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<\/a>That\u2019s the best thing about improvisational comedy, quipped Kat Brown, America\u2019s Finest City Improv\u2019s publicist, when asked if doing comedy off-the-cuff is tough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we try to do is not be witty, but try and bring to light truth in everyday situations \u2014 put the light in that,\u201d agreed Amy Lisewski, head of the improv club, which debuted just a couple of months ago at North Park\u2019s Lafeyette Hotel at 2223 El Cajon Blvd.<\/p>\n
\u201cUsually, that resonates in people best,\u201d Lisewski added.<\/p>\n
Brown and Lisewski are two of a few dozen \u201cimprovisites\u201d for whom the hotel has become the new home for their free-form, often delirious style of humor.<\/p>\n
The first thing you need to know about improv is that it\u2019s not stand-up. Individuals don\u2019t parade up to the mic doing pre-written or rehearsed monologues.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all improvised theater,\u201d Lisewski noted. \u201cEvery show is the opening \u2014 and closing \u2014 night, both the premiere and the final curtain.\u201d<\/p>\n
In improvisational comedy, two or more comedians work together as a team, feeding off one another.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you step out on the stage, with no idea what is going to happen and just let it flow, and you succeed \u2014 you feel you could take on anything,\u201d Brown said.<\/p>\n
America\u2019s Finest City is also distinguished in that its practitioners teach as well as perform improvisational comedy.<\/p>\n
One of the troop\u2019s instructors, Jacob Bruce, an adjunct professor of acting at University of San Diego, said doing improv is \u201cthe same thing as music. You kind of either do it or you don\u2019t. We just make you better at it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Insisting \u201ceverybody is uniquely funny in their own way,\u201d Bruce said the trick for a lot of people is to \u201cfigure out what their thing is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Behind the scenes at a recent America\u2019s Finest City Improv Saturday night show at Lafeyette Hotel, improvisers are \u201cbouncing\u201d off the walls \u2014 and each other \u2014 getting warmed up for their performance. They\u2019re dancing. They\u2019re singing. They\u2019re rhyming. Above all, they\u2019re getting in tune with one another, ensuring their various styles mesh together so when it\u2019s time go on they can act \u2014 and react.<\/p>\n
On stage that night, Lisewski and colleague George Caleodis, down from L.A., do a skit about love, athletics, relationships and having children. Then improv crew \u201cMinor Suspension,\u201d do a comedic song number named \u201cThat\u2019s What We Do,\u201d poking fun at the male \u201cmystique.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the audience on this and every night at an America\u2019s Finest City Improv performance appreciates the effort, skill and teamwork of the professional comedy troop for whom \u201cplay\u201d is a serious business.<\/p>\n
Improv is also a great way to \u201cconnect,\u201d noted practitioners Jason Casey and Erica Clermont.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the best place to meet new friends,\u201d Casey said. \u201cTwo years ago when I moved here, I had one friend in San Diego. Now … I have 39. Improv is a great way to meet exciting and open-minded new people.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cImprov has enriched my life so much,\u201d Clermont said. \u201dWonderful people who accept me for who I am, and I get to play with them on a regular basis. Improv makes me happy and brings so much joy to my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
America\u2019s Finest City Improv is a tongue-in-cheek performance group whose mission it is to develop and showcase the best comedy improv in the region. The group offers classes in improv and team building workshops in the style of Second City. Internships are also available.<\/p>\n