Sunday, August 17, 2008


One of the nicest things about Joe and Shelby's improvised wedding was the cooperative nature of the whole evening.

There were very few decorations, so the wedding party "scene painted" (which is just a fancy improv way of saying, described the scenery) as we walked down the aisle ("Children kick the pews in front of them, while mothers yank on their arms, shushing"). Beloved improv veterans T.J. and Noah officiated the service, prodding people to participate while also keeping things moving along.

Devin played a keyboard and Danny played a singing saw.

Danny: 'Rainbow Connection' is harder to play than you'd think.

Audience member isn't the right word, exactly, but volunteers from among those watching the ceremony were frequently needed to step forward and deliver, say, a fake reading or enact, as the program called it "a drunken interruption." People were hesitant at first, a quiet sense of are-we-supposed-to-really-go-up-there hung over the guests, but after the first improviser stepped forward to make up a reading off the top of their head ("A reading from the Book of Mad Libs..."), the flood gates opened and like an improv show that gets its first hearty laugh, it was smooth sailing to the end.

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