Posted on: Wednesday, April 28, 2004

Fun night of improv worthy of your time

By Joseph T. Rozmiarek
Special to The Advertiser

The strangest characters can pop into improvised theater.

The actor's minds are churning to be both creative and responsive to what's going on around them. The audience is laughing and shouting out instructions, and — shazam! — something is in the mind and out of the mouth before the actor has s chance to think about it.

One of the imaginary folks who dropped into a performance of "On the Spot" at Leeward Community College this past Saturday night was Super Samoan. It happened during a quick improvised game that wasn't on the program, but was used mostly to warm up an audience that had cooled down a bit during intermission.

The cast was given the task of assuming the character of a super hero and to save the world from a jelly-bean shortage. But Super Samoan couldn't stay long. He was busy running for mayor.

"On the Spot" is a team of Leeward Community College graduates and others, including Chris Howard, Lizzie Wolfe, Chris Riel, Rod Cachola and Meridith Desha, who like being in front of a crowd without lines. The group got its start in an improvisation workshop and got motivated to go public. Garrick Paikai heads the troupe and calls most of the shots.

They're not as glib as the television professionals you'd see on "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" but they compensate with heart and full-on manic energy.

The audience grooves on the material because it can contribute. The result is ready but rough, and reflects what's on the minds of late teens and twentysomethings: sex, drugs, money, fame and music.

Watch for "On the Spot" at other venues around town.