IMPROVAPALOOZA IS HERE. SERIOUSLY.

POSTED 7.3.07

Improv fans in DC have something brand-spankin' new to look forward to thanks to Jackie's Zack Phillips, the mastermind behind the upcoming Improvapalooza event at the Source Theatre. With the big night looming large on the WIT horizon, washingtonimprovtheater.com sat down with Phillips to learn a little more about the show and what to expect.

So... what the hell is Improvapalooza?

Zack: The easiest way to explain it is that it's WIT's answer to the summer music festival. (Lollapalooza hasn't generally been a festival I've liked, but it was the only one with a name that worked when combined with "improv.") That is to say: Lots of different shows and a party-like atmosphere. Each improv show is only ten minutes long so you can come and go as you please, and you get to see a lot of different takes on improv. Also, it's BYOB so hopefully it'll feel like one of those July 4th block parties we all love so much.

Where did the idea come from?

Zack: Two places. The first was just conversation--we improvisors tend to bat ideas around, and many of them are in the "Wouldn't it be cool to do an improv show like this?" genre. I noticed a few of my ideas were too silly or crazy to work as a full thirty-minute show--they were based on a joke or conceit that would get old after about ten minutes. So I started saying "Here's my idea for a ten-minute improv show." The short length just gives you permission to try crazier stuff. (An example would be the Bad Walken show, where every character is a bad Christopher Walken impression. Thirty minutes of that would be a bit much.)

The other place this came from was F.I.S.T.--the bracketed tournament of three-person improv teams that WIT did this spring. I was just so blown away by how fun and exciting the atmosphere was there. And it wasn't just the audience; we improvisors were really pumped up and excited to see what the other teams came up with.

So somewhere along the line, I got the idea to kind of marry the two concepts. I was thinking about how it'd be great to do some kind of event to get that atmosphere back for a night -- just a big party. And doing a night full of ten-minute improv shows seemed new and crazy enough to work.

So I guess I pitched the idea and Mark Chalfant (WIT Artistic Director) and Topher Bellavia (WIT Managing Director) were incredibly cool about it. It was just kind of like "Yeah, sounds fun. Let's do it." So they have been hugely instrumental.

How has the group response been? Did you have to turn away a lot of show ideas?

Zack: The group response was much better than I expected. Originally, we were thinking of this as just a couple of hours long (so, about, ten shows), but we just got a ton of ideas from people. I was worried about having to cut a lot of them but Mark (Chalfant) was kind of like "Well, if we're going to do this, we might as well make it a five-hour marathon. Two hours feels like whimping out."

I'm really excited to see it. I had a half dozen show ideas when we started this but the ideas everyone else came up with far exceeded my own, so that was cool.

Sounds pretty ambitious. Was it tough to pull everything together?

Zack: (Sighs) Yeah. Gmail needs to come up with some kind of spreadsheet function.

But it hasn't been that bad for me; Mark and Topher have done a lot of the work lining up the venue and all. The nice thing about improv shows is that most of the time, they need almost no tech, rehearsal or anything like that. They just show up on stage and do it, so organizing isn't as bad as it could be.

Ten minute shows and a BYOB atmosphere. Sounds like a lot of fun... what should the audience expect?

Zack: Well, if you don't like the summer music festival analogy, I'm expecting an atmosphere similar to the Del Close Improv Marathon in New York. They have improv shows all weekend long, and they sell beer, so people just camp out in the theater and watch improv for hours. But the trick here is that each show is only 10 minutes long, so I think the audience will be more engaged, because you're being hit with something new and exciting every 10 minutes. It's also a party, so I'm expecting WIT performers, students, fans to be hanging out together and, in some cases, flirting bashfully.

Flirting is always good. Which show are you looking forward to the most?

Zack: Hmm. A lot of them. I'm interested in Bad Walken, because I think it's going to be a lot harder than the concept sounds; I think the joke will get old quickly. And also there are a couple of other shows--"Don't Laugh" and Jackie's "Bat"--that I'm really looking forward to, because they are exercises we do in practice sometimes but have never done in front of an audience. So I'm curious how well it will work. Part of the fun here is trying stuff that may not work out as well as you hoped.

...and which one scares the hell out of you?

Zack: I'm really looking forward to Neutrino Pequeño but I'm worried; there are a lot of possibilities for problems--technological or otherwise. Also, I'm scared of Bad Walken. Christopher Walken is pretty much dominating my dreams these days.

Is this a one-time thing, or the start of a yearly ritual?

Zack: Well so far we're just focusing on making this first one a success, but assuming it is as fun as we plan, I'd love for us to do it many more times. Corporate sponsor, anyone?

These shows mark WIT's return to the soon-to-be re-opened Source Theatre... how did that come about?

Zack: Performing in the Source Theater has always been my personal wet dream. (It's right down the street from The Black Cat, and I secretly wish I were in an indie rock band.) And we figured that Flashpoint, our usual venue, wouldn't be big enough for all the friends, family, students, fans and others that came out for this thing, so Source seemed like a good fit. Also, it's a cool neighborhood with a lot of foot traffic, people who will hopefully wander in and join the party. Interestingly, I believe this is the last performance at the theater before it closes for about six months of renovations.

One last hurrah, huh? So what would make the night a success?

Zack: If a ton of people come out and everyone leaves smiling. That sounds really cheesy, but we really do see this as a celebration of WIT and improv. Improv is just so fun to do and teach and watch. So this night is just about bringing us all together and having fun.

And what would make it a huge failure?

Zack: A fire.

And your money is on..?

Zack: God, I hope I haven't just jinxed us! But we'll double check the electrical circuits and bet on this being a rockin' fun night.

Anything else before the doors open on the 14th?

Zack: I guarantee that if you come you will see a lot of things you'd never see at a typical improv show, and that you will laugh a lot. Also there are no good bands in town that night, only the Black Cat's quite frequent DJ night, so there's really no excuse not to come.

Improvapalooza kicks off at 7:00 on Saturday the 14th at the Source Theatre. Tickets are available at the door only, and will go on sale thirty minutes before show time. The revolution will be improvised.

Washington Improv Theater