Reporting from Vancouver, Canada, I’m Billy Tierney. The wildly popular St. Valentine’s Day Massacre Theatresports tournament is underway on Granville Island (we’re talking improv here, folks). It took two weeks of grueling competition to determine which team will be the face of Vancouver during the tournament, culminating in a riveting finals match on Wednesday evening. The international portion kicked off last night as the Vancouver Theatresports League welcomed five teams from various international cities into their luxurious new space. Enough cannot be spoken about the quality of stage and equipment (and talent!) in the new Improv Centre, yet a very impressive statistic is that the theatre and the bar are separated by FIVE walls of sheetrock.
All five international teams, including The Upfront Theatre, took the stage of competition on the opening night and dazzled the audience with their make-em-ups. In the first match, The Upfront Theatre – representing Bellingham (0-1), embodied by myself, DK Reinemer and Galen Emanuele – played against the recently crowned “Champions of Vancouver” (my name for them, not theirs) and lost the match 35 to 41. In this shortened format, the 90-minute show is split up into two halves; each featuring a match. We played in the first match of the first show and were able to get three team scenes in before it was over. The energy was great and the atmosphere positive. The Champions of Vancouver team, made up of Graeme Duffy, Michael Teagan and Dave Milchard, were a blast to play alongside. The audience judges were kind but obviously favorable to the home team, as their first scene garnered triple fives. This is concrete observational judgment.
After our match, we ‘chilled’ and watched the rest of the evening’s matches. Calgary (1-1) represented by The Improv Guild, lost to Vancouver (2-0) in the second half of the first show. Orlando (1-0) represented by SAK Comedy Lab, inched past Dad’s Garage Theatre from Atlanta (0-1) by a point, 38 to 37 and Calgary crushed Unexpected Productions of Seattle (0-1) by a “huge margin”. The teams that fell last night are surely going to be looking to exercise revenge over the next couple evenings and we may witness some jovial offers to purchase more liquor for the teams with better records. From Vancouver (in the Chateau), I’m Billy Tierney.
All five international teams, including The Upfront Theatre, took the stage of competition on the opening night and dazzled the audience with their make-em-ups. In the first match, The Upfront Theatre – representing Bellingham (0-1), embodied by myself, DK Reinemer and Galen Emanuele – played against the recently crowned “Champions of Vancouver” (my name for them, not theirs) and lost the match 35 to 41. In this shortened format, the 90-minute show is split up into two halves; each featuring a match. We played in the first match of the first show and were able to get three team scenes in before it was over. The energy was great and the atmosphere positive. The Champions of Vancouver team, made up of Graeme Duffy, Michael Teagan and Dave Milchard, were a blast to play alongside. The audience judges were kind but obviously favorable to the home team, as their first scene garnered triple fives. This is concrete observational judgment.
After our match, we ‘chilled’ and watched the rest of the evening’s matches. Calgary (1-1) represented by The Improv Guild, lost to Vancouver (2-0) in the second half of the first show. Orlando (1-0) represented by SAK Comedy Lab, inched past Dad’s Garage Theatre from Atlanta (0-1) by a point, 38 to 37 and Calgary crushed Unexpected Productions of Seattle (0-1) by a “huge margin”. The teams that fell last night are surely going to be looking to exercise revenge over the next couple evenings and we may witness some jovial offers to purchase more liquor for the teams with better records. From Vancouver (in the Chateau), I’m Billy Tierney.
Make 'em laugh til they cry.....AND have a buttload of fun!! (I don't know what a buttload is "butt" it sounds like alot....)
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