Off the Cuff, but on the Money

By Mary Jane Solomon
Special to The Washington Post
Friday, July 11, 2003; Page WE50

A FAMILY'S entertainment dilemma: The daughter wants to watch a sporting event, the son wants to see a show and parents want to keep the cost to a minimum. The solution: ComedySportz, a club where teams of performers compete in wacky, refereed, improvisational games. Admission costs about the same as tickets to a movie or minor league baseball game, and you can even bring your own refreshments.

ComedySportz shows are similar to the popular ABC television program "Whose Line Is It Anyway?," which features host Drew Carey and four performers who participate in several improvised sketches, often using ideas supplied by audience members.

" 'Whose Line' has been great for us. People now know what improvisation is. We can use it as a reference point when explaining what a ComedySportz show is like," says ComedySportz, D.C., Owner-Manager Liz Demery. The local club originated in 1987 as part of a chain that started in Milwaukee in 1984 based on the Theatresports competitive improvisational techniques.

The club employs a pool of about 45 18- to 45-year-old performers, including professional actors and folks with such diverse day jobs as stay-at-home dad and systems analyst. During a ComedySportz show, two three-person teams and a roving extra player compete in a series of games, with winners determined either by referee-awarded points or audience response, depending on the type of contest.

Shows take place at Ballston Common Mall in the 90-seat "Old Vic" Arena, a former Victoria's Secret store now decorated with colorful pennants bearing the names of 25 ComedySportz cities. Instead of retired jerseys, one wall features retired words like "Jell-O," "Spaghetti" and "Rumplestiltskin," all deemed so worn out that the referee urges audience members to omit them from suggestions. A stadium organist adds to the competitive sports ambiance, which includes a rousing pregame "National Anthem" and the ComedySportz song, naturally sung to the tune of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame."

Before each match, a referee clad in traditional black-and-white stripes explains the basic premise and rules to the audience, designated as "Loyal Fans." The main rule, which both performers and audience must follow, is to keep the show clean and appropriate for all ages. A Brown Bag Foul goes to anyone who "says or does something lewd, crude or of a downright 'naughty' nature out of the context of the scene." Any such offender must wear a paper bag that says "Potty Mouth" for the rest of the sketch.

"You really have to think when you cannot use dirty humor," Demery says of the challenge of keeping a comedy show family-friendly. "People mostly laugh at dirty humor because of the shock value -- people laugh when they are surprised. In our shows, we have to find new ways to surprise and amuse people without going along the familiar path of shocking the audience by being crude." The Brown Bag wasn't used on a recent Thursday night, despite potentially inappropriate suggestions from the audience, which included a young woman's birthday party, a family with teenage boys, a 50th-anniversary celebration and our family's entourage of two parents, three 14-year-old girls and two 10-year-old girls. Using a loyal fan's suggestion of "lingerie" to fill in the blank in the joke opener "185 ________ walk into a bar," the players come up with responses that prove more cute than crude: One hundred eighty-five "tighty whities" walk into a bar. The bartender says, "We don't serve your kind here," to which they reply, "We'll be brief." In another variation, 185 bras say they've brought their own cups.

Other games this evening include such offerings as "Dr. Know It All," in which three players and a birthday honoree from the audience answer questions, supplying words to string together a usually nonsensical sentence. In "Foreign Movie," two performers provide translation as two others speak in gibberish while acting out the audience-suggested title "The Eccentric Sock." "Styles" features a goofy scene involving a mom's reaction to two roughhousing boys endangering her prized collectible plates. Using gestures and varied speaking styles, the performers convey the plot through a series of different acting genres, including our group's suggestions of "Spanish soap opera" and "film noir." While each evening's entertainment proves unique, certain words and ideas crop up regularly. Kids' suggestions for the performers include lots of words that just "sound funny to them," such as "spatula," "frogs" and "platypus," according to Demery. "Kids love anything that is a reference they can understand -- anything that mentions topics they know," Demery says. Younger kids gravitate toward cartoons and movies -- "We get a lot of 'Spongebob Squarepants' " -- while teens appreciate hints of romance, such as the awkwardness of a first date emphasized in the game "Blind Date."

Young audience members also like sound effects and physical comedy, she says. The club does not allow alcohol on the premises, and the most challenging audiences, Demery says, are drunks, "folks who wander in and want to push the envelope of what is allowed.

"Give me a truckload of kids over a truckload of drunks any day."

COMEDYSPORTZ -- Ballston Common Mall, 4238 Wilson Blvd., Arlington (Metro: Ballston). Garage parking is $1. 703-486-4242. www.cszdc.com. Shows take place Thursdays at 8 , Fridays at 9 and Saturdays at 7:30 and 10. Admission is $8 on Thursdays, $12 on Fridays and Saturdays. The club also holds Open Mike Improv Nightz at 11 the second Friday of each month; admission is $5. Visit the Web site to sign up for the birthday club, which offers free admission to a show during your birthday month. The Web site also provides information about upcoming late-night programs that do not carry the family-friendly "ComedySportz" label. The club does not sell food or drinks, but permits audience members to bring their own, except alcohol. The Tropik Sun candy store two doors down offers a 10 percent discount to ComedySportz ticket holders, and the Rock Bottom Brewery on the first floor gives a 15 percent discount on food.

The ComedySportz National Tournament, featuring 18 teams from across the country competing in family-friendly shows, takes place July 30 through Aug. 2 at the DC Improv, 1140 Connecticut Ave. NW. (Metro: Farragut North). Greg Proops from "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" will appear on July 31, and advance tickets for that date are selling quickly. Shows start at 7:30 and 10. Tickets at the door are $15 on July 30, $25 on July 31 and $17 on Aug. 1 and 2. Visit the Web site to order advance tickets.

ComedySportz also offers public workshops for aspiring performers. Six-session workshops in three skill levels start July 13. The $200 cost (due at the second class meeting) includes admission to unlimited ComedySportz shows for the duration of the classes. Participants finish the classes with a performance for friends and family members.