They call themselves Big Lick Conspiracy, still going strong after almost ten years of making Roanokers laugh. The improvisational comedy troupe, which calls Mill Mountain Theatre’s Waldron Stage home, is in the midst of its 2012-2013 season. The next two performances are on Saturday, February 16and March 16. Big Lick Conspiracy is an improvisational troupe – while they can practice timing and how to play off each other – troupe member Patrick Kelly, an attorney by trade, said they “practice a lot,” they usually get their topics from the audiences that show up at a performance.
From that cue Big Lick is off and running, with its eight members (two females) coming up with dialogue on the spot. The group has developed a loyal following over the years and in January a fan, Jay Klabath, asked co-director Ross Laguzza for some help: could Klabath’s marriage proposal to girlfriend Theresa Reed be worked into the show somehow, so she wouldn’t suspect a thing?
Laguzza agreed, and conspired to call Klabath on stage as an audience participant when they played an improv game. Klabath was asked to pick a partner, choosing his girlfriend of course. Once she made it to the stage, Klabath went down on one knee. You can view the happy occasion on Big Lick’s Facebook page or at biglickconspiracy.com. There aren’t a whole lot of marriage proposals at Big Lick shows but it fits with the troupe’s improv agenda.
Favorite topics at Big Lick shows vary. “An audience will develop its own personality, [especially] if they’ve had a few drinks,” chuckles Laguzza. Sex and relationships in general are usually at the top of the list. “That seems to be a great untapped source…for a lot of people. We also get a lot of politics.” Sometimes the audience will try to come up with a topic Big Lick hasn’t heard of – “doozies,” said Laguzza, but the troupe, which has members with various backgrounds (John Bryant is marketing director at Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op for example) soldiers on.
Kelly, like Laguzza also an actor in local plays, said politics is “a rich area to mine, because it’s become so absurd it seems at times.” He also likes pop culture references and the opportunity to poke fun at the stars of the day. “Its situational as much as topical.”
Big Lick was at the Jefferson Center while Mill Mountain Theatre was closed; before that the Waldron Stage at Center in the Square was also its original home. Laguzza said being in an improv troupe “helps quite a bit,” in his role as an actor. ”When you don’t have a script you really have to be present in the scene…with your scene partner. With improv you have to be really, really in the moment and that has helped my acting, to bring it to really completely different levels.”
Kelly concurs: “ I kind of think of it as an acting workshop every time we rehearse. The key to all acting is listening, the most important thing that keeps you present and connected to the moment. In improv you learn pretty quickly…that listening is the only reliant [tool] you have. You can’t be in your head thinking about what you’re going to say [next].” The improv partner tells him where he’s going next, what words may come out of his mouth, what position he may contort his body into on stage. That walking the tightrope without a net below is what attracts fans of improv comedy to the Big Lick Conspiracy, which invites you to come down and check it out – or suggest a scenario for the troupe.
(Tickets are $10 in advance; $15 on the day of the show. See the website for more details.)
by Gene Marrano
