Get Ready for the Ampersand International Arts Festival in Williamsburg, VA

Mark your calendars, art lovers! From March 17 to 23, 2025, the Ampersand International Arts Festival is set to transform Williamsburg, Virginia, into a vibrant hub of creativity and culture. This week-long celebration brings together an eclectic mix of world-class talent—think hip-hop legends, top comedians, soul-stirring musicians, and acclaimed authors—for an unforgettable experience in one of America’s most historic and charming towns.

Nestled in the heart of Virginia’s Historic Triangle, Williamsburg is more than just a backdrop for this festival. With its cobblestone streets, colonial architecture, and a palpable sense of history, it’s a destination that effortlessly blends the past with the present—a perfect stage for a festival that celebrates both tradition and innovation.(EdNote: If you keep your eyes open, you may see George Washington ambling about. If you do, greet him for me. My mom's side of the family is descended from his wife's third cousin.)

Whether you’re a local or a visitor, the Ampersand Festival offers a chance to soak in the arts while exploring a town that’s as picturesque as it is welcoming. I've been there twice and the visits were memorable. Add an arts festival and you're over the top.

Improvisational Shakespeare

Now in its 18th year, the festival has already become a regional gem, drawing over 3,000 attendees last year alone. “We are pleased to offer a truly comprehensive arts festival and bring such a broad range of creators to the community,” says Adam Stackhouse, one of the festival’s producers. And this year’s lineup? It’s nothing short of electrifying. Here’s a sneak peek at some of the spotlight programs lighting up the stage: Rev Run Spills the Beats

On March 22 at 7:00 PM, hip-hop icon Rev Run—the legendary frontman of RUN DMC—takes center stage for A Conversation with Rev Run. From selling millions of records to ushering rap into the mainstream, Rev’s journey as an artist, DJ, and preacher is one for the ages. Want to meet the man himself? Snag one of the limited VIP tickets for a post-show meet-and-greet.

The Lone Bellow’s Raucous Return

The festival kicks off with The Lone Bellow on March 18 at 8:00 PM. Known for their transcendent harmonies and high-energy live shows, this trio—Zach Williams (guitar/vocals), Kanene Donehey Pipkin (multi-instrumentalist/vocals and William & Mary Class of 2007), and Brian Elmquist (guitar/vocals)—promises a night of serious musicianship and pure joy. Their rabid fan base can attest: this is one performance you won’t want to miss.

Laughs with “Murr”

Get ready for A Night of Laughs with James “Murr” Murray on March 19 at 7:30 PM. Best known as the prank-pulling “Murr” from Impractical Jokers, this comedian, writer, and executive producer will dish out jokes, stories, and a few surprises—plus answer questions from the crowd. Bonus: Murr, also an author of suspenseful thrillers, will stick around for a book signing after the show. [EdNote: If able, I will get Murr to sign some of my books, too.]

Silent Films, Big Sounds

On March 21 at 7:30 PM, the Masters of Silent Comedy program brings classic silent films to life with the Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra. Watch Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd work their magic on screen, accompanied by live ragtime tunes. It’s a delightful throwback that’ll charm audiences of all ages.

Comedy Meets Quiz Night

For a twist on trivia, catch Like Minds on March 21 at 8:00 PM. This comedy quiz show blends pub-style facts with improv hilarity, featuring Thomas Middleditch (Silicon Valley), Asher Perlman (cartoonist for The New Yorker and writer for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert), and William & Mary alumnae comedians Andrea Coleman and Sara Schaefer. Perlman will sign copies of his bestseller Well, This is Me afterward.

Beyond these headliners, the festival is packed with films, theater, dance performances, and author talks. Plus, the Industry Summit offers workshops, panel discussions, and Q&A sessions with special guests and William & Mary alumni—perfect for aspiring creatives looking to sharpen their skills.

Produced by AVAdventure Productions and sponsored by the City of Williamsburg, with support from Colonial Williamsburg and William & Mary, this event is a testament to the town’s commitment to the arts. Whether you’re drawn by the music, the laughs, or the stories, there’s something for everyone.

Ready to join the fun? Head to the Ampersand Festival website for the full schedule and to grab your tickets. Williamsburg is calling—and it’s bringing the arts along for the ride!

