Go Through The Blue Door For Creative Comedy

“Give Me Something Good to Eat” Friday, Oct. 6., Blue Door Theatre

The new Halloween-themed improvisational comedy show at the Blue Door Theatre may be unpolished, may be a bit hit-and-miss.

But it’s also the most creative night of theater I’ve seen in a long time.

I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed this show, how much I laughed, how impressed I was with the sheer intelligence and wit of the people involved. Unexpected Productions, the name of the group that operates out of this little theater in a downtown alley, is one of the liveliest and most exciting things happening right now on the Spokane theater scene.

Or should I say on the Spokane comedy scene? This show is mostly comedy improv, of the kind that is normally done in comedy clubs. If you have ever seen the ABC show “Whose Line Is It, Anyway?” you know what to expect. Four skilled improvisers take suggestions from the audience (“Dr. Joyce Brothers committing a Halloween prank!”) and they proceed to wing it, with often hilarious results.

We can’t expect the four people in this show - Jason Frederick, Lawra Gosselin, Jeremy Hoffart and Mark Robbins - to be of “Whose Line” caliber, which borders on genius. But let me tell you something: They often come pretty close.

For instance, they actually did have to do a scene in which a Dr. Joyce-type goes out on an egging spree for Halloween. Robbins, the leader of the group and the most inspired talent, chose to play the character as a kind of Stuart Smalley wimp. When his companion in the car suggests that they go egg some guy who cut in front of him in the express lane, Robbins expresses his concerns with that plan.

“That sounds like revenge, and I’m not comfortable with that,” he says in a pious little voice.

They milk this concept for all it’s worth, but then they move the scene forward skillfully as the “therapist” decides that he will participate in the egging to “show his support” and to “get out of my comfort zone.” The therapist then goes buck-wild with the eggs, of course.

This was pure improv, which doesn’t work every scene or every night. A 50 percent success rate isn’t too bad, because even the skits that fall flat (tired “Star Trek” jokes) are interesting to watch in terms of process.

However, there are numerous scenes which are actually scripted by Robbins - “real” theater, using improv techniques - and I thought those were the best parts of the show.

Some were silly bits such as this interlude: “I’m a man. I’m also a witch. (Pause) I am a man-witch. My friends call me Joe. (Pause) Sloppy Joe.”

When delivered with the correct timing, as Jason Frederick did, this is ridiculously funny, at least if you tumble to the Manwich allusion.

The best scenes were the ones written and performed by Robbins. In one, he plays a self-righteous lecturer at a high-school anti-drug assembly. In another he plays a hard-boiled private detective who gets involved in a surreal Halloween case.

Robbins was even funnier delivering a deliberately dizzy explanation of comedy improv: “We’re, like, writers? But we don’t like to actually - write?”

Robbins is so good at creating different characters on the fly, he’s like Spokane’s own Mike Myers. That’s impressive enough, but he is also a clever writer and mentor, since he takes a lead role in training the other actors in improv techniques.

Robbins has been doing comedy here under the name of Unexpected Productions and Cream of Wit for nearly four years. This year, however, he and his group acquired this new space in a a loft above an alley at 122 S. Monroe (enter through the Blue Door).

It’s a funky little space, perfectly suited for theater off the mainstream. They perform Friday nights at 8 p.m., changing themes every month. This month’s theme is an allusion to the rude Halloween chant, “Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat.”

Go on down to the Blue Door and chew on it.

“Give Me Something Good to Eat,” continues every Friday night through October. Call 747-7045 for tickets.