It’s that time of year again where we bring you the holiday classic: “A Christmas Carol”: UNSCRIPTED. Where we tell you the cautionary tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, Jacob Marley, and more based on audience suggestions.

This show is for adults 18 ages and up or with a valid fake ID. Tickets are $12 and can be purchased through this website or through the ComedySportz theatre box office and 317-951-8499.

“A Christmas Carol”: UNSCRIPTED will play every Friday at 10pm, November 25th through December 23rd

In many studies that look at this kind of thing, public speaking is the number one fear of human beings. Add on the pressures of making things up on the fly and trying to be funny…and you might wonder why it is ComedySportz actletes choose to do what they do. If only there was some sort of comprehensive list of ComedySportz players and why they love improv…

Great news! See below…

Alli Vollmer

I do ComedySportz because in all the imaginary worlds I create or take part in on stage is where I find my true self. In real people world, I am censored, small, and I tend to blend in. In make-em-ups land, I’m nerdy, outrageous, ridiculous, supportive, witty, and fearless. This is the part of me that the audience celebrates and I celebrate when I do improv. Also, I have no choice. No seriously. I mean, no, wait, I love ComedySportz. Do not call the police.

Corey Jefferson

I do improv because I don’t know how to not do improv.  Any time I step away from it for too long, I don’t feel right.  It’s like something’s missing.  Doing improv is integral to the proper functioning of every other part of my life.  The skills that you learn through improv translate to all other everyday interactions.  We are all going to die much too soon and the abilities of thought, feeling, and experience are gifts too often taken for granted.  In light of this, the only appropriate thing to do is to savor it all and enjoy every minute of it.  Improv helps you to stay in the moment, which is good since this moment is really all we have.  As far as the plane on which we exist is concerned, the past is just shadows of thoughts and the future really doesn’t exist, it’s just an abstract concept.  Improv teaches you to be fluid and flexible, to become whatever you need to become for the moment at hand.  It teaches you to adapt and change to make the most of every situation without fear of judgment or making an ass out of yourself.  And while performing improv I can sometimes achieve, for lack of better phrasing, a religious experience.  We have called it ‘group mind,’ but there are times when energy is flowing freely between performers and audience and it really feels like we’ve attained a higher level of functioning or being, like we’ve somehow tapped into something deeper and we’re just conduits for this wondrous thing flowing through us.

In many studies that look at this kind of thing, public speaking is the number one fear of human beings. Add on the pressures of making things up on the fly and trying to be funny…and you might wonder why it is ComedySportz actletes choose to do what they do. If only there was some sort of comprehensive list of ComedySportz players and why they love improv…

Kelsey VanVoorst

I do ComedySportz simply because I enjoy it. I am in love with the art form of improv and I am also in love with the people that I am blessed to perform with. It’s something I can look forward to on the weekends after a long week of schoolwork. I leave every match feeling on top of the world. For me, there is really no better feeling than hearing the uproarious laughter of an audience.

Chad Woodward

I do ComedySportz because it gives me a huge outlet for my inner child.  It lets me engage in an artistic activity that reaches people in a way that plays and poetry cannot.  Improv is a building block that everyone can grasp and appreciate.  It’s a common unifier.

Lauren “Orenga” Ahlwardt

I love to make people laugh – people of all ages. I love that I am involved in something where the people I work with are amazingly talented. I love that anything goes and things that come out from it are comical. I love how wonderful people respond to this improv comedy. I love to perform!

In many studies that look at this kind of thing, public speaking is the number one fear of human beings. Add on the pressures of making things up on the fly and trying to be funny…and you might wonder why it is ComedySportz Indianapolis actletes choose to do what they do. If only there was some sort of comprehensive list of ComedySportz Indianapolis players and why they love improv comedy…

Great news! See below…

Strange David Fuller
I do ComedySportz because in learning to accept and expand others’ ideas, I’ve learned to accept and expand on my own. In learning to find the joy in others’ ideas, I’ve learned to find joy in my own. In learning to trust that others have my back, I’ve learned how to be trustworthy. In learning that others have confidence in me, I’ve learned confidence in myself. Plus, I haven’t found anything else that makes showing off and goofing off this much fun.

