#iron improviser

[fiveweeksinchicago]

Me in my Shaun of the Dead MC outfit, surrounded by eliminated players at the end of the first half. Photo by my dad.

[fiveweeksinchicago]

Iron Improviser - Friday 13th

Last night we performed ImproMafia’s annual Iron Improviser format to a packed house of about 100 people at the Metro Arts theatre. The format’s based on Maestro/Micetro, where we start with 12-18 players and eliminate them a few at a time until we are left with a single winner.

Iron Improviser, as its name suggests, has its roots in the pageantry of Iron Chef. Winners have been crowned with Japanese sounding titles (Iron Improviser Cherry Blossom and Black Dragon are two examples), scores have been given on a scale of Ichi, Ni, San, Giant Monster Attack, competitors enter the stadium to a voice-over which uses a lot of grandiose language, and the musical score has been inspired by what you’d expect to hear on Iron Chef.

As our show fell on Friday 13th January we decided to go for a spooky tribute to classic horror films as well as some more modern classics. As MC I wore a Shaun of the Dead costume, complete with a foam cricket bat and a name badge with my own name on it! Our judges were a vampire, the grim reaper, and zombie Snow White. Our set and props guru, Scott, built a “Welcome to camp ImproMafia” sign and some tent fronts, our audience entered the theatre to theme songs from modern TV shows that drew from supernatural and teen horror themes.

After two rounds, and to take us to the break, our judges eliminated six players. Our make-up artist, Olivia, appeared from backstage dressed as the woman from the Ring films and killed the eliminated players, who dropped to the stage, dead. At half time they were made-up by Olivia to look like zombies, and came back to stage to eliminate the players at the end of the next round. The next eliminations came at the end of round 4 where I sent three players backstage, one at a time, to investigate that horrible thumping sound. The evidence of their deaths was Jim’s amputated hand being thrown from backstage, Lucy falling over with a bloody machete protruding from her midsection, and then Drew coming back on stage with fake blood pouring down his shirt from where he was clutching his neck. The final eliminations at the end of round 5 saw two players slashed by Scott, dressed as Jason Voorhees, while Drew and Lucy remained on stage from the previous round (and yes, players had to play around them).

Our winner, Brit, was crowned champion with a crown and sash before having a bucket of blood poured over her, a la Carrie. The elimination mechanisms and crowning blood had been kept secret from the players in the lead-up to the show, so everyone felt the shock of Brit being covered in fake blood, pouring over the edge of her crown and all down her front and on to the stage floor.

There were a lot of fun moments in the night. A “Pillars” game with two audience members providing random words for Jim and Taylor, two friends trapped in the wood with one threatening to eat the other. A submarine crew exploring the ocean depths and what it means to be a man in an “Oscar Winning Moment”. A scene inspired by the real life fear of last year’s winner, read out to the players as though it was his last will and testament. A song about falling out of love with someone because of their stinky feet. A scene featuring a puppet (from whom a leg was lost and eaten by a zombie pre-scene) suspected of defrauding Centrelink.

I can’t thank Rose and Meg enough for stage managing and teching our show. They did an amazing job under some really challenging circumstances. I’m looking forward to getting some photos back from Mike and Tay to see what the show looked like from the audience’s perspective. Someone asked me if all Iron Improviser shows will be themed from now on. They’ve always had a theme, although we’ve not always gripped it as tightly, but I think there’s something to be said for picking an idea and going all out either opening or closing the year off with a huge production with all the trimmings.

[fiveweeksinchicago]

Iron Improviser

The end of the year is coming up, and that means it’s time for Iron Improviser. Iron Improviser is now in its 11th year and is essentially a Micetro short form show with the pageantry of Iron Chef. Having won Iron Improviser IX and performed in Iron Improviser X, this year I get to sit in the judges’ chairs and give out scores on a scale of Ichi, Ni, San, Giant Monster Attack!!! The players will wear headbands with a number on them, only receiving their name back once they are eliminated from the evening’s show.

One of the things I really love about Iron Improviser is that it gives some of the up and coming new players a chance to play with the experienced performers of the company on a “real” stage. Given that the performers who have been around for ages tend to have time pressures that mean they have to ration their impro time, it’s not often that our veterans get to play with our rookies. Putting them together on stage and seeing what happens can be lots of fun and it’s always exciting to see a newer player make it past the first round of cuts; you know that it’s unlikely they’ll make it to the top 3 or 4, but you root for them all the same because being new doesn’t mean being bad.

As players settle into their groove and the better-performing (on the night) players stay in the game longer, the quality of each scene gets progressively better and it’s very common to end with something totally off the wall either by design - I remember a pain game one year where the three players on stage were blindfolded on a stage covered in mouse traps, or by circumstance - I ended up being the stripper messiah in an opera where the other strippers undressed me on stage.

Iron Improviser 2015 is on at Metro Arts in Brisbane on November 27 ay 7:30pm. More details on Facebook.