“MONGOL?”
“Mangow”
“Man-cow?”
“Dude, I think the poor guy means mango.”
The truth is, yes, the poor guy, my dear friend, did indeed mean to say “mango”. However, his awful hybrid of a Pakistani-American accent kept blurting out an equally awful cross of the simple word. We chuckled as for the next five minutes the improv group taking the stage, beatboxed to rap about mangoes. We all just never seem to give mangoes the kind of attention they deserve. That was, indeed a key moment for mangoes, everywhere.
This was just one of the nights I remember, laughing till I was breathless. Friday nights and Philly Improv Theater on the deserted street of Sansom, are the norm now. Some weeks, it is the improv group that asks the audience to throw words into thin air and the luckiest one gets caught: to be manufactured into an amateur rap, a roast of the unfortunate audience member who contributed in the first place or a layman’s attempt at political satire.
Image Courtesy of pixabay
Other weeks, it’s more scripted. Those shows are worth your money too. I remember the “Holiday Special” pre-winter break fiasco. Adults channeling their inner child (a comedy in itself), I was lucky enough to spectate a hysterically petty but an absolutely epic fight over which festival is worth the hype: Christmas or Halloween. Which one can you really place your bets on, for being real and material? The crunch of a Kit Kat wafer, the food coma from a Snickers bar oozing caramel, the intriguing combination of salty, savory peanut butter and sweet sweet chocolate… or Santa?
I still smile, unconsciously, as I look back at closing act for that night. A grown man dressed as a blue, one-eyed (googly though) furry little monster, working on his “craft to scare”. Much like Monsters Inc. the targeted little girl finds this monster adorable and tries to befriend it. What we didn’t know was that this monster was a neglected child (cue the “awwws”). He starts to open up, about an absent mom, a negligent father, his struggle to prove himself as a “monster” in all its glory and bullying at school. The crowd is saddened, sympathetic. The girl’s family promises to adopt this lonely monster who is clearly in the need of some love. Until, in the final 30 seconds, the family pulls out a dagger and stabs the monster in the back while giving him a “family hug” and embracing him in their arms. The curtains close as the comedians make a painfully funny mockery out of all the audience members who chose to sympathize with a “monster”. You monster sympathizers, they alluded. The crowd went wild!
Image courtesy of flickr
I won’t say that every week has been a hit. Some weeks were a miss too. I still recall the one where a team of comedians tried to draw comedy from a mystery of multiple homicides. That one hour as the audience was dreadful. The dialogue wasn’t audible or engaging. The characters weren’t lively or vibrant. The plot made no sense at all. And this time, it wasn’t even funny that it didn’t.
However, for what it’s worth, a few misses don’t haze the massive hits. I’d say go to the Philly Improv Theater at the end of the week to detox. Laugh at others a little. Laugh at yourself a little. It’s all in some light-hearted humor.