Black Dog
Easy Evenings @ The Lalit Ashok, Bengaluru on 29th March, 2016
“Just
sit back and enjoy while me and Brad improvise our way through the next hour
and a half trying to figure out what the crap is going on” was more or
less what Colin Mochrie said after the initial introduction, right before they
got on with the first game of the evening.
sit back and enjoy while me and Brad improvise our way through the next hour
and a half trying to figure out what the crap is going on” was more or
less what Colin Mochrie said after the initial introduction, right before they
got on with the first game of the evening.
It still
felt like some bizarre day dream, that I was sitting in the audience, with a
clear view of the stage on which some of my favorite improv comedy legends,
Colin Mochrie, and Brad Sherwood. As I hung onto my
seat, doubling up with laughter, with stitches in me sides, watching them be
hysterically funny with their quick wit and innuendos, just like all those
hundreds of hours I spent on YouTube watching and re-watching every video I
could find of Whose Line Is It Anyway AND Drew Carey’s Improvaganza.
felt like some bizarre day dream, that I was sitting in the audience, with a
clear view of the stage on which some of my favorite improv comedy legends,
Colin Mochrie, and Brad Sherwood. As I hung onto my
seat, doubling up with laughter, with stitches in me sides, watching them be
hysterically funny with their quick wit and innuendos, just like all those
hundreds of hours I spent on YouTube watching and re-watching every video I
could find of Whose Line Is It Anyway AND Drew Carey’s Improvaganza.
The tickets
were expensive(INR3750), but they included unlimited drinks and food by the
organizers, WHICH unfortunately I reached too late to make the most of, but
that is a rage blog for another time. I was still in the Category 2 section
which meant I won’t have even a chance of being called up as a volunteer for
the games, but I was okay with that.
were expensive(INR3750), but they included unlimited drinks and food by the
organizers, WHICH unfortunately I reached too late to make the most of, but
that is a rage blog for another time. I was still in the Category 2 section
which meant I won’t have even a chance of being called up as a volunteer for
the games, but I was okay with that.
The opening
act was Indian Comedian Anu Menon, who I’d heard off but didn’t remember where
from(Lola Kutty on Channel V). It was good to hear comedy from a female
outlook of life, even though most of her material was about making fun of Gujjus
as her husband is one, but hey, it made the audience laugh and that’s all that
counts.
act was Indian Comedian Anu Menon, who I’d heard off but didn’t remember where
from(Lola Kutty on Channel V). It was good to hear comedy from a female
outlook of life, even though most of her material was about making fun of Gujjus
as her husband is one, but hey, it made the audience laugh and that’s all that
counts.
After her
crisp 30 minute set, the duo everyone had come to see, Colin and Brad were introduced and being naturally
funny, jokes and wit came more easily to them than just saying a hello. They
mentioned their previous tour to India about 5 years ago and the name change
since to Bengaluru which Brad said sounded like a mix between a tiger and
kangaroo with a mime and now that’s what I always imagine when I hear or say
the city’s name.
crisp 30 minute set, the duo everyone had come to see, Colin and Brad were introduced and being naturally
funny, jokes and wit came more easily to them than just saying a hello. They
mentioned their previous tour to India about 5 years ago and the name change
since to Bengaluru which Brad said sounded like a mix between a tiger and
kangaroo with a mime and now that’s what I always imagine when I hear or say
the city’s name.
After the
introductions, we got right into it, starting off with Moving Bodies. As usual,
they picked the volunteers who wouldn’t be good at the game, but that’s why it
will be funnier and it was. Based on how Colin would start to introduce a game,
I could guess which one it was from Whose Line or Improvaganza, and the
volunteers and audience suggestions were at their best for out-of-the-world
comments that these two turned into comedy gold. Moving Bodies was followed by
Completing the Phrase where the story would turn and twist depending on how the
volunteers chose to end the sentence whenever prompted by Brad or Colin. This
was followed by a game I had not seen before, called Confession.
introductions, we got right into it, starting off with Moving Bodies. As usual,
they picked the volunteers who wouldn’t be good at the game, but that’s why it
will be funnier and it was. Based on how Colin would start to introduce a game,
I could guess which one it was from Whose Line or Improvaganza, and the
volunteers and audience suggestions were at their best for out-of-the-world
comments that these two turned into comedy gold. Moving Bodies was followed by
Completing the Phrase where the story would turn and twist depending on how the
volunteers chose to end the sentence whenever prompted by Brad or Colin. This
was followed by a game I had not seen before, called Confession.
