Improv troupe celebrates second year

Monday, January 25, 2010 - 1:09 AM

Members of Empire Improv’s “Hostel Greetings” comedy troupe perform at the Laxalt Theater on Friday as part of their second anniversary celebration. Photo by Thomas Levine/Nevada Sagebrush

Tucked away in a dark theater behind two unpromising swing doors with no handle, my expectations before seeing live improv comedy weren’t high. All of that was quickly erased, however, once “Hosel Greetings” dove head first into their first bit about ice cream.

When the improvisers first came out on stage, they asked the audience for a suggestion. An audience member said, “Ice cream.” What followed was a monologue by improviser Tim Dufrisne about being overweight and a scene with his unaffectionate father. Their discussion about dieting was really funny because it felt honest. Unlike sketch comedy shows that play to extremes, Hostel Greetings set up scenarios that felt silly, but believable. Rarely have I seen a show that had me laughing from start to finish.

The show served as the two-year anniversary of Hostel Greetings, which acts as the lead improv group for Empire Improv. In an attempt to bring the improv scene to Reno, founder and director of Empire Improv Michael Lewis also teaches classes to try and develop local talent. As one of the leading men in “Hostel Greetings,” Lewis consistently delivered some of the best lines of the night.
“If you really are having a good time, the audience is behind you and they’re with you,” Lewis said.

The four talented guys hit their stride once the audience was warmed up. The most memorable bit from the first half of the show was a football huddle. Each of the four guys acted out the opposites of normal football stereotypes, with one painting Winnie the Pooh on his face because he was the team’s “spirit guide.” The scene could have spun out of control, with each line building off of the other in random directions, but the team chemistry between the four improvisers kept everything on track.

“The idea is that I can come out and initiate anything, and they will make sense of it and make me look good,” Dufrisne said. “When that first happened, it blew my mind. The level of trust that I have with this troupe is unlike any other theatrical experience I’ve had.”

After a brief intermission, the second half started with another audience suggestion, this time a space station. Every scene that supposedly played out in zero gravity was comic gold. It was impressive to see the audience come up with some of the best situations of the night, which is a testament to the uniqueness of this brand of comedy. I honestly thought I might pee myself during a sequence in space, where an astronaut ran out of oxygen while listening to “Space Oddity” by David Bowie.

The brand of humor seldomly broached PG-13 status, with some sexual references and a few instances of harsh language, but rarely strayed from family-friendly.
“Our type of humor is really appropriate for the undergrad audience,” Hostel Greeting’s improviser Doug Long said. Friday’s show was the final show for Long, who is taking a semester-long break to spend time working on a graduate degree in psychology at the University of Nevada, Reno.

After the show was over, the improvisers brought out a big cake to celebrate, sharing with everyone who wanted to stay, which sums up exactly how I felt about the whole night — a sweet experience for everyone involved.

The three remaining members of Hostel Greetings can be seen 8 p.m. Thursday, on The West Street Market in Club Se7en.

Garrett Estrada can be reached at gestrada@nevadasagebrush.com.