Thinking on their feet

ComedySportz relies on audience participation to create clean, original, high-energy fun

By Trent Modglin

Tara DeFrancisco is a rare breed, one of those people doing exactly what she wants to do for a living, what she’s always wanted to do. Usually you want to hate people like her, the ones who constantly wear a smile on their way to work. But you can’t in this case.

Her energy is too genuine, her passion too real. And damn if she and her co-workers at ComedySportz aren’t just too funny to stay angry with.

“I’m having a great time and getting paid for it,” she says of her gig. “It’s an amazing job we have, to play make-believe with your friends and have audiences laugh at you. It’s a dream job. A total dream job.”

Remember those books when you were a kid, the choose-your-own-adventure kind that allowed you to pick which path the story took? Well, that’s how they describe the life of improv at ComedySportz, and having taken in my first show recently, they’re right on with that assessment.

“I’ve done stand-up for a long time, and I do sketch (comedy) as well, but for me, improv is the most genuine form of comedy because each night you’re opening and closing a show that is completely new,” DeFrancisco says. “And it’ll never be done again, and no matter how much you want to re-do it, you can’t. It’s kind of a neat magic trick I think in that way.”

And that’s what pure improv has over stand-up and other scripted forms of making people laugh. You leave the theatre feeling like you’ve sailed uncharted waters.

DeFrancisco used to tell people she was a comedian when they asked. Somewhere along the line, she altered that approach. Now she chooses to inform them she does improv, which often prompts this response: “Oh, you mean like ‘Who’s Line is it Anyway?’ ”

Sometimes, the new acquaintances continue to push. They’ve just met someone who makes a living being funny, and they want — no, expect — them to be hilarious, with every breath if that’s possible. But DeFrancisco tells them she needs a team to work with, others to feed off of.

“Then they kind of get it after that,” she says with a laugh. “I don’t do jokes.”

Memorized jokes, no. Spontaneous, high-energy fun that involves two teams, a referee, blaring music and audience feedback, yes.

•••••

If you’re unfamiliar with the ComedySportz arena, each show, or match, as they’re called, involves two teams of three comedians each competing for laughs and points, with a ham of a referee keeping things moving, inviting suggestions from the crowd and calling fouls.

At least a dozen different games were played the night I attended. “Elimination Rap” involved players creating a rap on the spot, trading off each other’s phrases and getting booted if they can’t keep up. In “Forward/Reverse,” the referee holds the power, sending a scene back and forth at will, like a kid playing with a VCR remote. Another took favorite movies of crowd members and then had two people from one team dramatically alter a popular scene to see if the other can guess what it is. Only they must talk in gibberish, never actually speaking with real words.

And perhaps the most intriguing part is how clean the comedy is. Nearly two hours, and not a swear word was uttered, no graphic scenes created, nothing. I guess I had been tricked into thinking you need to be dirty to be funny. But DeFrancisco, for one, feels like she can get her “Vegas” fix elsewhere.

“To me, it’s more fun to wink at innuendo when you know there’s an eight-year-old in the front row and you can still do a scene and be smart about it where the adults know where you’re going, but the kids have no idea,” she says.

While shows tend to have some kids in attendance, ComedySportz is hardly opposed to catering to adults looking to have a good time. Hence, the significantly more racy, outlandish midnight shows on the weekend, as well as the popular BYOB policy.

“The classiest will bring in a six pack in a bag or a bottle of wine,” says DeFrancisco. “Others have dragged in a party ball or a pony keg. I think that may have been outlawed now, I’m not sure. But it’s pretty fun being up on stage knowing there’s a bachelorette party back there having a good time with a bunch Boone’s Farm.”

•••••

ComedySportz teams produce improv shows in better than 20 cities, including Los Angeles, Milwaukee, New Orleans and even Dublin.

The Chicago branch is often considered the hub. Just ask Joe Janes, the talent director at ComedySportz, who is in charge of training and developing the talent that arrives from all corners of the country. There are currently around 50 members of Chicago’s ensemble, but more are constantly wanting in. So many, in fact, that they only audition people from their training center, where candidates tend to be familiar with the show and not as easily intimidated.

“I get people all the time who call me and say they do stand-up and want to be in our shows,” says Janes. “But that doesn’t always translate. You need to have an idea of what it means to work off an ensemble. ... You can’t take your time to explore a scene. It’s more right here, right now.”

When scoping talent, Janes says he looks for people who are very animated, very physical in their improvisation. They have to be very strong in basic skills they can develop in order to eventually drive a scene. And the company also looks for music ability. Not necessarily the quality of singing, but being in meter and able to rhyme.

Some of the games they use go back 40 years. Others are stolen from different shows and tweaked to their liking. In the world of improv, it’s all fair game. That understanding helps keep everything fresh.

In Janes’ mind, the most exciting thing about creating improv comedy is that it’s so in the moment, it’s like a shared experience between the crowd and those on stage.

“The audience probably has no idea how much they affect a show,” he admits. “It’s like playing at a rock concert for these guys. ... Every show has its own personality. There is other improv in Chicago where the improvisers almost improvise in spite of the audience, but we very much have to have a relationship going on with them.”

DeFrancisco believes a tight-knit ensemble is key for success when you haven’t a clue of what’s around the corner. Much like poker or other sports, you can learn the tendencies of your cohorts. But nothing is ever a given.

“No matter how well you know someone out here, you’re never quite sure what they’ll do next,” DeFrancisco says. “And that’s a beautiful thing. The best players will always make you feel like it’s complete magic, where you can’t believe it’s working, and that’s a neat trick.”

And a dream job, indeed.

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