Simply Improv

It all started with a car ride back from an improv mixer in Miami.  Brad Barfield and I started talking about a show created entirely on the spot, with music, dancers, and comedians.  It was late at night, and the ideas were flowing with the assistance of exhaustion.  As he dropped me at my car, he asked, "What should we name our new troupe?"  It took me a second, but the name The Rejects popped into my mind.  We had both been involved in various improv troupes in the area, and it just seemed fitting.  A lot of people told me that the negative connotation would turn people off to our shows, but I thought it was the perfect name for such a ragtag group of performers.  We brought together a group of people who were passionate about the art form, but who had various levels of experience on stage and in the spotlight.

Awesome logo by Amanda Marie Fuentes

We scheduled our first show for October. It was cancelled due to Hurricane Sandy.  We were pretty upset, but it was for the best as the weather was unpredictable and the safety of our audience was more important than our desire to put on a show.

Things continued to line up.  We settled on our 5 person troupe as the holidays were nearing, and conflicts with other performers schedules trimmed down our numbers.  Brad had brought in his friend from high school, Harry Bayron, who brought two other professional musicians into the fold to create the improvised music for our shows.  

Last night was the culmination of hours and hours of rehearsals, creation of new formats, and a lot of sweat and tears (and blood as Brad sliced himself on his sound equipment, and I paper cut myself on our raffle money envelope.)  Having a show on a Friday is stressful when you have day jobs, school, and a drive from Ft. Lauderdale.  We were setting up right until the house was supposed to open at 6:30pm, and finally brought the audience in at 6:45.

The shows were not without their flaws. But the band played some awesome, catchy tunes. The audience laughed. We laughed.  And we sold 131 tickets over the 2 shows, collecting 10 Toys for Tots.

Some highlights from last nights show:

• Harry and the boys of Rogue Theory (I finally got the name right!) playing 4 original, improvised tunes to the suggestions of Christmas, Cherries, Cookies, and Rabbits.  
• 2 completely wasted Day in the Life interviews that ended up being pretty funny regardless of their lack of participation.

• The premiere of two new improv formats that The Rejects created during our rehearsal process. Interpretive Dance and SongForm Improv.  Vicky got so into her interpretive dance that I had to drag her off the stage during the first show.  During the second, she and I both put our dancers (Rose and Brad) through the ringer physically.  BJ did an amazing job of introducing this format.  The SongForm is a 25-30 minute long form improv where a suggestion is acquired from the audience. The ban starts playing a song based on the suggestion, and sing a verse and chorus, when the actors take over and introduce their characters in song. After all 5 intros, the actors start performing 2 person scenes in reverse order.  THEY WERE BOTH AMAZING!

There were a lot more highlights, but I'm sleepy from a full day of work and shows yesterday.  Photos from the show are pending, so you'll be able to see for yourselves.   Now it's time to plan our next show.  Thank you a million times to everyone who came out to support our first endeavor. There will be more improv and music to come!