Improving My Weekend

All this month the Cellar Dwellers (you know, that comedy troupe I'm in) have been performing improv shows all over Western PA to raise awareness for our OnDemand TV show. Although the month is far from over (and we still have one more big improv show on the 31st at ModernFormations in Pittsburgh), this weekend was a killer.

Friday: Our normal FN'Improv workshop at the Beaver Valley Bowl. I wasn't in last week's show because I had to go make sure the Penguins beat the Flyers; this of course meant that the Dwellers would make an effigy of me and proceed to torture it the entire night. But this week I was back, and the show was a lot of fun. Highlight: playing a drug addicted teen and a lumberjack neighbor in the improv game "Four Hats."

Saturday: We performed at the Sheffield Lanes Fallout Shelter, which is a real fallout shelter converted into an intimate and awesome performance space. The walls were made to look like stacked crates, a la that warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Arc. The Dwellers performed two back-to-back shows, one at 8 and one at 10. We were also joined by the hysterical musical duo Bait & Switch. These two, Sean and Addi, are part of the elite group of musicians that the Dwellers have invited to the Beaver Valley Bowl, and this was their first time coming with us on the road. They were amazing as usual, performing twisted covers like "Stayin' Alive" as a Mexican mariachi tune and the theme song to "Jem" as an epic opera. Highlight: James suggesting that his loins become the lead singer for Queensryche.

Sunday: Capping off the weekend was something new for us: a wedding show! A long-time fan of the Dwellers hired us to do an improv set at her wedding, and of course we were honored to oblige. It was a small reception, which lent itself to improv (because no one wants to try and compete with a DJ or a hyperactive ring bearer). Oh yeah, and the reception was held in a castle (see photo). Highlight: getting to re-enact the bride and groom's first date, which included hanging out on a boat dock!

It was a great weekend for improv.