WIT NEWS ITEM | WIT Gets Some Love in Philadelphia

Members of iMusical get busy at the local Chuckie Cheese. Not an actual Chuckie Cheese, mind you, but one on stage. You dig?

WIT GETS SOME LOVE IN PHILADELPHIA

POSTED 11.20.07

Not so long ago, WIT sent four troupes to the Philly Improv Fest to put on a few shows and sample the local scene a few miles up the road. The results? Fantastic. Thanks for asking.

WIT's Caveat, onesixtyone, Jackie and iMusical all performed to sell-out crowds in the city of brotherly love, and had a blast doing it. Here are a few of the hightlights from a few of the weekend's participants.



TRAVIS PLOEGER
Director and Accompanist, iMusical

The cops came and "broke up" all the "rowdy rehearsal" goin' on outside the stage door in the alley behind the theater, since it was next to a ritzy residential area. SO, our group had to warm up in front of a loading dock next door to the theater. It was less ritzy and residential, proved by the un-scooped dogsh∗t that we had to avoid stepping into (we all were not successful).

This was not an omen for the show, however. We had a great time, and I feel we really had the crowd at a peak right when we ended our performance, and (as it turns out, due to the schedule) the festival.



iMusical wraps up their show with a soulful finale.


The boys from Caveat strike a pose on the streets of Philadelphia.

DAN MACAVOY
Caveat

Nothing like a road trip with four people who like the sound of their voices! Caveat traveled up to Philly in the Caveatmobile (Justin's Kia) and performed an amazing show, to the delight of our nonexistent in-car audience. By the time we left the stage in Philly, we had been performing for 8 straight hours!

Upon arrival in Philly, we checked into the Comfort Inn Hotel right off of the highway, which is a great place for any of you fans of suicide and isolation out there. It reminded me of pain.

Caveat has officially crossed the sorority house threshold. We've been together long enough that our digestive tracts have linked up, and I'm proud to say that Caveat took the stage at Mum Puppet Theatre after having passed a collectively large amount of feces in the minutes leading up to the performance.



Jackie in front of the mirror. Again, not a real mirror. Get it? Photo by Alli Soowal.

JASON SAENZ
Jackie

Rich, Joe and I went out to a party that Noble, Zack's friend, was throwing Friday night. Well, we didn't know the exact address when we jumped in the cab but that didn't phase our native boy. You see, Rich was extremely proud that we were in his hometown and he wasn't shy about sharing his expertise. The best part of his "Philly Confidence" was when he asked the cab driver what neighborhood was that we were heading into.

"East Loop," replied the cabbie.

"East Loop? How long has it been called that?" Rich answered.

"Oh, for a while now," the cab driver replied. Rich had never heard of ANY neighborhood called East Loop and he was not about to stand for it.

"No, buddy. It's not East Loop. I know that at least. It's like... Queen something... but NOT East Loop."

"I tell you, this is East Loop. You going to question me? You don't even have a address!" shot back the cab driver. Rich was getting irritated.

"Oh... man. I am telling you, you don't know what you are talking about. I grew up here, I know this town and I have never heard of East Loop. I'll tell you what, if we find out it is East Loop I will pay you double when you drop us off. If not, cab ride is free."

"Yeah, whatever man!" the cabbie laughed. Rich had enough.

"That's 10th street, this is good. Let us out here."

We get out of the car and Rich can't believe it. He was not about to be shown up by some cab driver, in HIS town? It wasn't long before we approached a meter maid and asked her the same question. "Buena Vista," she answered. "BUENA VISTA! I KNEW IT WASN'T EAST LOOP! Man, I wish I had that cabbie's number I'd call him right now!!"

Moral of the story: Rich knows Philly and now Jackie does, too.



Players from onesixtyone get their show started with a little object work. Photo by Alli Soowal.

ZACK PHILLIPS
Jackie

I think PHIF is a bad acronymn but a very fun festival.

The weirdest part of the weekend was when Jackie was warming up before our show, in an alley behind the theater because they did not have a green room we could use. Two police officers approached us, shining their flashlights in our faces. (And for the record, I continued playing the scene we were in the middle of; Joe Uchno did not.) They told us a neighbor had complained about excessive noise in the alley... and that one of us had a gun. Direct quote from the cop "But ... looking at you guys, I'm guessing none of you has a gun." Are you saying improvisors don't look street tough?

Anyway, the rest of the warmup was quiet.


JOE UCHNO
Jackie

Philly was awesome. I thought the festival was really well organized and the shows I was able to see were really fun. Having a tour guide that knows Philadelphia better than Ben Franklin didn't hurt either. Thanks Rich.

Highlights:
Seeing WIT troupes do more good shows on the road.
Road tripping with Jason and Topher. (He fixes the cable?)
Pinata candy, and a bunch of attractive, married chicks.
"To go" beers.
Bueno Vista, baby!!!!
Men About Town.
Basement bars (with bubble hockey) that nobody knows about.
Getting to do another show with Zack.
Hanging with the Ruff Riders!
Getting harassed by the Philly Police for doing a horrendous British accent.
Late night champagne toasts using styrofoam cups.


AMANDA HIRSCH
JINX

WIT kicked ass! I loved Topher as the pathetic, revolting sick guy, asking a horrified Natasha, "whatever happened to us?"- great edits from Mike, Tyler and Colin, spritzing every surface Topher touched, dragging him around the stage, etc. Loved Sal the furniture store Nazi in Jackie's show and all the games people come up with around him- and Joe as a cheerful Hershey's Kiss ("small on top, big on the bottom!") is a true classic. And of course, I know I have a wifely bias, but Jordan's rousing rendition of "Raise Your Hand to Your Child" (..."and you'll be a king") was a true highlight. It was great to see everyone "bring it," and to hang out at Charlie's afterwards. We rock.



A parting shot from the Jackie show.