Impro, debates and romping - oh my!

I'm exhausted.

It began Friday night, with a comedy debate for the Griffith Uni Debating Society. Some fellow Impro Mafiosos and I did an impro showcase for the audience, before Al and I went up against each other on the topic "That we would deny reality". I had a blast, and was so pleased that I seemed able to keep the audience entertained with jokes about the stockmarket and credit card debt - without reverting to any gags involving penises or bodily fluids (although one jab at the Broncos danced near the line).

Saturday saw an impro rehearsal, before IM artistic director (otherwise known as the Puppetmaster) Wade and I wandered down to West End amid a lightning show to catch the last bit of the Writers' Fringe Festival at the Sling Bar. We saw performance art. It was.... performance-y.

Sunday dawned with much excitement - Brisbane City Romp day! I was so excited, probably much more than my fellow teammates in "The Evil League of Evil". I spent much of our four hours of Romp time about 50 metres ahead of the rest of the group, trying to find the next elusive checkpoint.

Here's the gang out front of the new Brisbane Wheel. This was just after our Nepalese pagoda checkpoint, but just before our QPAC challenge.

People kept asking us if we were doctors. "No!" we'd cry. "We're evil geniuses!" The best fun was possibly when Wade and The Wah got to have a debate inside the Red Chamber of Parliament House. Couldn't believe we got that challenge - us, improvisers? Forced to get up and rabbit on inside Queensland's seat of power? Bwa-ha-ha!

We did all right points-scoring wise, but we have to wait until Thursday to find out if we've won any prizes. You can see more photos on our Romp profile page. What was certain was our aching muscles and joints. We hightailed it back to Chez Clumsy for showers and refreshing snacks of "pomm frites" and "nugget de poulet", before The Wah, Dan, Wade and I headed up to the Brisbane Arts Theatre for Impro Mafia's performance of "The Wake of Simon Chesterfield".

The show was just brilliant. I was so proud of everybody. The first half of personal stories and short games warmed the audience up really nicely for our second half long-form, the actual "wake" itself. There was humour, great character work, and a psychopathic ventriloquist doll. What more can you ask for?

Finally on Monday night, my body still sore from romping and improvising, I headed into the city for our first "Open Mic Improv" night at O'Malleys. Half of the players were from Impro Mafia's beginner workshops - and boy did they do us proud. Some great work, particularly considering the noise that is the pub venue's biggest challenge. Alicia, Chris and Joel deserve a great big slap on the back, and it augers well for a weekly show. I'll be playing in a couple of weeks' time, and can't wait.

But now - to bed!