Impro Theatre

Ever since high school, I have been a fan of improvisational comedy. Back then, I would watch "Whose Line is it Anyway?" and think it was the funniest thing I had ever seen. Well, this entry is not for "Whose Line" (though a future one might be!) With this entry, I would like to write about one of my favorite improv troupes: Impro Theatre.

Impro Theatre is based in Los Angeles. Their home-base is a small theater space in Los Feliz, but many of their shows are performed all over the area. I have seen them perform at the Acme Theater in Hollywood, the Falcon Theater in Burbank, at UC Irvine, and various other places.

Unlike "Whose Line," which focuses on short form (games and scenes that last about 5 minutes or so), Impro specializes in long form improv. In long form, games are usually not utilized and scenes can go on for an extended period of time. In particular, Impro specializes in narrative long form. Basically, they improvise plays. Not only that, but they do it in the style of various famous genres, authors, or playwrights. Some of their shows include Western Unscripted, Jane Austin Unscripted, Chekov Unscripted, and Fairy Tale Unscripted. Personally my two favorite things that they do are Twilight Zone Unscripted and Sondheim Unscripted.

For their Twilight Zone show, Impro gets a simple suggestion and then creates an original "episode" of the Twilight Zone, complete with the theme song, a cold open scene, and an introductory monologue. It is amazing the things that they come up with. I have seen them do that show at least five times now, and it never gets old. A typical performance has them creating three to four individual episodes.

Sondheim Unscripted, on the other hand, takes one suggestion and turns it into a two hour performance, with an intermission in the middle. For this show, a live pianist improvises along with the performers. When he starts playing, the actors bust out into song. The show is absolutely incredible. I do improv myself, and having taken a class in musical improv I can tell you, it's not easy. Not only does Impro pull it off, they pull it off WELL. AND attempt to sing in the style of a Sondheim musical at the same time, complete with complex melodies and harmonies.

Basically, whether you are an improviser or not, if you appreciate creativity and live performance you owe it to yourself to check out Impro Theatre. I was so inspired by them that I signed up to take several classes with them. Through the classes and the number of shows I have attended, I've gotten to know several of the troupe members including the artistic director Dan O'Conner, Lisa Frederickson, Brian Jones, Ryan Smith and Nick Massouh. They are all wonderful, nice people. If you live in the LA area their show is a must see, and if you've been thinking of taking improv classes I'd highly recommend them.

Homestar Runner

I'm back after a lengthy hiatus. That's what moving into a new apartment and a little bit of international travel will do!

Recently I was reminded by one of my favorite websites to visit during my college years: Homestar Runner.

The creation of brothers Mike and Matt Chapman, aka "The Brothers Chaps," Homestar Runner began as a side project while Mike was in college. The character of Homestar Runner debuted in a picture book that Mike made with a friend and was later brought to life by the brothers in an animated short they created using, of all things, the Super Nintendo game Mario Paint. Eventually the brothers learned how to use Flash and brought Homestar Runner and a colorful cast of supporting characters to the internet. Mike did the animation, and Matt did the voices (with his girlfriend providing the voice of the sole female, Marzipan).


The colorful cast of Homestar Runner.

Though Homestar Runner himself is a funny, memorable character, the most popular character of the site is arguably his nemesis, Strong Bad. Looking a bit like lucha libre wrestler, Strong Bad's snarky, mischievous nature contrasts with Homestar's naive good-naturedness. The site's tent pole feature was Strong Bad Email, a collection of shorts revolving around Strong Bad answering questions from fans. Full of (sometimes obscure) pop culture references and riddled with hidden Easter eggs, the Strong Bad emails were the source of many an inside joke between me and my college buddies.

One of the greatest parts of the email shorts is that often one-off, seemingly throw-away gags would evolve into recurring sketches of their own. From the GI Joe parody "Cheat Commandos" to the faux-comic "Teen Girl Squad," a visit to Homestarrunner.com would always surprise and delight.



In recent years updates to the site had slowed to a crawl. Finally over the last couple of years updates have begun again. From what I have read on handy dandy Wikipedia, both Chaps have largely moved on to other projects.  Matt is a writer and director for the TV show "Yo Gabba Gabba," and Mike has also written for the show.

While the days of Homestar Runner being a normal part of my routine are over, I still have a fondness in my heart for the website. It is great example of two guys expressing their creativity and becoming successful because of it. From the modest beginnings of animating using Mario Paint to having one of the most successful Flash cartoon websites ever, their story is an inspiration and a great example of how the internet has created opportunities for creativity that did not exist before.

Freakazoid!

Carrying on the topic of comedy from the previous entry, I thought I would look at the cartoon from my childhood that I thought was most hilarioius: Freakazoid.



Freakazoid was part of the Kids WB block and aired from 1995-1997. It was from Steven Spielberg's production company, much like other classics such as Tiny Toon Adventures, Animaniacs, and Pinky and the Brain. Freakazoid isn't as widely known as those other shows; perhaps it's this underdog status that makes it one of my favorites. The other reason is its subject matter: it's a parody of superhero cartoons. In fact, since we are the midst of a superhero craze in pop culture, I'd say it's prime time that Freakazoid's cult classic status was given a boost!

