"Don't try to be funny, you're funny enough already..."

The audience is ready for a laugh, and most of them seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. So far, only an unsuspecting Ukrainian woman has been hauled onto the stage to have two of the male performers court her with improv serenades – she chooses the female compere.

My Italian friend doesn’t feel entirely comfortable, something which is spotted by one of the actors who asks him his name during a bout of audience participation.

“I am impressed that these people don’t feel embarrassed,” he says as we wait during the ten-minute interval for the second half of the performance to resume.

So what makes people get up there "to ‘expose’ themselves to this possible ‘ridicule’ or even the releasing of demons?" I ask the performers at the end of the first show.

Taking the risk
Easylaughs performer Kiki Hohnen, a psychologist, says, “It’s good for you to take the risk and see that nothing happens.”

True, no one broke down or disappeared in a puff of smoke.

“You’re not taking the same risk as stand up solo comedians,” says Kiki, “You’ll be let off the hook by your fellow players,” …or allowed to go with the flow, as one of the guest performers, a Swedish woman, discovered while improvising a scene in a Ghetto, a location chosen by the audience.

Up the duff
“I am up the duff,” she slowly reads one of the audience suggestions written on paper and thrown on the stage to help the actors move through the skit .  She barely disguises her puzzlement.

Bravely she continues with a just distinguishable Swedish accent, “I am feeling like this sometimes and I like it, do you want to join me?” She struts assertively on imaginary heels.

Her acting partner Easylaughs performer Ben Silburn, smiles and says something like, “I know what you mean,” which leaves many foreigners in the audience none the wiser.  

Basic rules of improv
An important rule in improv, says Easylaughs performer Rick Phelps, is to agree with your fellow player. Ben rightly resisted the temptation to nudge her into understanding with something along the lines of ‘you don’t look very pregnant; how many months?’

But the number one rule in improv, says Rick is “don’t try to be funny.”

The same rule must apply to writing. Clearly the journalist who wrote this news article wasn’t trying either: Blind Frenchman fined for drunk driving…

“Unlike the characters in a film who unfold who they are and their characteristics in a build up at the beginning of the movie, the characters in improv know each other right from the start,” says Rick.

He explains that the first thing the players should do “is start a conflict, which isn’t necessarily negative, and heighten it.” From here the situation can spiral into some kind of resolution.

Wait till the audience participate is also a rule of thumb – meaning, hook up to their feedback as soon as you feel it.

Improv workshops
If you’d like to learn more about doing improv and fancy trying it out for yourself, you can. As well as giving shows, Easylaughs also offers a full range of courses and every Sunday a walk-in improv workshop.

For those who want to practice, the website even contains a list of improv games you can play.

If English isn’t your mother tongue, fear not, the cast is an international bunch currently boasting performers of the following nationalities English (three), Dutch (two), American (two), Australian (one), Nigerian (one) and Israeli (one).

Shows
The shows run most Friday Nights at the Crea café/ theatre in the centre of Amsterdam. The first performance is at 8:30 followed by a later show at 10:30, which is usually a little rowdier due to the audience having imbibed a tad more alcohol by this hour. Visit the Easy laughs website for a full programme workshops and shows.

The cast
Many of the players are full-time actors and theatre teachers. The crew includes: Nicole Mischler, Peter More, Jochem Meijer, Rick Phelps, Mark Giesbers, Ben Silburn, Anna Greaves, Kiki Hohnen, Rod Ben Zeev and Lolu Ajayi.

Baby, Baby, Baby
Rick Phelps and  Kiki Hohnen are also performing at the Ostadetheater on 31 January and 1 February in Baby, Baby, Baby,  described as a comedy cocktail combining the freshness of improvised dialogues, with the structure of a classical play, spiced up with the energy of live theatre and the detail of film. These performers are good, but it's already worth a visit just to see how they pull off all that.

15 January 2009

Natasha Gunn is the editor of Expatica NL

Video by Michele Carloni - freelance illustrator, Editorial Assistant Expatica