Blackout Presents: Juneteenth at the Ordway

This week I attended my first celebration of Juneteenth National Independance Day, a holiday long celebrated but only recently made a federal holiday, commemorating the end of slavery in the US. And I can think of no better way to celebrate than with Blackout Improv. Blackout has been performing at various venues around town since 2015, and was the first Black improv troupe in Minneapolis. There are more now, many of which perform at the annual Black and Funny Improv Festival which they started, bringing in BIPOC improv performers from all over the country (and Canada!) to perform at HUGE Theater. I've seen Blackout perform a number of times over the years, and they're always "funny, smart, relevant, and topical" (as I wrote one of the first times I saw them). This was the biggest venue in which I've ever seen them perform, the Ordway's gorgeous Concert Hall, and it was a thrill to see them in front of a large and supportive audience in what felt like a usual Blackout show, but also elevated and special.

Black and Funny Improv Festival at HUGE Theater

The 8th Annual Black and Funny Improv Festival is running this weekend only! I attended the first night and saw four improv groups perform. Not only was it a fun night of laughter (which is the norm at HUGE Theater), but it was a wonderful celebration of Black artists, Black comedy, and Black joy. The festival stresses that "Black people are centered, all are welcome," and it truly felt like that. As a White person, I felt not only welcome, but also privileged to experience and be part of this wonderful community. Laughter is healing and uniting, it builds community and companionship, it makes us forget any perceived differences we think exist between us and others. So head on down to HUGE Theater in Uptown to see some great improv by local, national, and international performers, and/or partake in comedy workshops. You can purchase tickets and find more information about the performers and workshops at the Black and Funny website. And to learn a little more about the festival, listen to our interview with festival co-directors John Gebretatose and Jada Pulley on the Twin Cities Theater Chat podcast.

"Family Dinner" and "The Mess" at HUGE Theater

After pivoting to a very 2020 Zoom version last year, everyone's favorite improv show Family Dinner is back at HUGE Theater where they belong! Where we can watch a delightfully dysfunctional family reunite for a holiday* dinner and actually eat it, live in front of us! I saw the show last weekend with my blogger friends from Play Off the Page and The Stages of MN (and then stayed to watch the also hilarious improv troupe The Mess), and laughed harder than I have in a long time. Family Dinner is hugely popular and often sells out its twice-weekly shows from mid-November through the end of the year, because everyone can relate to that awkward family dinner, even if this one is a bit more extreme in awkwardness and drama. But it's never mean-spirited, you get the sense that this improvised family loves each other, even whilst driving each other crazy. The final two performances this year are on New Year's Eve and Day - get your tickets now! While you're on the HUGE website, check out what else is going on, with live shows six days a week.

Black and Funny / Twin Cities Improv Festival at the Bakken Museum

Last weekend, I attended the final performance of the joint festival by the Black and Funny and Twin Cities Improv Festivals. And it only made me wish I had seen more of the performances. In the before times, I didn't see improv often enough, but I had to go to Huge Theater (which was a sponsor of the event) at least once a year to see my favorite improv show, Family Dinner. It had been a year and a half since I had seen live in-person improv, and it was so amazingly wonderful to laugh with other humans at silly, smart, fun performances made up entirely new right in front of us! That's the magic of improv, doable over Zoom but so much better in real life, even outdoors* under a tent on a rainy day. The festival may be over, but live performance returns to Huge on July 9 with shows every Friday and Saturday throughout the summer, and their full schedule returning this fall (click here for details).

"Blackout Improv" at Mixed Blood Theatre

Friends, it's been too long since I've seen Blackout Improv. Now in their fifth year, this all-POC improv troupe performs every third Monday at Mixed Blood Theatre. Now that #TCTheater is winding down for the holidays, I was finally able to go see a show, just in time for their year end/holiday show. If they're not already, Blackout Improv should definitely be on your radar going into 2020 for the unique perspective and performance style they bring to the Twin Cities performing arts scene.

Fringe Festival 2017: "Sevlin & Devlin Presents: Seven Evans in Heaven"

Day: 4

Show: 18

Title: Sevlin & Devlin Presents: Seven Evans in Heaven

Category: Comedy

By: Ferrari McSpeedy Theatrical Productions

Created by: Ferrari McSpeedy Theatrical Productions

Location: Ritz Theater Studio

Summary: A delightfully silly tale about two sisters named Evan who die, one going to heaven and one going to unheaven.

Highlights: On paper the story doesn't sound like much - two happy and close sisters die one day, one ending up in heaven and one in hell, and the one in heaven has to go get the one from hell and bring her back. Where does that even come from?! But when brought to life by the Ferrari McSpeedy gang (Anna Hickey, Erin Sheppard, Joe Bozic, John Gebretatose, Mike Fotis, Rita Boersma, Ryan Lear, and director Jason Ballweber), it's pure delight. A bunch of silly gags, fake fights with invisible weapons, cute little songs (with Ryan on ukulele), and puppets are just some of the fun elements that fill out the tale. It almost feels like some of the show is improvised but it's hard to tell, and some of the most fun moments are when the cast crack each other up. Last night's show sold out the tiny Ritz Studio space, so you'll want to make reservations in advance to see this expert exercise in comedy.

Read all of my Fringe mini-reviews here.