How would you summarize a movie in four seconds? Can you
jump over hurdles… in slow motion? Or act out a butcher killing someone with a
Rubik’s cube? These are just some of the scenes and actions heard and seen at
the 2nd Manila International Improv Festival.
Team SanTayo took up the challenge and experienced a day
-- or several days in fact -- full of laughter and mayhem.
The Manila International Improv Festival, organized by
Manila-based Silly People’s Improve Theater (SPIT), is a collaboration of different
groups from Asian countries, showcasing talents on using improvisation in the
world of comedy. This year’s theme is “Follow your Feet,” reminding improvs to
move when their feet wants to move.
What To Expect?
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| Akong from SPIT |
There were no scripts, and no
one -- even the improvs themselves -- knows what to expect. Anything can
happen, and the show will only run when the crowd participates. The crowd
suggests a theme, and the hosts will use it for a skit or a game. Take note
that each game may have one or more offers. This is where the fun starts!
 |
| Zmack's Curt taking in a volunteer |
By the way, this is one of
those shows that you shouldn't be afraid to volunteer. You won’t get ridiculed,
or played upon on your looks, nationality and racial background! The crowd is
encouraged to volunteer, and believe us, you’re in for a fun experience!
 |
| Alphabet Game hosted by Gabe |
To warm up the audience and
introduce those who have never been to an improve show, the SPIT team played
the Alphabet game. The host will give out a category, like favorite color, and
the crowd will start answering from the first letter A (amber), B (blue) and so
on until they reach the letter Z. The record during the festival was 2 minutes
and 35 seconds, when answers such as Kabit (mistress), Lechon, Jeepney, Fuschia
came out.
Team San Tayo Experience
From June 26 to June 30, team
San Tayo’s second home was the PETA Theater, located at Quezon City. The shows
were held in the Black Box Theater, which provided a cozy and intimate setting that
encouraged collaboration with the crowd -- a perfect ambiance for
improvisation.
 |
| The Black Box Theater (Peta Phinma) |
All different 10 acts
definitely made a mark with our team who watched the event.
 |
| How to Promote a merchandise out of nowhere! |
SWITCH was the newest improv group from
Manila, but didn't have any jitters on their first show, arming themselves with a
Russian accent, M16 rifles and a surprise guest, Gloc 9 – the rap artist, not
the gun.
 |
| Taichung Improv |
TAICHUNG IMPROV, had difficulty in guessing Barbra Streisand, but capitalized
on it and made sure most of their acts had her in it.
BEIJING IMPROV featured a monster that dances to Bollywood and a
story of a journey of finding one’s self.
 |
| Death by toothbrush |
XIAMEN IMPROV showed their love for Filipino food as they told the
love story of Kwik-Kwik and featured death by toothbrush.
 |
| Pirates of Tokyo Bay |
PIRATES OF TOKYO BAY summarized the movie One More Chance of Popoy
and Basha at different time lengths (with an epic four-second summary),
including the funny pronunciation of the names of Pupoy and Bashang, which made
their skit even more hilarious.
 |
| 3 Dudes |
3 DUDES IMPROV minus 1 – therefore only 2 Dudes improve -- performed
wrestling inside a bathroom cubicle with a chair and a killer mime.
 |
| Summarizing the story at the same time |
PLUS ONE had a sexy flamingo experience, which included amoxicillin
in the skit.
 |
| Was this...Xander? |
ZMACK called upon a beautiful volunteer to choose who to date among
the two studs of ZMACK – weirdly ending with the host being selected as the
winner.
 |
| Lets Summarize! |
PEOPLES LIBERATION IMPROV recreated a scene where two of their
members saw the scene but could not hear the dialogue, shared a story of
getting a massage, jumping for joy and reciting a poem to end their skit.
 |
| Daddy, Math teacher po namin sya! (Dad, he is our math teacher!) |
SPIT was about falling in love with the Math teacher, never messing
up with a girlfriend having dysmenorrhea -- period, indirect object, direct
object and a freaking gerund.
 |
| Rap Battle |
Capping off the week is an international
improv jam which split all 10 teams into two groups. Group 1 explored on short
form games: a rap battle with the crowd shouting “awwww..shiiit!” when the word being spun out by the rappers didn’t
rhyme, made sense or just froze; late
for work, where the employee needs to explain to the boss why he or she is late
with help from her co-employees; and their first attempt on CD HITS titled, “Now
that’s what I call Divorce!” This game was popularized on Drew Carrey’s Whose Line
Is It Anyway, where two anchors had to describe and give a title to a song.
Group 2 opted for a long game
with the use of their time portal, starting at the walled city of Intramuros, outer
space, the Marianas Trench, the life-saving Instant noodles, Egyptian
civilization, and strangely, advertising their merchandise.
With this, the festival was
closed, all members from all groups basked in their glory and limelight and
held still for pictures as a group – we love the poses they came up with -- and
ended the festival with a huge group hug. Sadly, it was also the end of the
journey for Sonia, of Xiamen Improv, and Amanda, of Taichung Improve, who will
embark on other journeys.
As we were still catching our
breaths, we realized the beauty of Improvisation; you need to make the person next
to you look good so that you will look good and you cannot refuse an offer, you
need to work around it and make it work. Whether it’s on stage or in real life!
Shout out to the PETA Team who
kept in contact during ticket purchase and for accommodating our silly
questions. Thank you Angel! Also another shout out to PETA team and the LGU's for keeping Eymard Drive's traffic to a minimum! Shows how well you know how events affects your surrounding and were prepared and handled professionally!
If you would like to catch
more of Improv, you don’t need to wait for next year’s Improvfest, catch SPIT
on Thursdays. Visit their website http://spitmanila.com/
to know more of their schedule.
You can follow the groups as
well on their Facebook pages or websites
TAICHUNG IMPROV -
www.facebook.com/taichungimprov
BEIJING IMPROV -
www.facebook.com/beijingimprov
XIAMEN IMPROV –
www.xiamenimrpov.org
PIRATES OF TOKYO BAY -
www.facebook.com/tokyoimprov
3 DUDES IMPROV -
www.facebook.com/3DudesImprov
PLUS ONE – Weibo
@Plusoneimprov
ZMACK -
www.facebook.com/zmackcomedy
PEOPLES LIBERATION IMPROV -
www.facebook.com/pages/Peoples-Liberation-Improv/61846798968?fref=ts
SPIT – www.facebook.com/SpitManila
Team San Tayo for this event
(yes, another golden rule was that selfies were not allowed!)
Riza Macabingkil
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