Kirk Keevert
In 1991 a friend called, asked if I’d seen the auditions in the paper and insisted I attend. Because of that phone call I have the good fortune to get up in front of a bunch of strangers a few times a month and help them forget about the crap that’s gone on the previous week. I’d be lying, though, if I didn’t admit that not all of my reasons for doing this are quite so altruistic. I’m a Leo and I love the attention. But my favorite thing I’ve gotten out of ComedySportz is that I am a member of a family, a real, strong, loving and supportive family that lives all over the country and in Europe.

Kristin Katsu
I’m in a class of eight other actors and directors at my graduate school, and the professor leads us in an improv game that I have played as routine at ComedySportz: Bippity Bippity Bop. Many of the others had never played before, so at first they focus intently on getting it right. Then suddenly they realize it isn’t about getting it right; it’s about being a group and working together on getting energized. That’s why I do ComedySportz: the transformation from a routine life to a joyful, energetic, family. I laugh at how foreign that game was to them, but within minutes they weren’t outsiders anymore. Confidence comes out of that focused, supportive environment.

Want to know more about our players?  Keep reading this blog and check out the player page on the website.

I was admittedly a bit uneasy heading into week six of class, which was set to focus on long-form improv. I had never done long-form, and it’s never been my favorite to see performed. However…Ed told us last week if we didn’t find something funny, try to find out why other people do and focus on that. So…that was my goal as I headed into class.

The game we played was called “Harold”. The story behind the name is epic and unforgettable, but unfortunately I do not have time to get into it here. The game is a little tough to explain in a couple of sentences, but here is my attempt. The concept of the game is that you take one suggestion, and base around 45 minutes worth of scenes around it. It starts with people telling stories about the suggestion (in our case, “Kentucky” for the first game, “The White House for the second). The performers then take parts of those stories and use them to form several scenes. Throughout the game, you call back to different subjects from the previous scenes, tell more stories, and create more scenes.

There are two important memories I will take away from this class. The first is that this was some of the most fun I’ve ever had doing improv. Because of some absences, Claire Wilcher, who was filling in for Ed, played with us. Because there were only four of us involved, we were all involved in almost all of the scenes. It was non-stop fun…everybody working together to tell several funny stories one right after another. I was very proud of what we put together…I said then, and I believe now…both games we played would have been perfectly presentable before a ComedySportz audience, and that’s what this class is all about.

The second memory is slightly more painful. As part of one of the scenes, one of the performers fell backward toward me. The idea was that I would catch him. That would have been fine, except he didn’t realize I was on the very edge of the stage. His fall took us both backward off the stage. I crashed through the three stools on the side and landed flat on the ground. His fall was, fortunately for him, cushioned by landing on me.

Everyone is ok. I’m very sore and still limping, but these are the sacrifices we make for our art. If nothing else, expect me to be the founding member of the Hardcore Division of ComedySportz Indy.

This week turned out to be my favorite so far. We worked on gimmick games, which are those that have some kind of significant twist or gimmick. These tend to be very popular games during matches, and it was a lot of fun to get to play them during class.

We spent some time discussing the games before we played them, which really helped. With each game, we talked about what makes it funny. It sounds simple, but that’s not something a lot of people really stop and think about…we see a game as funny, and just accept it. Knowing what it is the audience tends to react to gives you something to specifically target during the game. I’ve written about my challenge of overthinking games in the past…these gimmick games almost prohibit me from overthinking because I’m focusing on the gimmick itself.