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The Ampersand International Arts Festival is taking place in Williamsburg, Virginia March 17 through 23. It's their second year and last year we had more than 2,000 people come. This year will be bigger and better, so even more people from around the country can attend.   

Laurel & Hardy: Creative Chaos

Early scene from Helpmates.

Comedy comes in a variety of forms, but however you dish it out the aim is generally the same: to make us laugh. After interviewing Tony Belmont, founder and director of the National Comedy Hall of Fame, I decided to continue down this path, following up with Paul Johnson's book The Humorists. I became acquainted with Paul Johnson through his books The Intellectuals and Modern Times. He's obviously someone who enjoys researching the lives of interesting people. The focus of The Humorists is on people who make us laugh, whether through cartoons, literature or the cinema. 

His deep dive into Laurel and Hardy prompted me to borrow a 10-disc set of Laurel and Hardy DVDs from the library. I'd always enjoyed their antics, but had forgotten just how skilled they were at tickling our funny bones.

Before becoming a team they were already quite successful in their careers. Stan Laurel had been in more than 50 films and had worked as a writer and director. Hardy had more than 250 productions under his belt. 

Their first appearance together was in The Lucky Dog, though they were not yet a pair. They just had roles in the short silent film. Their first team effort came five years later in 1926 when they signed up with the Hal Roach film studio. They officially became Laurel and Hardy in a silent film called Putting Pants on Philip. Their Laurel and Hardy career included 32 silent films, 40 short talkies and 23 full-length feature films.

A scene from Helpmates

Unlike Abbott and Costello, where Bud Abbott was a foil or straight man in contrast to the antics of Lou Costello, Laurel and Hardy equally shared in the buffoonery. 

(Trivia: Costello hitchhiked to Hollywood to be in the movies, inspired by Charlie Chaplin. Before becoming a somebody, he can be spotted as an extra in Laurel and Hardy's The Battle of the Century.)

All this to say that I find the slapstick creativity of Laurel and Hardy to be sensational. Paul Johnson labels what they do as "creative chaos." 

Timing plays an important part in comedy, and these guys had it down tight. They take the simplest element in a story and stretch it to the breaking point. Foreshadowing is another ingredient they employ well. Much like winding up a watch-spring, it produces a tension that precedes the next explosive moment.

They also knew the importance of creating characters and staying in character. Laurel doesn't attempt to be Hardy and vice versa. The characters they created were middle class, with bowler hats and attire to match, but their stories were never political statements. Nor did they stoop to blue humor. 

Oliver Hardy was probably the first to directly peer into the camera and thereby the eyes of his audience.

Because Stan Laurel was frequently script writer and sometimes director, he was paid more than Hardy, but Hardy never complained. They'd both done quite well for themselves, hence their enduring success.

One are where they were less successful was in their marriages. Each had a number of wives, with Laurel having married one of his wives three different times. I guess that's one of the burdens of Hollywood. It can take a toll on the domestic side of life.

* * * 

The movie Helpmates illustrates the manner in which L&H create their magic. 

The opening shot is a placard that reads: "When the cat's away-- The mice start looking up telephone numbers."

Next, we see an interior shot of a living room and dining room, littered with debris that includes empty liquor bottles, broken lamps, broken plates, upended furniture. The camera pans the debris up close to reveal cigarette butts, more empty bottles, ash trays full of butts, one smoldering. It's apparent that there had been some hard partying going on.

Cut to: Oliver Hardy with an ice bag on his head and a look of disgust. "Now aren't you ashamed of yourself," he says. "A man with your supposed intelligence acting like an empty headed idiot." 

He goes through a litany of things he did while his wife was away. It looks like he's talking to the camera, but when the camera pulls away we see he's looking into a mirror addressing himself.

No sooner does he finish scolding himself when the doorbell rings. It's a telegram from his wife. She'll be home at noon today. He immediately dials up his friend Stan to come over right away. 

Cut to: Stan in bed, tossing and turning. He knocks the alarm clock on the floor while trying to turn it off. The ringing continues and after much dismay at trying to rest he realizes it's the phone, which he must get up to answer. 

The manner in which he stretches this scene out is classic. What follows are a series of escalating stupidities as the two men attempt to prepare the house for Hardy's wife's return. 

