If you've never experienced Longform Improvisation, you really should get out and do so. And look at this, here's your chance:
Quoted from Chuck:
Starting Thursday, Sept 16th, Men in Shirts will be debuting their new, two
man longform "The Abyss" at the Improv Inferno's (www.improvinferno.com)
"Cat Fight" in Ann Arbor. They spent the summer working on their deepest
and darkest improv in preparation for this show and they are now ready now
to unveil it to you, their favorite fans and audience members. They will be
pitting this new form in a competitive format against T.P.R.O.F as Improv
Inferno's first guest competitors.
Men in Shirts based this format on the idea that only by looking into the
abyss of ourselves, do we reveal our true desires, fears and secrets. And
of course, they want to share it all with you.
Who: Men in Shirts (Chuck Charbeneau and Clif Highfield)
What: The Abyss at the "Cat Fight"
When: Thursday nights at 8 pm. (Sept 16th - Oct 14th)
Where: Improv Inferno
309 S. Main St
Ann Arbor, MI
(734) 214-7080
Tickets are $5 at the door, and there are nightly drink specials (often
times listed on the Improv Inferno Website). And don't forget, this is Ann
Arbor, so there are a multitude of places to eat and drink within easy
stumbling distance of the performance space, so it is easy to make a single
improv show into a night on the town in A-Squared. The show starts at 8 pm,
but get there early for a good seat.
"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a
monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into
you."
--Friedrich Nietzsche
If you're not particularly familiar with Longform, let me try to fill you in (and reassure you that it has little in common with "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"
There are lots of great resources that can educate you better than I, so I'm going to do my best whet you appetite and then provide a mess O'links.
Longform as it is commonly understood was "started" by Del Close sometime in the 60s. It was essentially an effort to take what had long been regarded (and still is to a large extent) an acting exercise or series of games and turn it into a dramatic experience in its own right. Of course, to say that you can "start" an artform that is really about making up a situation and characters on the spot is slightly ridiculous, as surely this method is the birth of theatre. But "The Harold", the form created by Del and codified in the book he co-wrote with Charna Halpern and Kim Johnson, "Truth in Comedy" was a method to tap into the immediacy of Improvisation and extend it as a story and a dramatic experience rather than just a collection of jokes.
Seeing longform in performance is often an amazing thing. Essentially you give the performers a small suggestion and then before your eyes they create a world. Many refuse to believe that what they are watching is not previously designed or rehearsed, especially when watching the best. Moreover, much of the emphasis in longform has been on honest character relationships, rather than jokes or sketch comedy types of situations. So while it can be quite funny, it can be heartbreaking too.
It ocassionally suffers from an overtly avant-garde attitude (as in, "screw you if you don't get it, I'm an artist"), which is pretty common amongst most new fields. It ocassionally suffers from a desire to be more about jokes than truth (as in "I can't wait until I get on Saturday Night Live"). But when it finds that middle ground and is about telling a good story and being honest, it is transcendent.
I find longform to be a very beautiful, intimate, and immediate experience, and I would highly recommend you check it out for yourself rather than just reading about me talking about it. I expect to be there on the 16th, join me if you can.
Note: I'm sure there are plenty of people waiting in line to correct me on my characterization of the birth or development or the true nature of what longform is. Take a break. The resources of defining how this came to be are scarce surprisingly. Sadly, I spent 45 minutes looking at websites all of which talked about the Longform and the Harold and none of which included a "What the hell is Longform and how did it start?" page. Which seems to me to be the first thing you should put on such a page. In any case, I put up my version as I didn't have a better one, and if you'd like to improve it, don't do it on my site, please please please put up a webpage instead.
Yes, And ... (General Improv Info Site)
Improv Olympic (Chicago Improv Theater founded by Del Close and Charna Halpern as a home for the new longform (and still going strong)
Improv Inferno (New Improv Theater in Ann Arbor opening mid September)