Literally and metaphorically, spiritually and happily, Marbles has taken flight. Our first gig, opening for the delightful, hilarious and gifted improv craftswomen Katy & Rach, was an unqualified success.
But our second gig, which took place last night, was even successfuller.
We were probably more relaxed, and maybe the fact that we hadn’t seen each other (let alone rehearsed) in more than two weeks gave us a bit more excitement about pushing our very freeform comedy show out into the uncharted waters for another round.
I don’t know what it was, but it worked. The laughs and ideas came fast and furious, and we travelled via characters, banter, and audience quips and heckles, into a pretty special place.
The show began with a discussion of Dave’s tendency to overanalyze things. That observation was prompted by Dave’s attempt to explain to the audience, in a very detail-oriented way, the structure of our show.
That led to scenes and discussions and discoveries that all tied into a central theme of science and religion, certainty vs doubt, and the writing of stories.
Characters from different scenes willfully entered each other’s stories until the whole thing became an interconnected puzzle that doesn’t quite defy explanation, but almost.
Which seems appropriate.
And the banter between scenes was unforced and witty, with generous contributions from a warm crowd of Brightonians.
And now, freshly fired from a show Dave said afterwards was his best ever, and upon reflection, one which I’ve realized was my best in many many years, the more Marbles activity seems to be only a matter of time.
