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March 21, 2003
Improv mocks classics
Jeremy Jacobson's audiences help make shows fun.
KYLE BERGER REPORTER
You could take Jeremy Jacobson, place him in any room, in any place
in the world and ask him to take on any occupation and he'd probably
be just fine.
That's because Jacobson is a master of improv – a type of theatre
where actors are asked to perform ad-lib scenes on demand.
Though Jacobson has a long list of acting experiences since the
age of 11, from commercial spots to cartoon voice-overs and English
dubbing, it was the art and challenge of improvisation that captivated
his imagination. It's also what he ended up focusing much of his
time on while studying for his degree in psychology at the University
of British Columbia (UBC). Jacobson worked hard for his degree but
said his proudest achievement was the development of the UBC Improv
Society.
When he started with UBC Improv, he and his ad-lib partners had
audiences of about 20 people. Three years later, crowds of 200 or
more were taking in their shows. Though their days at UBC are now
over, Jacobson and his old UBC team recently founded their own professional
company called the Mocking Horse Theatre Society, better known as
Mock Improv.
Improv has grown in popularity since the rise of the hit TV show
Whose Line is it Anyway?, starring sit-com star Drew Carey.
While the Mock Improv shows have some key similarities to some of
the well-known theatre games shown on TV, Jacobson said that his
group has found its own niche.
A Mock Improv show usually starts with some standard theatre games
to get the cast and audience warmed up. The second half of the show,
however, features a 40- or 50-minute performance of various classic
productions with unique character or scene twists, as contributed
by the audience.
"In December, we did an improvised version of A Christmas
Carol," Jacobson explained. "But instead of Scrooge
being greedy, he was narcoleptic. And instead of the ghosts of Christmas
past, present and future, it was the ghosts of Christmas smoking,
karaoke and dancing."
The nature of improv means that every show is unique. And Jacobson
said that the success of any show is often dependent on the involvement
of the audience.
"An audience is more than 50 per cent of the show," he
said. "The more responsive an audience is, the better we are."
While people may assume that improv artists are just people with
an outgoing sense of humor, Jacobson told the Bulletin that
being funny is less important than being clever. Because, while
cracking a joke is an obvious way to get a laugh, the audience is
often more responsive when they can tell that the actors are thinking.
"The thing that the audience likes the most is when you make
a connection to something they've seen previously because they can
see that we're thinking," he said. "You also have to be
aware of what's going on in the world so you can make clever references
to politics or pop culture."
Jacobson, who is currently studying marketing management and professional
sales at the British Columbia Institute of Technology, said that
the other key to improv is to be a team player.
"The beauty of what we do is that we look good by making other
people look good. You can't be out to make yourself look better
than anyone else."
Mock Improv puts on monthly shows at the Kerrisdale Community Centre
and their next show, based on the TV drama 24, will take place March
22, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $5.
"The show starts after Shabbat, so everyone can come,"
Jacobson assured.
More information can be found on their Web site at www.mockimprov.com.
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