GetOut Magazine

Local improv stars reign in Valley
By ALBERT CHING
GET OUT

Friday night isn't your only chance to see made-up-on-the-spot comedy in the Valley.

Each week, local improv groups perform homegrown comedy that Jef Rawls, director and producer of The Jester'Z, claims to be “a better show.”

“I would be willing to go head-to-head, toe-to-toe with 'The Improv All-Stars,' my team against their team, and honestly, without the name of Drew Carey, we could take him,” says Rawls, who recently saw Carey's troupe in Los Angeles.

Rawls explains that there are two different types of improv “games” — the shorter, more gag-based ones as seen on “Whose Line Is It Anyway” and longer, scene-based ones.

“With most of the ‘gamey-game' types, they pretty much have a format and a structure that kind of forces the comedy,” Rawls says. “With a scene-based game, you have to find the funny within it.”

Here are some of his favorites of the latter:

Three scenes: “We'll get one word from the audience and do three scenes about that word.”

Everyday events: “Things you do every day like brushing your teeth, driving to work; a scene inspired by that.”

Five emotional characters: “Pulling an emotion and a character or a profession from the audience, assigning it to one person and seeing a scene based around that person.”

Here's where to find improv comedy in the East Valley:

The Jester'Z perform 8 and 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at Theater 168, 7117 E. McDowell Road, Scottsdale, . $8-$10.

“The Originals” Improv take the stage 8 p.m. every Sunday at Mardi Gras Comedy Room, 8040 E. McDowell Road, Scottsdale, . $8 with two-item minimum.

“Off the Cuff” perform family-friendly improv from 7 to 9 p.m. the second and fourth Friday of every month at Bookman's, 1056 S. Country Club Drive, Mesa, . Free.