So Endeth the Week of Impro

Well, I've lost my voice. But that's OK. It's been a good week.

I journeyed down to Canberra on Wednesday for the first Improvention - a gathering of improvisers from around Australia for forums, workshops and performances. It was really informative, and good to get a handle on where ImproMafia fits in on a national level. Turns out we should be damn proud of ourselves; a lot of the themes and ideas that came up in forums were things we've done, or are doing. We really are an inventive and dynamic company, and I couldn't be prouder.

I also played in two shows down in Canberra, and that was a whole bunch of fun. My fellow ImproMafioso Dan claims I gave good performances in both of them, and he only has a few small reasons to lie to me, so that's good. In the Thursday night "Sink or Swim" show, I played a coquettish spy during the French Revolution. As the night progressed, I removed first my scarf, then jacket, then jumper (Canberra is very cold). As the grand finale, I whipped off my bra from under my shirt, and presented it to my revolutionary lover as a device to help him escape jail. I realised, in the minutes that followed, just how much work my bras do during a performance.

Is it right to be slightly obsessed with a
fictional character you play?
Photo by the remarkable Kris Anderson

One of the shows was called "The Director's Mind", by Sydney impro legend and self-confessed Canadian Cale Bain. I grabbed my Q3 and did an interview with Cale about the format, during which he drank most of a beer (improvisers drinking? No!)

I also took part in a radio interview to promote the Improvention early Friday morning, despite the fact I was heading home a few hours later. Turns out working on a Julia Gillard impression was a good call.

Shenanigans in Canberra were continuing across the weekend, but I returned to Brisbane more keyed up than ever before for the massive Prognosis: Death! Yule Die Laughing show last night. We had a great audience, and a brilliant show - full of fake blood, laughter, and murderous Christmas trees. And The Wah received an absolutely caking in fake blood and green ichor. I could see him giggling as he lay onstage getting covered in slime. Normally he's the one dishing out the liquid glucose, so it was nice to see him getting a taste - a sugary, sugary taste - of his own medicine.