You know what improvisation is, right? It’s when a group of people wears the same kind of T-shirt and they say things off the tops of their heads. Zilch is scripted, and everything they do is inspired by shouted-out suggestions from the audience! Hubby Rick and I once saw an improv (what insiders call it) troupe perform at a pizza place. It caught us by surprise, because we were only there for pizza. Guess what? The mirthmakers performed a whole 10-minute routine based on Rick’s suggestion “Go away, we’re eating!” It was soooo funny, too! They worked it into a skit involving a telemarketer calling a family during dinnertime, and then the girl in the family gets brainwashed and joins a telemarketing cult. It comes off kind of weird in print, but performed live, it was hilarious! (To moi, at least—Rick almost punched out the tall skinny guy in the troupe afterwards for interrupting pizza time!)
I always love the “Jean Teasdale” pieces that The Onion runs, but this is just such a beautiful articulation of a middle-aged woman’s view of improv.
