Take six men, give them a location where they are waiting for their female counterparts to arrive, and then let them riff for an hour. That's the basic premise of the merrily engaging improvisation What Men Talk About (While Women Make Us Wait). Privacy issues, Internet pornography, power failures, the eternal battle of the sexes, and chili that induces "razor ass" were just a few of the topics discussed by this uninhibited group of thirtysomething, testosterone-laden, sometimes reality-challenged men while they waited somewhat impatiently for both the Super Bowl to start and the women to arrive with their food.
The men in question, Tom McNeil, Wayne Parillo, Hugh Sinclair, Rob Uttrich, Mark Williamson, and Allen Wrede (astutely directed by Topping Haggerty) were all gifted improvisers, but special mention must be made of Uttrich and Williamson, both of whom possessed a special polish and sense of comic timing that brought forth spasms of laughter with clockwork regularity. The physical production was spare, performed as it was on what looked like a set for another production in the same space, and with perfunctory lighting and costumes. That did not matter, for the performers were a sharply funny, delightfully human group doing and saying what comes naturally. Which is exactly what a good improvisational piece should be all about. Bravo, men!
(Set, costumes, and lighting all uncredited.)
Writing: 1
Return to Volume Nine, Number twenty-one Index
Return to Home Page
Copyright 2003 Doug DeVita