I highly recommend Helpmates as typical of their oeuvre. Mad Hatter meets dumb and dumber to produce slapstick genius. 

* * *

Classic Quotes from Stan Laurel

You can lead a horse to water, but a pencil must be lead. 

• I had a dream that I was awake and I woke up to find myself asleep. ...
  
  
• A friend once asked me what comedy was. That floored me. What is comedy? I don't know. Does anybody? Can you define it? All I know is that I learned how to get laughs, and that's all I know about it. You have to learn what people will laugh at, then proceed accordingly.

* * * 

If you need a break from all the disturbing events taking place at this moment in time, give Laurel and Hardy a try. Laughter really is good medicine.

A Visit with Tony Belmont of the National Comedy Hall of Fame

This past week Gary Firstenberg sent me photos from his visit to the National Comedy Hall of Fame Museum in Holiday, Florida just outside Tampa. The stories that have been captured there are quite remarkable. Museums provide a great service to the public, preserving history and providing inspiration to future generations. They cover all manner of human experience from archeology and anthropology to crime, politics and nature. The longer you live the more you run into fascinating niche museums, such as the Spy Museum around the corner from Ford Theater in Washington D.C. 

The National Comedy Hall of Fame Museum addresses another fascinating niche of human experience: Comedy. The president of this enterprise, Tony Belmont, seems to be a walking archive of memories, stories and history and because of his occupation as a rock and roll promoter, his life very early on intersected with the world of comedy and its many legendary performers. 

EN: What prompted you to create a Comedy Hall of Fame? 

Tony Belmont: Here's a little background. In the early days of Rock n' Roll when many acts were on the bill to perform a comedian provided an excellent segway.  (See Attached), It worked well to have a comedian out there long enough to make the transition to the next act. This worked because all the comedian needed was a microphone so you could get him on and off quickly. Also, he could work in front of the curtain which allowed the bands to change over easily behind the curtain.  Most drummers wanted their own cymbals and foot pedal, guitar players wanted their own amp, etc. This created too much dead time during the changeover. 

To avoid the dead time and to keep the energy going I found using the comedian would keep the audience amused while the change-over took place out of view. I used this system effectively for many years. This allowed for concerts to move fluently through the evening and made for a great show! This also moved Rock n' Roll concerts to the next level, production rock. 

Tony Belmont. Photo Gary Firstenberg

It was with this background and exposure that in 1969 I was contacted by the Smithsonian Institute the most prestigious museum in the U.S. They were concerned because many of the great comedians especially the vaudevillians in the 19 century, were coming to the twilight of their lives and there was very little documentation about these people. They felt someone needed to document their stories before it was too late. Once they passed on, the wonderful stories about their lives and acts would be lost except for hearsay.  That part of history for accuracy would be lost forever. So ~~ they contacted me! I thought they were making a mistake and told them I was a rock n' roller but they convinced me I was the one for the mission. ( Let me amend that statement! They doubled the money and I was suddenly very interested in preserving history. I spent the next 4 years traveling the country in-between my Rock n' Roll shows interviewing at their homes over 400 of the greatest comedians of the century!

EN: Impressive!

Tony Belmont: Fast Forward to 1989. By that time I had become friends with many of the great comedians, and I was at the LA Friars Club in a conversation with a few of the members: Jan Murray, Morey Amsterdam, Milton Berle, Steve Allen, and a few others when the topic came up about my past comedy interviews. Morey said, except for those interviews you did no one will remember any of us at this table. There needs to be a place that people can go and read about us in the future. A-----a building---like maybe a museum! That's it!  A national museum about comedy.

I said that's great as I burped on my ginger ale. Are you guys going to do it? At that moment they all looked at me together and like a fifty's singing group in Acapella harmony said, "No-n0-NO, you are!" (The official start date was July 25, 1991.)

So the answer to your question is: I didn't create the National Comedy Hall of Fame Museum, I was sucked in and drafted.

EN: There are so many great eras of comedy. What are some of the different kinds of comedy?

Tony Belmont: There are six major areas of comedy: although in the museum we break that down even further. Musical Comedian (e.g. Victor Borge), Dialect Comedian (e.g. Yakov Smirnoff), Impressionist (e.g. Rich Little), Dialogue (eg. Comedian Norm Crosby/Professor Irwin Corey/.Etc. etc.)

