Quick, But Not Too Fast ! Fun Grafenberg Improv at The Comedy Room Room

jacobts (65)in #improv • 6 years ago (edited)

On Larimer Street near the Ballpark stands the Charito Bar. It's a basic watering hole with tequila and beers and this tuesday night some college students were talking about bugs in the back. A sign above the doorway near the bar says, Comedy Room Room. Weekends host stand up shows, while weekdays like tonight, belong to Grafenberg Productions!

You enter the old brick space which in the winter may suggests a cozy escape from winter. It's early June and tonight the room offers a cool and dark escape from the sun. There is just enough in the room to host a comedy show: a little stage, a large enough seating area, lights, sound, and nice gathering of chatty people ready to see an improv show.

The hosts of the night, Natrageous, kept announcements short and sweet before warming up the crowd with a sharp and playful collage of scenes. The rest of the show is a competition between the other two teams and the audience will be be voting on which one continues in a tournament. The shows are free but donations are welcome. The audience giggles and laughs along throughout all the shows. You feel bad for those kids talking about bugs in the other room.

The winning team, Magaficient, went second. They served up a diverse rotation of emotional characters that wove a few relationships together in the end. You admit your addicted to improv and while you have your own tastes, you appreciate discovering new players, places, and styles. Denver has a style that you can't quite describe, but it's simply a fun ride that pulls just enough back in the end to pull it all together. It's like that mint or shredded chocolate on top of a cappuccino. There's just enough callbacks in the end to pull the whole show together in the end and leave the audience applauding throughout the final pop. You appreciate it!

The team that did not win was named Go Mother. You know one of the guys on the team from back in the Chicago days, Justin Franzen. He's a good dude, with a good heart, and lucky bastard has a great smile. It comes in handy as he is one of the faces of not just Grafenberg but Denver Improv Comedy. He's helping Grafenberg build a new home for it's Theater just around the corner. Justin teaches, produces, performs. Tonight he knocks your socks off improvising with Joe Zordan as Go Mother.

Go Mother's show was in itself a callback to all things classic about the improv you've been exposed to. St. Louis, Chicago, LA, and travelling the country you've seen the monoscene. TJ & Dave have perfected the monoscene. Go Mother puts on a classic monoscene that has the same rollercoaster of character and emotion as any fast and frenzied show. Despite the characters riding a roller coaster of emotions, the scene always feels quick and light but lasts 20 minutes. The players and audience discover and appreciate each new significant bit of information in the scene. And in the end you simply remember laughing during scene about a guy putting on a bow tie with his future brother in law before the wedding.

Maybe you're just like me. Maybe you know nothing, you are no expert, but you know you get a kick out of a good improv show, having a few laughs, and spending a little time with friends.

Maybe you're passing through or live near Denver and you're looking for some quick, fun, and casual comedy. Wanna ditch that lecture on bugs in the other room? Maybe you want to take improv classes or hire an improv company for shows. Maybe you're just looking to witness the groundbreaking of another improv masternode on the improv blockchain.

Maybe you're looking to invest those crypto millions into the living arts. Perhaps you're a steem or eos evangelist that wants to help the living arts get better rewarded with crypto. Or maybe you're just looking for something fun to do after the ball game in downtown Denver near Larimer Street.