twin Cities theater.
HUGE improv theater is, for the moment, still at 2728 Lyndale Avenue in Minneapolis, MN. (sigh)
(However, channel that sad feeling into something positive by seeing some of the other live performance that is very much continuing: the Minne-Melange variety show regularly hosts improv acts at venues around town like the Bryant Lake Bowl, the Queer and Funny Improv Festival is on this weekend (November 2nd and 3rd) at Red Eye Theater, Improv-A-Go-Go is transitioning over to its new venue at Strike Theater starting in 2025 (and hey, while you’re at it, just support Strike Theater in general). Also, support the Crane Theater, currently hosting the Twin Cities Horror Festival (running now, started last weekend and runs through November 3rd this weekend). Off the top of my head there’s also compelling shows currently running at Six Points Theater (Just For Us, through November 10th) and Mixed Blood Theater (The Ally, also running now through November 10th)
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