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KA-BAAM!! A superhero fantasy camp comes to the Bryant Lake Bowl
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One of the critical questions of my youth, an issue of much heated playground debate, revolved around which superhero one most closely identified. Even at that age the optimists gravitated toward Superman while the more sullen went with Batman, representing both sides of the epic duality of the comic world. A friend with a high science aptitude never tired of extolling the virtues of Iron Man while still another friend, suffering from a seemingly pathological need to destroy random objects, championed the Hulk. Being of a self-deprecating nature, even at that early age, made me a natural fit for Spider-Man.
Yet as much as I thrilled to daydreams of swinging between skyscrapers, I couldn’t dismiss the appeal of the other heroes. Who wouldn’t want to run with the speed of Flash? Or patrol the universe like the Green Lantern? And although I could never admit it to my friends, there were even moments when commanding marine life, like Aquaman, seemed fairly awesome.
The point is, as much as a kid indentified with a single favorite, selecting only one hero was all too limiting. The ideal solution seemed to be selecting the best powers from each superhero to form an unstoppable ultra-superhero. Why chose only one member from the Avengers when you could have the combined powers of them all?* Alas, as maturity beckoned, such dreams were forgotten – until now.
Beginning 01/08 and continuing every Thursday through 02/05, long dormant superhero fantasies will be awakened as the Bryant Lake Bowl hosts Huge Theater’s improve productions of KA-BAAM!!, a highly interactive event where audience members provide suggestions for heroes and villains, storylines and battles. The improv artists from Huge Theater will enact the suggestions – the more outlandish the better – while celebrated comic illustrator Christopher Jones (best known for his work on DC’s The Batman Strikes and Justice League Adventures) will vividly record the action.
From Huge Theater’s website: KA-BAAM!! is every four-color fantasy writ large and on-the-spot by a cast of Minneapolis' most heroic improv comedians! Every week, audience suggestions will inspire the origins and adventures of three never-before-seen heroes in a comic book story that will never be seen again! The Golden Age will be reborn with the deadliest of villains, most ridiculous of brawls, and special comic book artist Christopher Jones to capture the action in pencil and ink!
How often do you get the chance to satisfy those unfulfilled superhero aspirations of youth? Granted, you could don a cape and some tights to fight crime on the mean streets of Edina. Both options are filled with laughs, but attending KA-BAAM!! promises less danger of social stigmatism, physical violence and/or state-mandated mental evaluations.
*Excepting Ant-Man because, really, who wanted to be Ant-Man? On the childhood view of superhero hierarchy, Ant-Man was ranked even lower than Aquaman.
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