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Broken resolutions central to Red Deer improv group’s performances

Utilizing both long- and short-form improvisation formats, Improv Jelly has two, family-friendly, shows coming this weekend.
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Improv Jelly will perform Broken Resolutions this Friday and Saturday in the Nickle Studio at the Central Alberta Theatre, 4214 58th St. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the shows start at 7:30 p.m. (Contributed photo)

Utilizing both long- and short-form improvisation formats, Improv Jelly has two, family-friendly, shows coming this weekend.

Started about two years ago by Nicole Leal and Paul Sutherland, the coming shows feature eight performers ranging in age from 18 to “about 60,” said Leal.

“We try to make our show so anyone can come. The content is family-friendly. We try to target an audience that includes the younger age group. We do our best to keep it clean.”

This Friday and Saturday, the small group will perform Broken Resolutions at the Nickle Studio at Central Alberta Theatre, 4214 58th St.

The show fits with the time of year, said Leal, as it centres on New Year’s resolutions and what happens to them a few weeks into the new year.

The short-form scenes can run up to five minutes in length. Leal said they do “games” or exercises in this short format.

“We get into the story really quick and we build the characters all around it and the scene ends in a couple of minutes and then we move onto a different one,” said Leal.

Audience participation is also an element of the short-form format, which can range from suggestions from the audience to having audience members on stage manipulating the scene.

Accordingly, long-form means a lengthier scene.

“The best way to describe it is kind of like a soap-opera,” said Leal. “It takes longer for us to get through the whole story and we build it while making it up on the spot.”

Leal said they try to focus on character and story during their scenes and the “fun in the game in the scene.”

“It’s picking that one thing that becomes the inside joke,” said Leal. “The audience gets to hear it firsthand, what the inside joke is, and we just keep bringing it up throughout the scene. Then everyone is in on the joke.”

Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 at the door.

“Because we’re doing a theme of broken resolutions, we are going to have some sweets and little treats, like cupcakes, people can buy,” said Leal.



mcrawford@reddeeradvocate.com

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