This was the best show I’ve ever done. It was a Valentine’s Day special, with a very specific format. I was one of six improvisors in the cast. We were set up as couples. I was paired with Laura Cattari tonight, which surprised me a bit since Colette Kendall and I usually work together. Colette was paired with Wayne Scutt, and Kim Staffleitner played with Andy Auld.

Anyway, the host of the show brought couples out of the audience and interviewed them on a couch set up at the side of the stage. Each couple would choose a pair of improvisors to represent them, and then the host would interview the couple for about 20 minutes about their relationship. Every once in a while during the interview, the host would direct the improvisors to play out scenes from the relationship. The improvisors who were not representing the couple would play supporting roles in the scenes as necessary.

Tonight was one of those nights I felt like I was on fire. Every seat in the theatre was full, the audience was warm and happy because of Valentine’s Day, the lights were perfect, and the connections were snapping in my head. We had been instructed to respect the couples and represent them in a funny and positive way. The positive energy was crackling between all of us tonight. Every move was heightened, and then heightened again. It was more proof to me that scenes do not require conflict to succeed.

The couple that Laura and I played had been married 29 years. Their story was very interesting, and we didn’t have to work hard to make it fun. He had been introduced to her by her fiance, who was his friend. They had their first date while her fiance was away in Pittsburgh. They went to see a movie, and drugs were being passed around. She ended up having a really bad trip, and he took care of her all night. Later, they decided to get married because her housemates were annoying her. They decided this after he had finished peeing in a bush while they were on a walk. As you can imagine, we had fun acting all of this out and making it as wild as possible.

Anyway, tonight was a night that I felt it all come together. I found it so easy to reincorporate ideas that had come up earlier in the show. Getting a laugh from the audience was as easy as making a face, or making one silly reference to the ancient Babylonians, or traveling to Japan over the Internet. The couples all said they’d had the time of their lives. More than one audience member told us it was the funniest improv show they’d ever seen. I was so happy that I could be part of it. I hope I can hold on to this and keep it up for future shows. 🙂