When a group bills themselves as the self-proclaimed greatest improv comedy team in America, you have to question why they can find nobody to quote but themselves. Sadly, after seeing them, youll have the answer.
Returning after a (presumably self-proclaimed) successful run in 2006, California Polytechnic State Universitys comedy team are once again offering fifty frustrating minutes of long-form improv.
These awesome and sweet saying youths bound onstage and explain that instead of the tried and tested Whos Line Is It Anyway formula, they will be asking for words to inspire monologues, and from these monologues, theyll draw inspiration for scenes. In the show I saw, Andy was selected to perform said monologues. From the offered words (bumble-bee, handbag and Starbucks) he rambled through a series of stream of consciousness anecdotes, causing little more than the odd chuckle.
The scenes that followed were only slightly better. One brave performer attempted a Scottish accent, which deserved a few laughs, and there was a cute cat scene that made me smile, but on the whole it was an embarrassment to the Fringe.
Perhaps these criticisms are a little harsh as the cast of nine certainly displayed impressive energy and I must admit there were those in the audience who sounded like they enjoyed it far more than I did. However, judging by the frequent camera flashes and the utter silence of the spectators on my side of the room, Id hazard a guess that these were people the performers knew.
There are some cheap laughs here and a handful of performers with potential, but next to other improv teams displaying their wares at the Fringe, Smile and Nod seem pitifully immature.
