Rome and Away: Room for Improv
TJ and Dave are regarded the masters of improvisation.
That sentence also works without the last two syllables. As does ‘People look at me as a real contender’, but that’s another story.
But improv, like Italy’s very own tart Ruby, is a fickle mistress. All day people are telling me it’s a fake, you only laugh because it’s improvised (well mate, in the words of Jimmy Carr, the clue there is in the name), you can’t possibly sustain it over ten minutes, let alone a full-on show. Good for a few giggles surely, but so’s Tizer…
Plus, TJ and Dave have a lot to prove. They’ve studied at Chicago’s legendary Second City under legendarier Michael Gellman, who held a workshop here in Rome last Spring and fit more wisdom into one afternoon than most ‘teachers’ manage in an entire career. They’ve arrived in more hot spots than Berlusconi’s tackle. They’ve garnered reviews such as ‘BRILLIANT, HEARTBREAKING, MIND-BLOWING, INSPIRING! The best 50 minutes of improv comedy that we’ve ever seen’ (‘Time Out’, New York)… ‘Observant, complex and frequently enormously funny’ (‘New York Times’, no less)… And my personal fave: ‘Both great actors with amazing improv chops, but it’s always hard to notice these kinds of things when you’re peeing your pants laughing’ (‘Time Out Chicago’). It’s a tall order. Do they cut the proverbial mustard?
Yes. And then some. In fact my gripe with the above comments is, they don’t go far enough. TJ and Dave are the peak of professionalism, the coolest in confidence, the hippest in hilarity. The moment they step on stage there’s a carefree sense of wonder as they proceed to discover, to invent, to unfurl… Like Bill Hicks with the hecklers or Boosh with the sitcom format, they’ve learnt not to cram pre-prepared groaners into directionless gagathons, they’ve learnt to lie back and enjoy the ride and it’s their ride and we can only follow them breathless and spellbound. Oh, and it’s damn funny too. Think ‘The Office’ meets Python, think Mike McShane meets Eddie Izzard, in fact don’t think at all, just get your ticket and let these guys blow you away.
I’m not saying this to be nice. I’m not a nice person, my mother frequently reminds me that. But in my humble opinion, one TJ and Dave show is slicker than your favourite sitcom, stunninger than your favourite stand-up, funnier than your favourite farm. The stories play out satisfyingly with some strong characterisation and a mighty laugh-count, so much so that you might really genuinely honestly actually ask that question, you know the one, how embarrassing… ‘Do yer really make all up as you go along? Awesome!’
Bugger that. In fact bugger most things apart from TJ and Dave.
