Improvamundo gets jiggy (photo by Ashley West)
Imagine that you are standing on a window ledge, about to leap 50 stories. Do you step inside to safety, or make the leap?
Improvisation is the leap.
A wise improviser once said: “90% of the public loves watching improv, 10% swear that they will try it someday and 1% actually follow through.” So, improvisers are the rare birds of the theater world.
Every Saturday night, at an obscure storefront on Broadway, Pan Theater (“where neurons fire faster”) is making improvisational magic. Their current lineup features an 8:00 show of junior level performers, and a 9:15 show by the performing troupe Awkward Faces.
Overall, they were a literate bunch, employing Austen, Aesop and Bridget Jones references. While there was a discernible difference in experience levels, the beginners demonstrated good teamwork, and a few of the scenes were fall-on-the-floor funny.
Some highlights of the evening:
- Two men engaged in a pampering contest: “I can out-relax you anytime!'
- In the Jane Austen parody, the heroine yipped like an annoying small dog, and the hero decked her.
- If you’re in outer space and there isn’t enough oxygen for two, what do you do? Why, strangle your fellow astronaut, of course.
- And, how often do you actually hear someone say: “I’m going to draw a line in the sand because I need some sandbox alone time.”
So, now you don’t have to cross the bay to get your improv fix. You’ll find Pan Theater one block north of 19th Street Oakland BART, at 2135 Broadway. Look for the blue awnings on the west side of the street. Pan is directly to the left of the psychic reader. Ticket hotline: 1-800-838-3006. For ages 18 and older.
Are you one of the intrepid 1%? Pan Theater also offers classes.
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