EN: How has comedy changed under the influence of changes in media?

Tony Belmont: Vaudeville, Radio, Television, Stand-up, Theater, Film.  

Example: I interviewed Art Carney at his home years ago. I told him I thought he was a great comedian. He politely corrected me and said, "I'm sorry young man but I'm not a comedian. I'm a comedic Actor. I don't stand in front of a mic and tell jokes. I need a script and then I will make it funny."

Different kinds of comedy are related to the act that the individual puts together. 

Examples:

(a) Prop Comedy:  Carrot Top a relatively new comedian in the past 15 years uses a box full of props next to him and pulls them out one by one. Gallager does a similar act but ends by smashing a watermelon all over the audience.

(b) Professor Backwards murdered words; this was later done by Norm Crosby and others.

(c) Ventriloquists: Jeff Dunham who is very popular now,. But I managed the man who started it all the "Great Senor Wences," the father of ventriloquists. 
(d)  Magician Comedians: Elliott Smith. His magic is first class but it's used as a prop for his comedy. Or Penn & Teller

Comedy has evolved along with media. In radio, there were many sound effects to help create the humor: Jack Benny-Fibber McGee & Molly etc. With television, it was now more visual and required film-type acting skills. Sadly today we are too politically correct and that is difficult in comedy, as comedians like to talk about anything and everything. But now they are handicapped. Don Rickles told me a few years back he could not do the humor he started with years ago, he would get into a lot of trouble if he did. He wasn't talking about Blue Comedy, he was talking about the restrictions that prevent comedians from making fun of people or even themselves?

EN: Over the course of your career you’ve personally gotten to know many of the comedians we’ve become familiar with through television and film. Who were some of these and what were they like when not in the spotlight?

Tony Belmont. Photo Gary Firstenberg.

Tony Belmont: I met everyone that was at the top and still alive in 1970 and on. So I had many favorites. With me as opposed to being on the Johnny Carson Show or Larry King where they need to be entertaining they could relax and be themselves. George Carlin was laid back and a nice guy. Not the crazy guy you saw on stage. Red Skelton was exactly what you expected. He was just like the comedian he portrayed on TV. Henny Youngman Told one-liners every couple of minutes. George Burns was a wealth of knowledge. I said to George. "You've been around a long time George! You must know everything there is to know about show business." He smiled --took a puff on his cigar and said, "Yes -I do. The problem is at my age I can't remember any of it anymore." 

I asked Milton Berle a question and expected a different answer. I told him that I had interviewed his good friend Henny Youngman a year back and Henny told me that you (Milt) stole all of his jokes. I thought he would object to that, but instead, to my amazement he said, "Yes--I did!  But I told them better."

* * * 

National Comedy Hall of Fame

Address: 2435 US-19 Holiday, FL 34691

Email: comedyhall@aol.com

Related Links

National Comedy Hall of Fame Inductees

Another Side of Jonathan Winters

My Original August 4 Standup Routine: Eggplant Humor & More

Call for Art and Auditions at the County Seat Theater

Yes, there are a lot of events that have been scuttled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.  Something that has not been stopped in its tracks is the County Seat Theater in Cloquet, with its ongoing support for the arts. 

This afternoon I received a Call for Art from Kris Nelson, whose advocacy for local artists as well as the theater has been noteworthy and commendable. The 2021 Season for the theater is just around the corner, and in keeping with tradition there will be art shows accompanying the five shows being produced. No, they will not be live (initially). Instead they will be viewed "On Demand" or via Livestreaming. 

To stay current with events at the Encore Performing Arts Center & Gallery, home of the County Seat Theater Company, become a follower here on Facebook.

 

2021 Schedule at a Glance

Auditions: January 3

February 12-14 & 18-21, 2021

Do Not Go Gentle

One-act Drama By Suzan Zeder.

