Howling with laughter at Improfik

When I first got the offer to attend the show Improfik at the Reginateatern this past Wednesday, I was nervous about what was going to happen. I had never been to an improv show before, and a very free theatre style was something that I couldn’t really wrap my mind around.

However, when I got there I was pleasantly surprised. The theatre had a very relaxed environment and the audience seemed as if they were buzzing with excitement before the show. Once the lights dimmed and the show started, I was taken aback with how interactive the show was. The members of the troupe were shouting questions like “What would you name your rat?” “What’s your favorite fruit?” as well as making the audience do vocal warmups and loosen up (which I was too embarrassed to participate in). It definitely made the audience excited for what was to come.

The International Theatre of Stockholm came onstage, and they performed a bit called Lemonade, which is a play on the phrase “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” They used an audience member’s story about accidentally dumping his ex girlfriend over the phone and made it into an extensive bit about masculinity and rabbits. To top it off, there were even a few impromptu dance and song numbers that spiced up the show.

After the intermission, it was Teater Prego’s turn. It felt like watching a game show, since an audience member would draw something out of a bowl and the members of the troupe would produce pure comedy out of thin air. The topics during this portion of the show ranged from bungee jumping, Donald Trump, hippopotamuses to horror stories, so there was something that made everybody in the audience laugh.

The audience, myself included, was howling with laughter the entire time. It was also helpful that the audience had some very eclectic people, which made the show all the more interesting since the audience was so involved in making the show. Overall, I left the theatre very impressed with all of the troupe members. It was amazing that the actors rarely broke character, but all of the troupe members were always on their feet and coming up with very clever bits that referred to many different things that the audience said before. I would highly recommend going sometime, perhaps with a friend who has a similar sense of humor as you.