It was a fun filled meeting of the Pattaya City Expats Club on Wednesday, April 12, when four members of Up2U, Pattaya’s own Improv Troupe improvisational entertainers, were the featured presenters. Not only did they entertain with their own witty improvisations, but each gave a short presentation on various aspects of “Improv” to explain what it is and why it is called improvisation. Further, they asked audience members to join in with some improvisation themselves. The Up2U members were Doug Campbell, Sherman Richardson, Sheldon Penner, and Rich Cook.
Several members of the Up2U Troupe previously entertained the PCEC about one year ago on April 27, 2022. During that presentation, Doug Campbell explained that they chose their name because what happens in their performance is “up to you.” Doug was first up to introduce “Improv” noting that unlike the debate he participated in in his youth, improvisation’s goal is to entertain. They depend on audience participation by suggesting a scene, from then on, it is up to the cast members to act out the scene. There is no rehearsed script, all is spontaneous, and most important, they must listen to and not interrupt each other. There is no “star” as they all work as a team. Further, they follow the rule of “Yes, and . .” He then called on Rich Cook to elaborate on what that rule means.
Rich said that there are building blocks for doing an improvisation scene. First, when something is said, it is accepted that “yes” it is true even though it may be improbable. The “and” is that there must be justification, since the statement is true, what follows must also be true. He illustrated by using a game, the “magic box”. He had the audience play the game by pairing up as A and B. A says they have a magic box and makes a statement about it, then B must follow with a comment about the content, this is followed by A with more building on B’s comment, then B follows building on A’s comment and so on. He then asked some of the audience to come on stage and describe the results of their playing the magic box game.
This was followed by Sherman who explained how comedy develops as an improv scene, although unscripted, needs to provide information on the who, the what, and the where at the start of each scene to set up the situation. He then called on Sheldon who invited five members of the audience to come on stage and give it a try. When they joined him, he then asked the audience to give him story topic. He then provided the topic to the first audience member who had to begin by saying “fortunately” and providing a comment. The next audience member in line then had to follow up, but their comment had to begin with “unfortunately.” Then the next had to use “fortunately” before their comment followed by the next with “unfortunately”, and so on.
Rich and Sheldon then mentioned that at times, the improv member may be at a loss for a comment. They said the group would demonstrate this, but first he needed the audience to provide some lines from a movie, from a song, something you don’t tell your lover, and one you always wanted to hear. Each of these was written on a piece of paper. These were folded and then scattered on stage. The Up2U Troupe then proceeded with an improvisation scene and then signaling they couldn’t think of a comment, picked up one of the folded sheets and read out the line. Surprisingly, the line fell logically into place and added much humor to the scene.
After the presentations, MC Ren Lexander than mentioned some upcoming events before calling on Brian Maxey to conduct the Open Forum portion of the meeting where the audience comment and ask questions about Expat living in Thailand. To learn more about the PCEC, visit their website at: https://pcec.club. To view a video of the presentation, visit the PCEC’s YouTube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qozUo1MJdUM.