Lillian Boedecker Barron is 84 years old, vibrant, funny, wise, and recently deceased! During her lifetime, Lillian shared a special, long-distance bond with her granddaughter, Kelly, and suffered an estrangement from her son Windsor, a Colonel in the Air Force. After her death, Lillian discovers that she cannot “move on” until the rifts are somehow mended. Windsor and Kelly come from overseas to settle Lillian's affairs and are aghast to discover that the walls of her house have been painted with wild, sometimes humorous, sometimes horrific murals and drawings. As they unravel secrets of the paintings, the two make astonishing discoveries about themselves and a special relationship between Lillian and a neighborhood child. This powerful, poignant play explores the wonder of words and the transformative power of art as it offers humor and hope to anyone who is, or has ever been, a grandparent, parent, or a child.

April 9-11 & 15-18, 2021

Almost Maine

Romantic Comedy By John Cariani

Welcome to Almost, Maine, a place that’s so far north, it’s almost not in the United States. It’s almost in Canada. And it’s not quite a town, because its residents never got around to getting organized. So it almost doesn’t exist. One cold, clear, winter night, as the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, the residents of Almost, Maine, find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and hilarious ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend—almost—in this delightful midwinter night’s dream.

May 28-30 & June 3-6, 2021

Finishing School

Comedy By Elaine Liner.

This comedy about life’s second act finds older gents Al and Wizzer meeting on a park bench every morning to read and mock newspaper obits. Their daily rituals—shooting the bull about sports, women loved and lost and the many annoyances of aging—are suddenly shaken up by the appearance of a friendly young woman and her flirty mom. Wizzer pep-talks lonely widower Al to convince him to break out of his self-imposed “quantum of solace” and maybe find love again, while also dealing with his own fear of ending up in the memory care unit at their assisted living facility. Punctuated with true-to-life moments familiar to anyone with an aging parent or spouse, the play takes an upbeat attitude toward life after 60, 70 and beyond.

You can't drink all day if you don't
start at breakfast.

September 24-26 & 30-Oct. 3, 2021

Beer for Breakfast

Comedy By Sean Grennan

A group of middle-aged buddies reunite for a "guys' weekend" in a snowed-in cabin to eat chili, drink beer, and relive the good old days. Despite divorce, unemployment, and a stroke, spirits are high until Jessie, the wife of absent friend Adrian, shows up in his place. An epic battle of wits and stamina ensues: will the men win their right to an all-out guy fest, or will woman be crowned the stronger sex after all?

December 3-5 & 8-12, 2021

A Doublewide, Texas Christmas

Comedy by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope & Jamie Wooten

In this outrageously funny comedy, it’s Christmas-time in the newest—and tiniest—town in Texas. And it’s beginning to look a lot like trouble in Doublewide. Not only are the trailer park residents dealing with the stress of the holiday season, but they’ve just discovered that Doublewide is being double-crossed by the County. With their official incorporation papers in jeopardy, this band of eccentric Texans throw themselves into taking on the “Big Guys.” Determined to bolster their legitimacy, they first set their sights on the County-wide “Battle of The Mangers” competition. 

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County Seat Theater Company

Performing at the Encore! Performing Arts Center & Gallery

2035 Hwy 33 South (on Frontage Rd.), Cloquet, MN 55720

www.countyseattheater.com

218-878-0071

Spielberg's The Terminal Pushes All the Right Buttons

This week I watched The Terminal again for the first time in perhaps 10 or 12 years. Funny thing is, although I remembered the story line I could not recall the reason our hapless hero Viktor Navorski came to the U.S. in the first place. Nor did I recall that this was a Steven Spielberg film, one of several that the masterful director has made with Tom Hanks.

The storyline is this. Viktor Navorski (Hanks) has flown into the United States from his homeland Krakozhia, a small country in Eastern Europe. Unfortunately, there has been a coup during his flight and the new regime has not yet been recognized by our State Department so that his temporary visa is rejected. On the other hand, he is not able to fly home because his return is similarly blocked. In short, he's stuck between a rock and a hard place. He has nowhere to go. 

Adding to his problems is Frank Dixon (Stanley Tucci, The Devil Wears Prada) who refuses to bend any rules to help resolve Navorski's complicated tangled mess. A bureaucrat gatekeeper more concerned with appearances than realities. 

The film has all the elements of good entertainment. Conflict, comedy, characters with definite aims, all thrown into a series of stalemate situations. 

