Today: Mar 29, 2024

GALLERY: Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood take over Lyman Center

Tyler Korponai – Photo Editor

Improv comedy games, mouse traps and the King of Squid. At first these probably wouldnt make any sense together, however, Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood, of the TV series Whose Line Is It Anyway?found a way to bring it all together and make the crowd roar from laughter.

Friday, Nov. 20, the John Lyman Center for Performing Arts was sold out for the duo performers. Theyre a unique team specializing in improv comedy. Their experience in the act has been growing over the years and to anyone who thinks theyre not the real deal, Colin Mochrie had some words for you in the beginning of the show: You people are bastards!

Having that out of the way, they quickly set the premise for their first game. Calling out to the audience and interacting with them was a big part of the show. To this end, they selected two audience members from the crowd, Brandon and Laura, and began explaining the rules of the game.

Both Brandon and Laura would move the body parts of Colin and Brad, the latter would only respond to those movements prompted by the former, all while acting out the scene that the audience suggested. If you werent sure what Colin and Brad were all about at this point it was easy to figure it out.

In 14 years of touring, the best thing is not planning out what we do,laughs Colin.

While they never plan out the actual content of their performance, Colin and Brad do have certain games that theyll want to play out for the audience. To keep things fresh, theyd often combine games together.

With both the audience and performers now all warmed up, they moved on to their next game. They raised the lights briefly so they could see the crowd, making the entire performance more interactive and immersive.

Off on one side of the stage, Tracy and Tom, from the audience, would speak into microphones and create all the sound effects to whatever Colin and Brad did. On the other side of the stage, a line of people from the audience formed. When either performer was in a middle of a sentence and raised his hand the front of the line would finish the sentence, it was up to Colin and Brad to make it work. To top it off, they were going to perform the whole thing with a German accent.

Segue to the end of the games, Colin and Brad had gone on the hunt for the King of the Squid on board their vessel, the Kim Kardashian, a boat named because of its wide stern, its good in shallow waters, and only goes west, they joked.

They went on to do a variety of other games for the audience. Of all of them, one of the most striking was a scene in which both performers were blindfolded. On the floor of the stage were mouse traps, dozens of them. Colin and Brad decided to leave their shoes off for this one. When it comes to improv comedy these two are committed. For attendants, that was worth it.

I grew up watching that show,said Connor Blanchette, communication major. It was nostalgic to see them and what they’re doing now. I knew who they were, their show was going on in the early 2000s so thats what I watched when I was in elementary school.

Photo Credit: Tyler Korponai – Photo Editor

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