BACK IN THE LOU - COMPASS IMPROV FESTIVAL

There is a lively improv comedy scene in STL. One of the annual events I shoot is the Compass Improv Festival, taking place this weekend at the Improv Shop. There are more performances tonight, Saturday, but I have another obligation. Locals - GO! It's just a little hard to find, sort on tucked in behind the White Castle at Vandeventer and Chouteau.

Lots more images to come.         

Not Quite Right

Agreed.

Another improv company, Not Quite Right, this one lead by storyteller, comedian and improv artist Howie Hirshfield. Howie appeared at the Fringe two years ago doing a solo act that was loosely based on the old TV show Gilligan's Island. I think he had me playing Gilligan at some point.

This ensemble consisted of his daughter, just to his right, and two other young comedians. I regret that I didn't make a note of their names. But why are the three younger ones all wet?

The last extended bit was priceless. Each of the players was associated with a word suggested by the audience. Someone else came up with a starting premise. One of the young ones literally stuck his or her head fully into a bucket of water. When they just had to breathe they raised their arm. The others had to find a way to fit the one of the code words into the sketch. The person associated with it had to relieve the current dunkee and, in turn, submerge his or her head in the water bucket. And on and on. Howie generally supervised from the side. Greatest show on earth, or at least at Locust and Compton in St. Louis last Saturday night. 

Overwhelming photo ops in The Lou this weekend. We have Open Studios STL, where 160 artists open their workspaces (and maybe themselves) to the public. I sometimes go around asking if I can take portraits of them with their work. And it's also Pridefest, with the big parade on Sunday, often the best local shoot of the year.                                   

The Fringe, The Spotty Truth And A Twisted Story

The St. Louis Fringe was on this weekend in Grand Center. Thirty-five shows of an hour's length repeated over four days, ranging from bizarre to hilarious to thoughtful. We, naturally, went for the first two categories, catching seven acts on Friday and Saturday.

One of Friday's favorites was a Chicago improv troupe called The Spotty Truth. After a half-hour of typical (and good) improv gags, the feature presentation began. They got someone out of the audience, did a cursory interview and then strung together a series of mock-biographical skits, re-enacting the life of someone about whom they knew little and cared less. On Friday, they got some old guy with squinty eyes, a black iPhone belt holster (the twenty-first century equivalent of a pocket protector) who played stickball on the streets of New York as a child, had an interest in math and physics, and ended up in St. Louis. Needless to say, plenty of false propositions were proven to be true.