Hanks began his career with a number of humorous roles, and after films like Castaway, Apollo 13, Captain Philips, Saving Private Ryan, Sully and Philadelphia one could forget that he's pretty good as a comic. The film opens with Navorski being unable to communicate effectively with Dixon who is clearly clueless about the degree of their communication gap. Hanks plays it a little over-the-top, which is probably just the right touch, letting us know up front it's not a serious drama. 

Audiences may not realize how familiar Hanks is with the heavy accent he struggles to express himself with. In real life, Hanks' father-in-law is Bulgarian, and in one scene late in the film he's talking Bulgatian and not just babbling,

I remember wondering if this were based on a true story and was both surprised and not surprised to learn that an incident like this has happened in real life. The film was purportedly inspired by the story of an Iranian refugee who arrived at Charles De Gaulle Airport near Paris but was unable to gain entry to France after his papers were stolen. What's a fellow to do?

So Navorski makes the airport his home. (I was curious if the name Viktor Navorski was inspired by Bronko Nagurski, the football star, a name that always struck me a cool.)

I remember bringing my dad to JFK Airport when I was younger. What I remember most was being struck by how tall those international passenger jets were.  

For the film, Spielberg & company built an entire airport set, including all the restaurants in the food court. The Hudson Books would be recognizable to any frequent business flyer over the past 30 years.  I'm curious what they do with these massive sets after they're filmed? One would imagine they're recycled somehow. Any ideas?

Some of the humor is subtle. Navorski is unable to leave the airport, but in one scene he's in the Borders Book Store reading Dr. Seuss' Oh the Places You'll Go.

Right from the opening scene there's that unusual attention to detail in the camera angles, titles and method of conveying information. It's part of the Spielberg DNA.  

One of the features of the story is how many character storylines are developed. Each is well defined, each has more to his or her story than what we see initially. Like Hanks, each has a personal quest.

Another feature of the film which I either hadn't picked up on before or forgot was this notion of waiting. Everyone is waiting for something. I think of the Kinks' "So tired, tired of waiting..." Patience is a virtue, and waiting is the test that tries our patience more than anything.

The romance elements bring another layer into the film. Catherine Zeta-Jones is a stewardess who flies all over the world, and at first she doesn't realize that Hanks actually "lives" at the airport. You know how it is when you run into people you know at airports. If you travel a lot it happens and they are always on their way to somewhere else. And yes, it is another kind of waiting that Hanks must do, ever waiting to see her again.

There were some mixed reviews of the film on imdb.com. Because it was Spielberg and Hanks, one reviewer said, "I've come to expect more." Well, it worked for me. Even Graham Greene wrote some novels that called "entertainments." Not everything has to strive to change the world. If you haven't see it, it's fun.

Calling All Humor Writers. Does Your Writing Smell Funny To Your Friends?

COMEDY DEPOT

This writing challenge pays $1000 to the winner, and they're not joking.

Slackjaw Humor Writing Challenge

Photo by Patrick Schneider on Unsplash

Slackjaw has announced a humor writing challenge, which is currently live until September 21. You can find more information on joining the challenge here. “Slackjaw is Medium’s most-read humor publication with 90,000+ followers, and we want your funny writing! We also want to support humor writers — and aspiring humor writers — everywhere. That’s why we’re announcing our first Humor Writing Challenge.”

* * * *

Is being funny something you do? It's not easy being a comic, and writing funny can be even more challenging.

Here's a chance to see what you're made of.

* * * *

And here are a few quips to close this off so I can post it and get the word out.

1.
A ham sandwich walks into a bar and orders a beer. 

The bartender says, "Sorry, we don't serve food here."

2. What do you call an alligator detective?

An investi-gator.

And finally, for a finale:

3.
A fly feels a bug on its back and asks, “Hey, bug on my back, are you a mite?” 

 “I mite be,” giggles the mite. 

 “That’s the worst pun I’ve ever heard,” the fly groans. 

 “What do you expect?” asks the mite. “I came up with it on the fly.”

Laughter by the Lake: Maritime Improv Crew Offers Up "Belly Laughs" for the Whole Family

Maritime Improv Crew, in uniform. (Publicity still)

This past week I was invited to attend a rehearsal of the Maritime Improv Crew as they prepared for their next gig, the Belly Laughs Improv Comedy Show, July 6.

