A Lethbridge improv group is nuts about improvisational comedy, so they set themselves a challenge— to improvise for 30 hours straight at the Loyal Order of the Moose Hall, Nov. 16-18 and donate the proceeds to a good cause — the Oldman Watershed Council.
“It seemed like a unique challenge,” said Drama Nutz manager/ producer David Gabert.
Gabert has been spending a lot of time scheduling actors and creating spreadsheets to make sure the event is a success. There will be 12 actors rotating through a cornucopia of improv games including well known games the ever popular Who’s Line Is It Anyway TV show (like Irish Drinking Song, Album Review and others) as well as long form games, plus some they created themselves.
All of the games are family friendly, except for the Uncensored Laughter segment of the show running from 10 p.m. Friday, Nov. 16 until 3 a.m.
“So people will see not only different games, but performers as well. They are all people we’ve worked with before,” he continued.
In addition to current performers, they also have Drama Nutz alumni coming in from out of town to perform at the event.
Tickets cost $10 per person or $30 for a family of two plus two kids, they include a stamp so you can come and go throughout the event.
There are several other innovative ways for the audience to get involved with the show and help the Oldman Watershed Council.
“There will be prizes for the audience member who can stay awake the longest and we have a Table of Contents,” Gabert said.
The Table of Contents allows the audience to bring their own props for the actors to use, or pay extra for VIP suggestions.
“We had a business donate Halloween costumes, so you could pay to see Johnny “K” Kirsch or Mark (Ogle) dress up in a sexy cheetah costume,” Gabert laughed.
While they will be performing throughput the 30 hours, they have earmarked several special events.
It begins at 7 .m., with a kick-off event, where all of the performers will be performing games to warm themselves up as well as the audience. It will be bare stage with no props or costumes until the audience purchases props, costumes and musical accompaniment for the performers to use.
The Uncensored Laughter shows begins at 10 p.m. when the bar opens and ends when the bar closes around 3 p.m. which will give the audience the chance to see scenes you would have to send the kids out of the room for.
The next big event is at 10 a.m. with News Hour which will feature improv ripped from the day's headlines. There will be a newspapers on hand as the actors riff on everything from the American election to Hurricane Sandy— whatever happens to be the news of the day.
Kids come to the fore at 2 p.m., Saturday featuring “Better than Cartoons.” The cast will be making up children’s movies on the spot featuring characters the audience supplies as well as acting scenes from popular movies.
The musical portion of the show begins at 7 p.m. with Music Mania. Lethbridge band the Left Behinds including Greg Wilson, Ryan Reese and Kathryn Smith will provide the musical accompaniment for a variety of music themed games including the cast creating their own musical on the spot complete with genre, characters and problems created by the audience.
The final countdown begins at midnight as the exhausted cast and long suffering audience play their favourite games for the last time for whoever is in the building.
The Drama Nutz have been around since 2007, though have been focussing on improv since 2010. Their roots lie in the University of Lethbridge Improv Club. The show will feature some of the performers from their ranks as well.
Gabert hopes the event will raise $2,000 for the Oldman Watershed Council.
“ We wanted to do a fundraiser and the Oldman Watershed Council are a local charity that exists to provide healthy and vibrant watersheds,” he said adding they had looked at several other charities before deciding on Oldman Watershed Council.
“And, like us, they are also a relatively unknown local group,” he continued.
“ the biggest challenge will be not being able to go to the bathroom after drinking a lot of coffee. I don’t think I’ll be the only one,” Gabert laughed adding there will be breaks in between games.
You can get a taste of what will happen by going to the group’s weekly drop in improv at the Bowman arts Centre. They meet on the second and fourth Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m. to rehearse games. The public is welcome to attend for a twonnie. There is one more on Nov. 14, before the big show.
