Comedians thrive on crowd reactions, and impromptu comedy has almost no comment from live audiences. With COVID-19 closures and protection considerations in recent months, Phoenix Subway improv teams have largely stopped organizing in-person programming.
Instead, many have put members of their cast online so that enthusiasts can look into the comfort and safety of their homes.
Adapting the performances of the comedy improving online is an “incredible challenge” for ImprovMANIA in Chandler, said co-owner David Specht.
The result of the innovation to be made for a virtual is ImprovMANIA’s weekly live exhibition, “Friday Night Live”. Specht describes it as a component of the telethon and a combination of “SNL” and “The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon”.
“We are fortunate to have been such a good component of the network that other people will continue to connect,” Specht said.
Here are 4 improv teams on the Phoenix subway that host weekly shows online. Audience donations are welcome.
The Chandler Room at downtown ImprovMANIA Comedy Club has been closed since March, but there are plenty of songs from the audience on its “Friday Night Live” variety show every week at 8 p.m.
The screen includes recorded parodies, interactions with him and live impromptu scenes recorded in Zoom.
Public participation in comments is encouraged. The screen is streamed on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/improvMANIA) and YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl4VVa3wh3I-AHY8JyfKFlg).
Specht, who founded ImprovMANIA with his wife Colleen in 2014 after “playing for years in other clubs,” has invited other Chandler corporations to participate in weekly exhibitions through gifts and sponsorships.
Viewers whose organization on their GoFundMe page are eligible for rewards such as gift cards that can be spent in various Chandler businesses. Donations can be made in https://www.gofundme.com/f/improvmania-challenge.
The organization also organizes improv comedy categories for children, teens and adults in Zoom. For more information, http://www.improvmania.net.
The Second Beat Improv Theatre in Phoenix continues to provide an entertainment area for improv actors during the pandemic.
“We have weekly exhibits every Saturday at 7 p.m. on our Facebook page to help groups continue to have a steady opportunity to act,” said Sam Haldiman, founder of Second Beat. “They are loose screens that are broadcast live, and we leave them for a few days so that anyone who can’t watch them live can enjoy them.”
There is also a live show on Facebook, “Skewed News Hour”, at 7 p.m. the first and third Fridays of the month that is based on the audience that sends links to press articles on Facebook.
“We went over some of the articles and used them as inspiration for our show,” Haldiman said.
Those interested in developing their creativity can sign up for Second Beat’s loose virtual workshops, which are open to the public.
“We know that things can be financially complicated for other people right now, and we need to create an environment where other people feel welcome and can have fun,” Haldiman said.
Watch Second Beat Improv on https://www.facebook.com/secondbeatimprov.
Phoenix’s Torch Theatre, known for its improv and theater feature films, has visited Facebook and Twitch to broadcast performances on Zoom.
The weekly program, according to the Torch Theatre website, includes 3 exhibits broadcast every Saturday on https://www.twitch.tv/thetorchtheatre:
According to the Torch Theatre’s Facebook page, “The Neighborhood” features “a special guest of Phoenix’s arts, music and cultural scene” that serves as inspiration for makeshift scenes and characters. “Around the House” is described as an unnamed film, and “Franklin Institute” introduces torch theatre’s in-house improv team.
Visit Torch’s Facebook page for upcoming shows: https://www.facebook.com/thetorchtheatre/events. To donate, https://www.mightycause.com/organization/Torchphx.
The National Comedy Theatre Phoenix’s improv organization has experimented with other formats of comedy exhibitions filmed while the cast is socially distant.
“I feel like at NCT Phoenix Improv, we tried almost everything!” krissy Lenz, the principal. “We present online improvisation comedies, hybrid plays and comics and improvisation displays. We have experimented with communication screens and panel formats. We stream on YouTube and Facebook and use zoom assembly and webinars.”
Some of the screens, which can be found on NBC’s Phoenix YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/c/Nctphoenix) come with “Wrong Answers Only”, “an impromptu game screen where, to be correct, you have to be wrong “and ” NCT Debate Club”, where panelists talk about pop culture in Zoom.
The next online loose comic strip and exhibition is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. August 29, according to the NCT Phoenix calendar: https://www.nctphoenix.com/ticketsystem.
“Live improvisation displays will start on a normal schedule, every Friday and Saturday at the end of September, and those tickets will be available to purchase very soon,” Lenz said. Entry to exhibits, in which the public can participate through Zoom, will be between $5 and $10.
NCT Phoenix also offers online improvisation courses for youth and teens; The data can be found in http://nctphoenix.com. Those who want distribution and equipment can make a donation in https://nctphxstore.square.site.
Contact the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-4968. Follow her on Twitter @kimirobin and Instagram @ReporterKiMi.
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