The show focuses on an unlikely protagonist: Dexter Douglas, an ultra-geeky computer nerd whose extreme wimpiness is often played for laughs. Due to a random accident involving a cat and a computer chip, he is given a superpowered alter ego by the name of Freakazoid: a blue skinned, pop culture-referencing, pun-loving nutcase that is basically Dexter's id come to life. The theme song says it all: "He turned into the Freakazoid, whose strong and super quick. He drives the villains crazy, 'cuz he's a lunatic!"

Speaking of villains, the show has them in spades, and they are quite memorable. Much of the humor in the characters comes from skewing the audience's expectations. For instance, there's a muscle bound ruffian named Cave Guy. However, he's very articulate and speaks like a snooty British intellectual. Or Freakazoid's arch nemesis, The Lobe. On the one hand he's an evil super-genius. On the other he is deeply insecure and in one episode stars in his own parody of "Hello, Dolly!" Then there's Candle Jack, a villain that has transcended his limited appearance on the show to become a bonafide internet meme. The joke goes, say his name and at some point he'll come and abduct you, leaving your sentence incom



Freakazoid's allies are memorable too. Whether it's his girlfriend Steph, who manages to make a catchphrase out of "That was quite a jolt, Freak!," Cosgrove, the easily distracted police officer, or the always put-upon Professor Jones, who very well may be Dr. Smith from Lost in Space.

The show's humor is very zany and wacky, with countless pop culture references that probably went over 90% of the target audience's heads. Heck, I only caught the "Hello, Dolly!" reference fairly recently, when I finally heard the actual song. It isn't all about Freakazoid either. The creators throw in other recurring shorts as well, such as a parody of Johnny Quest and a very Monty Pythonesque hero named Lord Bravery.

The show is one of my all-time favorites. Yes, at times it could be a little too silly or weird. But that was part of its charm. You could feel the creativity of the writers at work. And on what other 90's cartoon could you get a great villainous performance from Tim Curry? Uhh . . . okay pretty much all of them. But what about the great Ricardo Montalban? I will always remember him shouting maniacally, "Laugh with me!!"

Yes, Ricardo, I will.

Top Secret!

I've been wanting to create a blog where I pay tribute to creativity in all its forms: movies, TV shows, music, art, video games, websites, performance, etc. The focus for now will be on those things that I hold particularly near and dear to my heart, especially (but not exclusively) if they are not widely known.

For this inaugural entry, I will discuss one of the movies that helped me develop my comic sensibilities.

Many people are familiar with the movie, "Airplane!" Directed by the comedy team of Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker and released in 1980, it is largely regarded as one of the best comedies ever.

Fewer people have heard of the ZAZ team's follow-up: "Top Secret!"


This poster is slightly misleading. I do not recall a scene with cows falling from the sky. The cow did wear boots, though. And Val Kilmer did shake it.

It amazes me that "Top Secret!" is not more well known. In my opinion, it is just as funny as "Airplane!" and even more original. I was surprised to find out recently that "Airplane!" is basically a comedic remake of a prior film, "Zero Hour!" "Top Secret!" on the other hand, is an unlikely combination of an Elvis-style musical and a Cold War spy film.

It is actually Val Kilmer's very first role. Kilmer plays Nick Rivers, an Elvis-like rock musician who is invited to East Germany to perform in an arts festival. Little does he know that the festival is really a front for a nefarious conspiracy, which he soon gets entangled in. But really, the plot is just a vehicle for the gags, and boy are there a lot of them. "Top Secret!" is the kind of comedy that reveals more and more upon repeat viewings. The movie has it all: cheesy puns, sight gags, parody, satire, and also some very inventive scenes.

Two scenes stand out. In the first, Nick and his love interest, Hillary, visit a Swedish book shop. The shop owner, played by Peter Cushing, speaks in Swedish, which sounds peculiarly like backwards English. The "backwards" theme continues through the scene, until it becomes apparent to the audience that the scene is actually being played backwards. This allows for some very clever sight gags as Nick and the shop owner put books away. At first it may seem that the decision to shoot the scene and play it in reverse is a very random choice. As it turns out, however, it was deliberately done to reference the fact that some English speakers think Swedish sounds like backwards English. In this way, the scene becomes even funnier when you learn the back story. I can't think of very many movie scenes that I can say that about!


Peter Cushing as the Swedish shop keeper

Another memorable scene in the movie parodies Western movies and the classic scenario of a brawl in a tavern. The "Top Secret!" twist? The tavern is at the bottom of a lake and the entire fight scene is filmed underwater.

There's something special about "Top Secret!" and other classic spoof movies that many recent entries in the genre fail to capture. The spoof has lost its luster with the glut of "Blank" Movies: "Date Movie", "Epic Movie", and the rest of their ilk. It seems the writers of modern day spoofs think that referencing pop culture and celebrities is what constitutes parody.

Anyone who is a fan of ZAZ's other work such as "Airplane!" and "The Naked Gun!", as well as the movies of Mel Brooks, owes it to themselves to check out "Top Secret!"