Off-White Christmas is a blast!
Off-White Christmas is a blast!
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... Which means that the seasonal shows are starting up! And the improvisors of Vancouver Theatresports are not to be left behind.
This year's offering is Off-White Christmas. It's a two-part show. First we are guests at a jolly Christmas party where all the guests are improvisors who amuse themselves by playing...wait for it...improv games! Then after a short intermission we trooped back in to hear our storyteller introduce our improvisors who leapt into an improvised musical Christmas story about a Christmas hula hoop and desperately poor orphans in 1939 London. (NB: My mom asked if this was really improvised - I said yes, yes it was because otherwise they would have had better songs. And a better plot.)
So - the night I went the first half got on a roll and didn't stop. Lots of laughs and I really felt like I was at a great Christmas party with very funny people. But the second half was a bit bumpier. Long-form improv is usually harder - unlike a 5-minute scene which you can end if the joke is over, you can't always get a 30-minute plus story back on track. I think that the storyteller is meant to help get the story unstuck and give new direction as necessary. As the story continued I sometimes wished he was a bit more intrusive... which may be a matter of individual taste.
Theatresports works with different casts of improvisors each night. Big kudos to the cast of improvisors onstage: Elizabeth Bowen, Christopher Casillan, Jeff Gladstone, David Milchard, Margaret Nyfors and Pearce Visser. And a shout out to the excellent sound improvisor - solid work that really helped ground the show.
If you are looking for a great evening out with family and/or friends, you should seriously consider Off-White Christmas. Theatresports' new lounge is an ideal place to hang for drinks before, during or after the show. And the assigned seating is a nice touch. My mom, my dad and even my picky boyfriend loved it!
SHOWS RUNNING: Nov. 17 - Dec. 23, 2011 (Thu - Sat at 7:30 pm)