Improv of delight

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Despite having made use of the Facebook invitation system, before the show the performers look nervous about all the empty chairs in University Church. But it takes only 15 minutes to fill the seats at Off-Off Campus's July 27 improv-comedy performace, Popsicles of Delight. The revue takes its name from the frozen treats that event organizers pass out to cool off the audience, who watch the performance without the comfort of air conditioning.

Alex Yablon, '08, and Bobby Zacharias, '08, take the stage first, transitioning quickly from sketch to sketch. One features Yablon as a preacher casting out a demon from Zacharias. "Get out of this podunk idiot and infect somebody famous," admonishes Yablon. When he succeeds and Zacharias tries to repay him with kisses, Yablon becomes indignant. "Preacher reverend don't want to be kissed all over," he says. "He wants a tax-deductible donation."

Next Bryan Duff, '09, and Dave Maher, AB'06, perform "Bryan and Dave Get Rich," the story of two "Old McGee's New Electronics" employees' sudden prosperity. Switching between characters and time frames, Duff and Maher improvise a narrative about stealing a stereo on top of which somebody left the lost record of a Jim Morrison and Jimi Hendrix performance. When Bryan and Dave fulfill the title's promise, they find themselves disappointed. Maher laments that caviar is nothing like in rap videos. "It's like my grandma died and became something I eat," he whines, "only fishier." Maher agrees. "50 Cent was just, like, downing it!"

Seth Mayer, '08

Photos: Alex Yablon exorcises Bobby Zacharias's demon; Bryan Duff, as Old McGee, question his employee, played by Dave Maher.

August 1, 2007