#improv group

[limelifely]

[writing2changetheworld]

This is random sorry, and is probably gonna be pretty long, but I saw a couple of your posts about ableism/accessibility in Smosh videos, and I would like to recommend an improv comedy group that, in my opinion, treats disabilities extremely well. Shoot From The Hip is a London-based comedy group made up of four men in their 30s- Sam, Tom, Luke and AJ. I would like to clarify that while none of them have any physical disabilities, both Tom and Luke are diagnosed with ADHD (and I think one of the others might be too but idk), and Sam has said before that he has "a form of dyslexia", I don't know if he would consider himself disabled though (bc I've heard before that he doesnt identify as neurodivergent).

The first thing I want to mention is their subtitles. I think it was some time last year when a group of fans started transcribing the longform plays, and soon after they got in touch with SFTH and a subtitle team was created- fully made up of fans. Nowadays, every new video that comes out has subtitles available, and some are even colour coded to show who is saying what. Becuase it's fans who make the subtitles, there are often little references to other SFTH content sprinkled here and there and stuff, which not only is a delight to see (many people who don't need subtitles still turn them on just for that), it also makes SFTH more accessible for newer fans imo, as they get to know the inside jokes a lot quicker- a win-win! Most, if not all of the backlog of content has subtitles by now, and plenty have other languages available too.

Additionally, SFTH are very inclusive in the characters they play, whether that's including queer characters, neurodivergent characters, physically disabled characters, etc- they've said before (and I'm paraphrasing here) that all these types of people exist, so why shouldn't they be included in the stories they tell? And the best thing is, it doesn't feel forced at all- it's not like they sat down and decided that they would be inclusive, it just happens naturally. And specifically for disabilities- they don't treat them as a huge plot point, as if they come with special "superpowers", nor do they treat them like things that should be hushed and not spoken about, and shamed. They're never the butt of a joke, that's just the way the characters are. A good example I could give for this is from a recent play they put out on their patreon (so unfortunately it's behind a paywall), where a character has a stutter. If any jokes were made about it at all, they were light teasing from this character's brothers- and even then, he was able to stand up for himself and tell his brothers to stop (something I feel is pretty rare for disabled representation!). It was never even a big plot point, it was just another character trait. Another example is that several characters canonically have ADHD (it's probably most common bc their actors have it too lol), but every single time it's always just a quick mention, it doesn't become part of the plot and it's never made out that these characters are rejected, undesirable or anything- it's literally just a character trait, full stop. And lastly, there's a character who lost both his legs in a war (against alien-like Cubes)- but he's not treated with pity or anything, and later when he gets new Cube-forged prosthetics, he just wants to show them off to his husband- it isn't some kind of revelation that closes the gaps between humans and Cubes, it doesn't make the Cubes listen to him and stop the war- no, they make peace through the power of love instead xD.

Anyway, sorry for the long paragraphs, feel free to ignore this reccomendation if you want. Have a good day! ^-^

I may check them out.

One thing in particular you said that caught my eye though is none of them are physically disabled but play physically disabled characters. Some physically disabled people don't agree but I'm voicing my opinion: that's not okay. They agree we're human beings and we exist but they don't actually include us?

[sfanth]

I like how they consider themselves cuties. xddd Well... It is true. :)

Story: 24.01.26 11:48 London Time

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They did say four, does that mean it didn't include Luke initially? What was the need to say "Yes, even cutie Lukey"? XD

[limelifely]

[limelifely]

[elwashingmachine]

yesterday's shoot for a teaser 😸

[philamuseum]

There are sure to be some funny faces at this Sunday's Portrait Party as we laugh along with improv group StoryUP! At this Pay What You Wish Family Festival, families get to know the faces in the galleries, express themselves through portraiture, and strike a pose in our photo booth. And don’t forget—kids 12 and under are always free at the Museum.

"Staircase Group (Portrait of Raphaelle Peale and Titian Ramsay Peale I)," 1795, Charles Willson Peale