This past Tuesday, Theo’s Bar and Grill, located at 705 West Cross Street, directly across the street from campus, featured “Comedy Night,” a night filled with stand-up and improvisational comedy.
Comedy Night began in mid-June and is held every Tuesday night at 9:30 p.m., with things comfortably underway around 10 p.m. As the only location featuring an improv comedy in the Ypsilanti area, it has created quite the following.
Improvisational comedy (also known as improv) is a form of theatre in which the improvisational actors and improvisers use reactionary acting techniques to perform spontaneously.
Improvisers typically use audience suggestions to guide the performance as they create dialogue, setting, and plot without preparation or rehearsal.
“Improv is an invaluable skill which translates into some many things in life, especially during the interview process or at any job where you need to think on your feet,” said EMU student and audience member Evan Mann.
Improv Night at Theo’s was the brain-child of James Quesada and Alex Marr, both seniors and members of EMU’s improvisational group Hit By a Car, which meets weekly in the Student Center to better hone their skills.
“Ypsi really needed an improv site since the Improv Inferno in Ann Arbor shut down (in 2006). These improvisers had to travel to places like Ferndale and Hamtramck, so this is obviously a lot closer,” Quesada said.
Marr used to work for Theo’s owner George “Geo” Tangalakis and easily convinced him to open up the bar for a comedy night. The final piece came to pass when Quesada and Marr became friends with Darnell Anderson, a local comedian. Students may remember Anderson as the emcee of Campus Life’s Laugh Lounge on Sept. 23.
With Anderson, the duo added an essential new element to their improv night: stand-up comedy. Anderson is responsible for booking comedians for the opening stand-up portion of the evening, and he delivered this past Tuesday.
Before the show began, comedians and improvisers drank beer and exchanged their funny stories from the road. For those patrons interested, the 20 minutes leading up to the show offered incredible and unfiltered insight into the mind of a comedian.
At approximately 9:15 p.m., there was only one customer in the small establishment but by 10 p.m., when the show began, the bar had at least 35 to 40 customers. Quesada, Marr, and Anderson began the evening with the improv game “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly.”
Think of the game as an advice column, performed live by brash and witty comedians. Audience members shouted out problems they had been dealing with while the three men took turns offering good, bad and ugly advice.
“I can’t get a one-night stand to stop calling me,” shouted one audience member from the back of the bar.
The three improvisers’ answers ranged from avoiding leaving prophylactics on the floor to having sexual relations with the booty calls’ mother; which sounds raunchier and funnier in person than it ever will in print.
“It felt like hanging out with friends you didn’t know yet. Like being a part of an inside joke, even though I didn’t know anyone there,” sophomore Amanda Coufield said.
After the short intro game, Anderson started the night off right with his emcee duties. Gone was the stumbling he had experienced two weeks earlier at the Laugh Lounge. Anderson successfully got the crowd excited for the comedians that followed.
The following comedian, Ricarlo Flanagan, took a few moments to find his footing with the crowd, but seemed to break through after about five minutes. His set ranged from British colonial colloquialisms to alleged molester Reverend Eddie Long to his desire to fornicate with Paula Dean. Some of his best bits came from his expert impressions of President Barack Obama and Bill Cosby.
The final comedian, Trevor Smith, had a quirky, relaxed demeanor that the audience responded well to. One of the funnier bits he told was of his magician roommate who was a master of making things disappear. When he was drunk.
After a short break, the improv finally started with games like “Innuendo” and “Box of Death.” Most of the games relied heavily on audience participation, but the improvisers were certainly there to advise, assist and make perfectly timed one-liners. Not everyone in the audience found the improv as easy as the key improvisers made it look.
“Man, you need to be sober to be that spontaneous,” exclaimed one intoxicated audience member.
For more information, join the Facebook group “Theo’s Comedy Nights” or visit the bar’s website at www.theosbar.com.
