LAUGH LINES

OK, let’s take a couple of audience suggestions.

Name a medium-sized city and then name an art form thriving in that city.

Spokane? Improvisational comedy?

How are we supposed to improvise a scene out of that?

Surprisingly enough, Spokane’s improv comedy scene has been improvising just beautifully for the past four years. Two resident companies, the Blue Door Theatre and ComedySportz, perform sold-out shows in their theaters every weekend. Both have developed experienced, trained troupes of improvisers. Both have built loyal and enthusiastic audiences.

“We have this little vein of improv silver tucked up here in the Inland Northwest,” said Lawra Gosselin-Harris, managing director and co-artistic director of the Blue Door.

The appeal is twofold: Improv is equally fun for audiences and performers.

For those in the seats, the pleasure comes from watching scenes materialize before their eyes, based on their shouted suggestions.

“If you say, ‘newspaper columnist,’ we’ll show you a scene about a newspaper columnist,” said Kevin Benson, co-artistic director of ComedySportz.

The thrill is akin to the thrill of live jazz: You’re witnessing the creative process as it happens. No one else will ever see exactly the same show.

For the performers, the thrill is akin to the thrill of – well, of flinging yourself off a cliff.

“When I first started, I was really nervous,” said Gosselin-Harris, who has been doing improv since 1988. “You can tank really easily.”

Yet when you fling yourself off a cliff, flap your arms and start to soar – that’s the exhilarating part.

“You know you’re up there with partners and friends that will help you make it funny,” Benson said. “We get used to the fact that we can make up a whole scene in 30 seconds. The people in the audience are amazed.”

“The audience wants you to succeed,” Gosselin-Harris said. “They’re saying, ‘I’m willing to suspend disbelief, and really want you guys to do well.’ “

Two takes

Spokane’s two resident companies have distinctly different approaches:

ComedySportz: The show is set up as a competition, with two teams of three improvisers. A referee in a striped shirt presides. The teams play a series of improv “games,” such as “A Day in the Life,” in which they recreate an audience member’s day. The referee can flag a player for being crude (the show is family-friendly) or for committing a groaner (a joke that makes the audience groan audibly). The audience votes on the winning team.

“Our players really do want to win,” said Lisa Griffin, the ComedySportz general manager and sole staffer. “Some of them know their stats and are very competitive. I don’t want to say they trash-talk in the green room, but they really do care.”

This is a standardized format that has proven to be consistently funny around the country. About 20 ComedySportz troupes are licensed in America, England and Ireland.

The Blue Door Theatre: The show relies less on standard improv games and more on creating long-form scenes. On April 29, the Blue Door will begin a show called “A Fairy Tale,” in which the players will perform an entire fairy tale through audience suggestions. For instance, the audience might propose doing “Little Red Riding Hood” from the wolf’s perspective.

This format entails risks and rewards.

“The risks are of walking out there without having any preconception of where you’re going,” said Martty Zeller, a co-artistic director and one of the original members of The Blue Door. “You have nothing.”

The rewards come if the troupe can create a rich stew of character, story and detail and then stir it all together at the end.

“That’s our goal, to bring it all together in a unified piece,” Zeller said. “… When that stuff happens, that’s the magic of improv.”

Success in differences

The differences may help explain why both groups are thriving simultaneously.

“ComedySportz is awesome,” said Gosselin-Harris of the Blue Door. “They do good improv and it’s different enough that you can go to their show and see ours, and not feel like you’re seeing the same thing.”

“We didn’t know if the audience was big enough to support two improv companies,” Benson said. “But The Blue Door is growing, and we’re having a period of great attendance, too. And Gonzaga and Whitworth both have student groups that do improv, as well.”

The Blue Door and ComedySportz have made successful moves into their own theatrical spaces over the past two years. The Blue Door moved in 2003 from downtown to its 68-seat space in the Garland district. ComedySportz moved in 2004 from the old Magic Lantern Theatre downtown to its 94-seat space in the revamped Havermale Building.

The Blue Door and ComedySportz also are fundamentally different in structure. The Blue Door is a nonprofit, with an all-volunteer force of about 25, of whom nine are performers and six are apprentices. ComedySportz is a for-profit venture with a rotating roster of about 25 players. ComedySportz takes in extra income by staging improv team-building workshops for businesses, schools and churches.

“Instead of a boring presentation by a consultant, we’ll come in and show you how to collaborate better and communicate better,” Benson said. “One thing you learn from improv is how to be hyper-aware and to listen very carefully to everything that is happening around you. If you train yourself to listen well and to communicate better and more quickly, you’ll be all-around better at your job.”

ComedySportz also has launched a ComedySportz for Kidz show, which runs the third Saturday of every month.

The Blue Door has initiated a monthly Saturday night show called “Cage Match,” in which anyone can form a team. Teams are given 25 minutes to do whatever they can to win over the audience. The audience then selects a winner.

“Sometimes it’s like having an elephant competing with a team of jugglers,” Zeller said.

An elephant competing with jugglers? Now that would be a great improv scene.