The cast of Albuquerque's only professional improvisational comedy troupe "Surely You Jest?" burst on to stage, snapped their fingers and sang along to Leonard Bernstein's "When You're A Jet" from "West Side Story," only they have replaced Stephen Sondheim's lyrics.
The nine company members sing, "When you're a drunk . . ." and set the mood for the zany evening. Troupe director Eli Keltz introduced the cast to about 60 people at the Blue Dragon Coffee House Feb. 5.
"Surely You Jest?" has a dedicated following of many "comedy groupies," with good reason. Witt flies through the air at a blistering speed. The cast picks metaphors out of left field. Their timing is impeccable, and physical comedy filled with sexual innuendo reigns during an evening of improvisational comedy at the hands of the young performers.
Despite the cast's youth, "Surely You Jest?" rivals any regional comedy troupe. Reminiscent of early casts of "Saturday Night Live," the popular British "Whose Line is it Anyway?" and the Chicago-based "Second City" group, "Surely You Jest?" is sheer comic brilliance.
Although improvisational comedy is usually no-holds-barred, the company's performance did follow a loose format. As emcee, Keltz picks a game for the troupe to play. He then asks the audience to give scenarios, characters and settings for the actors. The interactive process keeps the cast and the audience on edge.
One of the first games of the night was "Superheroes," starring Frank Calabretta as "Obscure Reference Boy," sisters Aja and Dushenka Myers-Taylor as "Spatula Women" and "Scarf Girl" and Aaron Nelson as "Trumpet Man." Their mission was to cure the world's lettuce famine using their special powers.
"Soliloquy," with Nelson as a private detective and Andrew Talcott as a man who lost his monkey, brought tears to my eyes. Always playing off one another, each member of the cast brings something uniquely his or hers to the group.
Two of the more seasoned members, Joseph West and Calabretta, shined in one of the funnier games. Along with Christina Capobianco, one of the new cast members, they played a game of body positioning where one person had to sit, one had to stand and one had to lean while pretending to be trapped in a cave. Side splitting doesn't begin to describe some of the positions the three came up with, and the fun didn't end there.
"Dating Game," starring the debonair Chris Payne, creepy athlete's foot fetishist Aaron Nelson and Joseph West's armpit smelling character as the three bachelors was the most interactive game for the audience. The company dragged an audience member onstage to play the bachelorette.
Another example of the troupe's genius was in "Poetry Corner," with Nelson as host and interpreter to Keltz, a foreign poet. The catch was that Keltz had no control over his arms, which were actually the hidden Copabianco's. Speaking in mostly gibberish with a little Yiddish mixed in with some Slavic sounding grunts, Keltz stole the show. Nelson's straight man was the perfect counterpart to Keltz's flamboyancy.
Bad improv is really, really bad, but when the cast is in tune with each other and fast on its feet, then nothing is funnier than spontaneous comedy.
The current "Surely You Jest?" troupe is made up of members new and old, some quicker than others, but improv takes practice.
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Keltz says the group is constantly workshopping and playing trust and relationship games to build a better rapport. He hopes to get the troupe to a level where they can finish each other's sentences, to get it to a point where the group is, as he says, "really tight. Physically and Mentally."
Calabretta interjects, "Especially physically."
Some of the members' comedic influences include Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton and even Joseph Stalin. The cast members are constantly performing, and as they left the stage Monday night their energy pervaded the coffee shop.
Forget about "Mad TV" and "Saturday Night Live" and go see the troupe's next performance on Saturday at 10:30 p.m. at the variety show "Reptilian Lounge" in the Riverside Theatre, 112 Washington St. S.E.
For more information, visit www.surelyyoujest.org.
