by Kirby Lindsay Laney, posted 14 December 2015
‘We do funny,’ is a big promise, but CSz Seattle delivers several times each week. Those looking for a laugh (and their friends in most need of one,) can attend ComedySportz matches produced by CSz Seattle in the Atlas Theater (formerly Empty Space Theatre, and now located within Atlas Clothing,) as well special productions: The Blue Show, The Green Show – and the upcoming, special Blue Year’s Eve celebration.
Experience ComedySportz
“I’ve been doing improv for 13 years,” explained Alex Grindeland, owner of CSz Seattle, and a licensed ComedySportz producer. “I want people to experience what ComedySportz is,” Grindeland said, “I saw this first at age 16. Amazing! That hasn’t changed.”
“I have a similar passion,” Dave Bogan said, “I want to do this. We’ve got something very special. We have a product that is unlike anything anyone else has.”
“We inject fun and joy into the world,” Grindeland said, “our sole goal is to make people laugh. We’re not trying to change the world.” Yet, they do. They give people fun, friendly competition and improvisational creativity on a weekly basis.
The ComedySportz model pits two teams of professional improv comedians against one other. “If you’ve never heard of improv, but you’ve heard of sports, you’ll be fine,” Grindeland said. The teams play standard, short-form improv games, officiated by a referee (generally either Bogan, or Grindeland, or another experienced ComedySportz performer,) with sound effects, music and score keeping by Mr. Voice, in the sound booth.
The Ref keeps the match moving along, building a rapport with the audience and serving as editor. Improv, even short form, can drag on if performers force a joke, get stuck on a bad idea, or run out of creative solutions. The Ref keeps the action, and the comedy, moving along. “Every five minutes,” Grindeland explained about ComedySportz matches, “we’re playing a new game.”
At CSz Seattle, they also involve the audience – not just with laughter, applause, and the occasional suggestion. “We never force anyone to participate,” Grindeland observed, but anyone with a hankering can get up on-stage. There is one warning, Grindeland offered, “if you volunteer a friend, you’ll be volunteered.”
ComedySportz only uses willing, and enthusiastic, volunteers. They do give preference to those celebrating a birthday, bridal/bachelor night, and/or anniversary, but basically it’s about getting the audience in on the fun. “Anyone who raises their hand,” Grindeland said, “we can make them look like a rock star!”
‘All About The Audience’
“A lot of people still don’t understand improv,” Grindeland acknowledged. He gave as example the Drew Carey television show, ‘Whose Line Is It Anyway?’ ComedySportz bears a similarity with the games they play, and audience participation, but it differs in one big way – ComedySportz isn’t a show but a match.
Teams compete, but when asked what they win, Grindeland admitted, “They get the glory. They get to high-five the audience.” CSz Seattle does send their team of best players to the ComedySportz World Championships each year, but that’s not really the point.
This is fun. “We’re like the people you want to hang out with,” Bogan observed. CSz Seattle holds tryouts once a year, and “we take the best people,” Grindeland explained. They look for people who want to play, using the family-friendly, competitive ComedySportz model.
“Our style is different,” Grindeland acknowledged, “Improv is a broad term. Our values, our playfulness, is all about the audience.” The ComedySportz model (it has licenses in 25 cities worldwide,) is about inspiration, collaboration, gratitude and fun. Grindeland and Bogan support that mission whole-heartedly at CSz Seattle, and they look for performers who share their vision.
CSz Seattle offers classes teaching the ComedySportz model. “Folks who have taken classes are going to have a leg up,” Grindeland observed on tryouts. However, improv classes also build general confidence. “Improv gets people out of their heads,” he explained, “It shuts off the prefrontal cortex, or gives it something to chew on.” The philosophy of Improv is about saying yes, and participants can find creative ways to do that in everyday situations. “You learn something about how people can play together, and have fun,” Grindeland said.
At CSz Seattle, they offer Improv Comedy 101, 201, 301 and 401. “We’ve had a couple of people that have taken 101 more than once,” acknowledged Grindeland, “but more often people make friends with their classmates and they want to stay with the same people through the series.”
Also, on Wednesdays at 8p, all levels of improv performers – from newbie to professional – can play together at The Improv Jam. This drop-in session starts with a lesson, for the first hour, and proceeds in the second with an open forum, allowing everyone to go up on the CSz stage and play. “There is no better way to learn improv than to play with someone more experienced,” Grindeland observed.
‘Making It Fun’
Grindeland has worked with people much more experienced in improv than himself, particularly Bogan, who recently relocated to Fremont from the flagship ComedySportz in Milwaukee. Bogan was Grindeland’s first improv teacher, and now he is here to help promote the CSz ComedySportz road show, offering performers for corporate events, weddings, birthday celebrations, and leading team building exercises. “The key to everything,” he explained, “is by making it fun!”
Grindeland first brought ComedySportz to Seattle, and the Ballard Underground, in June of 2012. They began building an audience there, but quickly outgrew the space – and the ability to work around the venue schedule. “Serendipty struck,” he said, and/or great good luck, when he connected with Jamie Hoffman and the Atlas Theater. Since February 2014, CSz Seattle has been providing Fremonsters with dependable, stitch-in-the-side joy.
Grindeland has modified the theater since taking it over. “It’s my space,” he said. The landlords are pretty hands-off. “They do repairs, but they let us do improvements,” he explained. A big change is building another stage in front of the original proscenium stage used by Empty Space. The proscenium created distance between the action and the audience. CSz Seattle needed a stage that allowed performers to interact, and incorporate the whole room in the match.
“We’re doing comedy, but our show doesn’t feel like you are in the theater,” Grindeland explained, “You don’t come and fold your hands and sit quietly.” As Bogan also observed, “We make the audience feel they are smarter than us. No one else does that.”
CSz Seattle produces ComedySportz matches on Fridays, Saturdays and matinees on Sunday. They also offer the Blue Show (their sole ‘not-for-the-kiddies’ production,) and the Green Show (dedicated to those who indulge in herbology.) CSz Seattle also welcomes partnerships, and on first Fridays, the Seattle Super Secret Stand-Up Show uses their venue, welcoming some big name comedians to Atlas.
On December 31st, again the exception-proves-the-rule, with the annual CSz Seattle Blue Year’s Eve – a night of bawdy, outrageous comedy, as well as a midnight champagne toast, music and dancing.
Even if you already have plans for NYE (and can’t possibly change ‘em,) check out one of the many CSz Seattle matches this month, or in the new year. Find out more on the CSz Seattle website, and calendar, buy tickets there in advance, or step up the stairs to the Atlas Theater, and find more funny, and joy, in Fremont.
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