The rehearsal was underway when I arrived at the Spirit of the North Theater and took a seat. Tami Siebert, of Siebert Event Consulting Management, is producer of the shows which have been a feature here for three years now.

The team was working through an initial warmup activity that appears designed to help them think on their feet. It reminded me of the routines a choir might go through to loosen their voices before a performance, or a basketball team getting ready for a big game.

Siebert explained to me how they began doing these improv shows. There are a few places in town where one can catch stand up comedy in the Twin Ports, and there have been improv shows at Teatro Zuccone for some time, but these latter  shows begin at 10:00 and while sizzling fun for the crowd they serve, it's not necessarily family fare, nor is it family friendly hours.

Warm ups.

Being aware of the need for fun comedy that is easy to be enjoyed without being too blue, or as Siebert puts it, "Wholesome comedy at a reasonable hour," led to Maritime Improv Crew.

Sharon Dixon Obst was asked to direct, but her schedule is such that it seemed imperative to have a pair of directors. Her co-director is Ted Carlson-Webster from the College of St. Scholastica who has also been active with the Rubber Chicken Theater.

"Tours here (at Fitgers) always resulted in someone saying they wish we had something like this earlier," Siebert said. "Ted and I held auditions. We wanted to do a different form of improv." Ted will be in the upcoming Dracula show later this year.

Fun and games. Fun for all.

"The size of the crew enables them to do shows when some folks are out of town," Siebert added. "The shows are once a month, which is fun, and not too much pressure."

Siebert shared how the audience gets invited to be involved so that it creates immersive experiences. “We want the audience to feel like they are part of the show. In our last show, for example, we had a six-year-old boy come up on stage and be Batman."

One of the routines the crew practiced was a game called Guess Who's Coming To Dinner? A variation of charades, one player leaves the room while all the others are assigned roles to play. When the main player returns he is told what the event is. In this case it was a bachelor party or some such thing. He had to then create the scene, identifying objects like a desk, dart board and such. The party animals knocked on the door and acted their various parts (One, for example, was Dr. Spock) while the main player guessed their identities. Correct guess, and you die. It was fun.

Guess Who's Coming To Dinner?

Afterwards I connected with Sharon Obst for a few more details about the Maritime Improv Crew and what they are doing.

EN: Freud and many others have attempted to analyze humor. What is it that makes people laugh? And what is it that makes Improv especially fun?

Sharon Dixon Obst: People laugh at what makes them uncomfortable or scares them, or things that are just ridiculous. I like improv because it's unpredictable. I never know what is going to happen until it does. In that way, it mimics life. We are all improv actors, we just don't realize it.

EN: Your events are family friendly. How is it that so much standup comedy is so off-color?

SDO: We are a family friendly show. Some stand up is off color because it's easy to go for the cheap laugh by using language or situations that appeal to that part of the human experience. It's harder and smarter to stay clean. It just takes more work, but in the end, it's worth it because the humor is more cerebral. Also, with long form improv, we are more of storytellers. We have to be able to come back to the scenes we create. Keeping the scenes more realistic and clean means there is more of a through line for telling a story.

Sharon Obst (R) with Ted Carlson-Webster (L)
and a portion of their crew in the background

EN: How did you become a co-director of the Maritime Improv Crew?

SDO: Brian Matuszak contacted me about Tami looking to start an improv group to perform once a month at Fitger's. I used to perform with Renegade and Rubber Chicken and have done workshops and private performances for many years. I was intrigued by the possibility of having the opportunity to create a new experience for the area in long-form from the ground up. Since I teach full time and have other obligations, I knew I would need someone to come in as a co-director, not assistant director. I wanted to make certain that we were working together and that the cast knew we were equals, even though Ted is much younger than me. Ted grew up doing improv and has a lot of experience. So once he said he would co-lead the team, we were both in.

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 BELLY LAUGHS IMPROV COMEDY SHOW

Saturday July 6 @7 p.m.
3rd Floor Fitgers Spirit of the North Theater

TICKETS:  $15/adults, $10 students @the door
Early Bird  online tickets at Eventbrite

Maritime Improv Crew page on Facebook

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While we're on the subject of comedy

Here's a Reminder that This Thursday 

RUBBER CHICKEN THEATER 

PRESENTS

7:30 p.m. @ THE UNDERGROUND 

DETAILS HERE