IMPROVOLYMPIC
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Though ImprovOlympic has grown steadily in popularity, the game has bounced from one location to another. Now, Close and producer Charna Halpern seem to have found a permanent home: the cabaret at Papa Milano, a restaurant on Lincoln near Armitage. There, four times a week, the Harold happens. Each improvisation is unique, and each includes its fair share of failures and flubs. But most contain a flash or two of brilliance–enough, at least, to elevate the Harold from a mere game to a form of entertainment that justifies charging admission.
In this new location, the emphasis is on entertainment, not competition. Instead of pitting teams against each other and asking the audience to pick a winner, teams merely take turns displaying their wit. Since each show is entirely different, what I saw opening night won’t resemble what you see, but it might give you an idea of what to expect.
Once all the players had offered their thoughts on the subject, they began to create little scenes. A boy walks his gum-smacking date to the door; members of a tribe discover “Indian gum” when they chew the bark of a tree; a gum-chewing teenager enrolls in Jack Kerouac High School, where he discovers that deviance is encouraged.
