Review: Improv For Evil and Token Boy at Out Of Bounds [Comedy]
Emerging under blacklight, faces streaked neon with incandescent paint, the Improv For Evil cast grabbed maracas, slide whistles and other hand-held instruments to create a harmony that ebbed and flowed in perfect pitch with the rise and fall of each scene. The troupe recruited a drummer to provide a continuous backbeat, with snare and bass punctuating particularly powerful lines. They spun their suggestion -- revenge -- into scenes involving maudlin siblings scared to destroy their dead father’s beach house, B-list celebrity snipers, and sick, sniffling children, united by a through line involving a John Mayer / Darius Rucker rivalry turned sour. The team’s innovative use of melody and make-up, and their fluid scene transitions, turned their dark set into a complex tale anchored on fear, defiance and pop-culture trivia.
Token Boy, a group of girls who feature a different -- you guessed it -- token boy at each show started off their set with a round of monologues about thermometers, with stories invoking memories of sexy dentists, awkward pediatricians, hypochondriacs and grade-school hijinks. Their high-energy set explored the stage’s platforms and incorporated lots of movement into scenes calling back to their opener. Midway through the set they summoned their token boy to the stage, explaining that they like to feature their guests and asking fine art and wedding photog Bolden to take a group photo of the girls with the Out of Bounds audience -- then spinning the time-out into a scene about a creepy nude-photo enthusiast.
Check out the Out Of Bounds site for information on the rest of the weekend’s shows, and information on where to catch these groups next.