In this
game, Brad wore noise cancelling headphones listening to loud tracks while
Colin interacted with the audience for suggestions to form an entire confession
statement, that Brad would then have to figure out and say word for word, as
per the hints and statements from Colin Mochrie playing the interrogator. The
final statement that Brad had to guess was “I was publicly indecent with a
peanut and I face painted a mushroom in Hastinapoor at the Dark Lord Planet
Sellers with MC Hammer“. It must have taken about half an hour, but Brad’s
guessing and Colin’s ingenius hints not only left us in tears and giggles but
also in awe of their comedic prowess.
game, Brad wore noise cancelling headphones listening to loud tracks while
Colin interacted with the audience for suggestions to form an entire confession
statement, that Brad would then have to figure out and say word for word, as
per the hints and statements from Colin Mochrie playing the interrogator. The
final statement that Brad had to guess was “I was publicly indecent with a
peanut and I face painted a mushroom in Hastinapoor at the Dark Lord Planet
Sellers with MC Hammer“. It must have taken about half an hour, but Brad’s
guessing and Colin’s ingenius hints not only left us in tears and giggles but
also in awe of their comedic prowess.
Next for
the night was Sound FX which was hilarious again thanks to how bad the volunteers
were at the game. The last game was something I had seen a version of on Whose
Line, but without Drew’s buzzer it was on the performers to cue the beginning
and the end of the singing. It was called What Do You Mean, and at whatever
point in the improv story, if one of the performers says “What do you mean
by that?” the other has to break into song based on the last phrase he or
she had said, with support of instrumental backing tracks from the sound guys
and has to keep singing till the other says “I get it”. Clearly Brad
was the better singer even if Colin was funnier, but the objective was simply
for them to screw each other over as much as they can and it was brilliant.
They were going at about 3 each, when Colin flipped it on Brad and the sound
guy played the backing track for I’m Not Afraid by Eminem, and that’s when Brad
was forced into an improv rap, never missing a beat, riffing about everything
from the night’s show among other things. But Colin just never said the cue to
end the song, torturing Brad, for our entertainment, and Brad kept it going for
over 3 minutes, earning him a standing ovation when Colin finally ended it.
the night was Sound FX which was hilarious again thanks to how bad the volunteers
were at the game. The last game was something I had seen a version of on Whose
Line, but without Drew’s buzzer it was on the performers to cue the beginning
and the end of the singing. It was called What Do You Mean, and at whatever
point in the improv story, if one of the performers says “What do you mean
by that?” the other has to break into song based on the last phrase he or
she had said, with support of instrumental backing tracks from the sound guys
and has to keep singing till the other says “I get it”. Clearly Brad
was the better singer even if Colin was funnier, but the objective was simply
for them to screw each other over as much as they can and it was brilliant.
They were going at about 3 each, when Colin flipped it on Brad and the sound
guy played the backing track for I’m Not Afraid by Eminem, and that’s when Brad
was forced into an improv rap, never missing a beat, riffing about everything
from the night’s show among other things. But Colin just never said the cue to
end the song, torturing Brad, for our entertainment, and Brad kept it going for
over 3 minutes, earning him a standing ovation when Colin finally ended it.
They closed
beautifully with a lil song, summing up the night’s jokes, and their time in
the city, witty as always. As they left the stage, I felt glad to be alive and
to have witnessed such legends of improv comedy perform live, and while they
took the performer’s bow, I bow in respect to their comedic prowess and the
laughs and happiness they brought me and everyone who laughed thanks to them.
beautifully with a lil song, summing up the night’s jokes, and their time in
the city, witty as always. As they left the stage, I felt glad to be alive and
to have witnessed such legends of improv comedy perform live, and while they
took the performer’s bow, I bow in respect to their comedic prowess and the
laughs and happiness they brought me and everyone who laughed thanks to them.
