While Miami's improv community may not be thriving as much as that of Chicago, New York, and L.A., it is definitely growing. But it needs support.
Despite the relatively small size of improv here, we have quite a few troupes to boast about. I'll hold back on the reviews as each person's experience is completely different. If you want to experience it, here are just some of the groups the regularly perform:
For those in northern Dade or maybe southern Broward, Laughing Gas performs every Friday and Saturday at 11PM. Some nights they may even have earlier 9PM shows. Laughing Gas is located in Miami Lakes, at 6766 Main Street (right across the street from the Johnny Rockets). Admission is $10.
While Laughing Gas is based more on short sketches and games, Just the Funny offers us long-form improv. They're located a bit further down south at 3119 Coral Way, the Just the Funny Theater (it has a small entrance by the street and you have to go up the stairs). Admission is $10 for the 9PM shows, $5 for the 11PM shows, or $12 for both. Their shows aren't always regular, but their website is frequently updated.
Mod 27 is based in West Palm Beach at the Cuillo Centre for the Arts, 201 Clematis St. Upcoming shows are every other week, and it's $13 to get in for everyone except students and seniors who only pay $11.
Down at the Roxy Theatre, 1645 SW 107th Ave in Miami, you can find Impromedy (taking a wild guess and saying it's a combination of improv and comedy!). The link above is to their Facebook, which they update and send out messages from when there are shows coming up.
However, I have to admit that I do have a bias. My preferred performers are the One Mind Theater Group (note the two different links). One Mind is composed of Evad Herman, a team, not a person, and Peter and Jeff. The seven of them, including good friend Bryan Cuan, are hilarious and will have you crying tears of laughter in your seat. They use the Just the Funny facilities at 3119 Coral Way, and are performing next on Friday, June 25th/8PM.
And just in time for the weekend, there's the second ever Just the Funny Improv RUMBLE. Watch several groups perform at the Just the Funny Theater for only $5 (it's a bargain!) and then choose a winner. The RUMBLE is set to begin this Sunday night (7/13) promptly at 7PM.
No matter what your choice of comedy is, with all the troupes in Miami you're sure to find something that delights. Improv is the perfect inexpensive choice for a date, an outing with friends, and basically any occasion (also serves as a great cheer-upper). Give it a try, tell your friends, and let's help bring back what should have never gone in the first place.
3 comments:
Actually, Improv was HUGE in the late eighties and early 90's; it's declined over the last ten years, and only now is starting to revive a little.
I worked with two different Improv groups: The Comedy Squad, up in West Palm Beach, and Big Purse (And Matching Shoes).
Comedy Squad hit big at the Arts' Bar in West Palm. This was before the CityCenter project; it was projects like Arts' Bar that paved the way for WPB's downtown renewal, and Comedy Squad was a big part of that. People lined up around the block to get in to see them. Two of the found members left for New York around 1992 and the troop folded soon after that; but Billy Merritt and Michael Delaney now do long-form with The Stepfathers. Billy sometimes appears on VH1 retrospectives.
The women in the troop founded the all-female Big Purse(and Matching Shoes), and they played Hollywood, West Palm Beach, and a few other places. I was their DJ, and eventually became the only male member of the group, because I was male, and had a...well, you know.
Comedy Squad begat at least four other companies as members split off to make their own way, and they had several competitors in Palm Beach at the outset. There might have been eight or nine groups in Palm Beach County, and about that many in Broward and Dade Counties.
Some of them were tied to various theater companies, and died when their hosts died; theater is another art making a come-back.
oye, bro! great post! i started a blog about this very subject, too! check it out? :) www.themiami.harold.blogspot.com updated news/info on SoFla improv. why not?
fawad-member of laughing gas and impromedy, also stuck in hialeah!
happy to find another improv head around here. for serious.
Hey, great article, we are trying to get the Improv scene lit up here. I credit Fawad, Improv P.I. and Jeff Quintana for much of that. Also mention to the JTF people in that regard.
A quick correction to Fawad's post:
http://themiamiharold.blogspot.com
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