In some of the games we played, the gimmick was physical…such as “Moving Bodies,” where you play out a scene with someone else controlling all of your movements, and “Arms Expert,” where someone plays an expert answering questions on a certain topic, but you don’t use your own arms…someone else provides them from behind. In other games, the gimmick was verbal…including the very funny “Pick a Play,” where three people act out a scene, but two of them can only read lines of dialogue from the scripts of completely unrelated plays.

I loved this week, and actually feel that these are my strongest games. So, if you happen to have me in your improv fantasy league, use me in these games.

One other note…while it will be seen as some kind of improv blasphemy, I haven’t been a huge fan of the warm-up games we’ve done so far (legions of Bippity Bippity Bop fans will have my head for that). But…this week’s warm-ups were a lot of fun. We did a pattern game that was a great focus exercise, and we did a simple word association game that really helped. Sometimes I have trouble thinking of ideas on how to incorporate a suggestion into a scene…doing a simple word association where you just think of the next word that comes to mind helps.

Give it a try…start with any noun, then think of the next word that comes to mind…then repeat. This morning, I went from paper towels to Ferris wheel in ten steps. I mean…I worked all morning. That’s what I did.

CSz lineups for Friday, Sept. 16th at 7:30pm (subject to change). Red Team: Jason McIntosh, Jarrod Reid, and Strange David. Blue Team: Dave Ruark, Brent Owens, and Aili McGill. With Referee Jon Colby and Mr. Voice Phil Graf.

CSz lineups for Thursday, Sept. 15th at 7:30pm (subject to change). Red Team: Brent Owens, Dave Ruark, and Kelsey VanVoorst. Blue Team: Chad Woodward, Danny Rockey, and Matt Raborn. With Referee Ed Trout.

I came in truly having no idea what to expect. The class consists of five of us, and we got straight to warming up and improv exercises.

Our instructor is ComedySportz Indianapolis Artistic Director Ed Trout. Having spent just two hours with him, it’s easy to see why he has had so much success in the area. He is incredibly observant and has an astute vision of what should be happening on stage. Perhaps most important of all, he is a terrific communicator and is very specific, constructive and supportive while giving feedback. For someone like me with comedic experience but plenty of room to grow, he is a valuable person to be around.

The focus of this week was scene-building. The truth is…a lot of people are funny, but it takes a lot more skill to translate humor into a specific character and into a specific scene. The exercises focused heavily on certain elements of building a scene, such as establishing and staying with your character or defining and maintaining the environment you’re in.

My first observation was this…the stage is 1000 degrees. Most stages I have been on in my life have been hot, and this one is no exception. It’s like an improv microwave. An improwave.

My second observation…this is truly challenging. I did not go in thinking it would be easy, but the exercises push you out of your comfort zone and force you to face your weaknesses and improve on them. For example, something I’ve learned I need to work on is making quicker decisions about who my character is going to be and what his relationship with the other participants is. During many scenes we started off slowly, but once we got our feet under us and really established who we were and what we were doing, things took off.

Overall, I left week one feeling challenged and encouraged. There is a lot to work on, but a class isn’t worth taking unless it can make you better. This is a class with good students, a great instructor, and a supportive atmosphere. My initial review from Ed: “So far, so good.” I can’t ask for much more than that.

And if nothing else…I spent my Tuesday night as a bitter agent driving through the Bermuda Triangle, an Italian thermal underwear manufacturer, the Jersey Shore producer, and a confused southern professional bodybuilder-physicist. What did you do?

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Bio

My name is Andy Ober. I am Senior Writer/Reporter at Inside INdiana Business. I have worked in the media for more than ten years and have performed comedy in some form or another for just as long. I fell in love with ComedySportz after seeing a few weekend shows and have made it my goal to become part of the group.

CSz lineups for Friday, July 29th at 7:30pm (subject to change). Red Team: Matt Kramer, Claire Wilcher, and Rick Randjelovic. Blue Team: John Patrick Coan, Kelsey VanVoorst, and Ed Trout. With Referee Tim Harrison and Mr. Voice Jason McIntosh.