Make it up as you go along.
That’s the theme tonight when some of Puget Sound’s top improv troupes gather for an improv-off of sorts at Tacoma’s Pythian Temple.
The intramural event is organized by the Tokens, a local improv group, and marks their first performance in a regular monthly series at the commercial space in the Temple.
Other troupes performing tonight include Seattle’s Jet City Improv, Olympia’s Fools Play, PLU’s Clay Crows and University Place’s Muhgrog Zoo.
Charles Ames founded the Tokens in 1998 with local spoken-word performer Lucas Smiraldo. (Smiraldo is now the associate director for education at the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts.)
Aside from appearances at First Night and teaching high school acting seminars, the group’s performances have been sporadic the past few years.
That’s all going to change. Ames has rented the space at street level through the end of the year. The Tokens will perform at the Pythian Temple the last Friday of every month.
Tonight’s show will consist of improv challenges between the various troupes. In coming months, Ames said the Tokens most likely will stick to their usual format: “short attention span theater” – comedic improv routines lasting about three minutes.
While the first part of the show is mostly exhibition, the second will involve more than just troupe members.
“The Tokens’ hallmark is that we are the most audience participation-oriented improv anywhere,” Ames said.
Ames said the group uses references to issues that are in the news. “We pride ourselves on being topical. These are not skits we’ve been doing for years.”
Short-form improv, as practiced by groups such as the Tokens, consist of scenarios that have a structured format.
But the action and dialogue that occur during those skits are spontaneous and unrehearsed.
Bringing in audience members further adds to the unpredictability.
Ames described just a few of the dozens of improv scenarios they use:
“Pillars of Intelligence”: As the troupe performs on stage, two audience members stand on opposite sides and, when prompted, blurt out a random word to change the direction of a story.
“Freeze Tag”: Troupe members act out a physical story, but every few seconds another actor yells “freeze” and inserts himself into the scene in the exact position of the actor he is replacing.
“Half Life”: Using word suggestions from the audience, troupe members act out a story in 30 seconds. Then they reduce it to 15 seconds, then seven and so on.
“Props”: Two teams are handed an object and have to come up with as many different interpretations of the item as they can – excluding the item’s real purpose.
The seven performing members of the Tokens range in age from 19 to mid-30s.
Ames, 50, said the typical improv performer is outgoing, generous, creative, “and let’s face it, a little uninhibited. They re-establish that sense of play that we strip out of people as they grow up.”
Craig Sailor: 253-597-8541, craig.sailor@thenewstribune.com
The Tokens
What: Improv groups from Olympia to Seattle gather at Tacoma’s Pythian Temple for friendly competition.
When: 9-10:30 tonight
Where: Pythian Temple, 924A Broadway, Tacoma
Admission: $5
Information: tokensimprov@ gmail.com; http:// tokensimprov.com/
Also: The Tokens will perform at Ethnic Fest on Saturday and Sunday. See Pages 8-9 for more on the Ethnic Fest.
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