Experimental Farm Theatre (EFT), a collection of local improvisational theatre troupes, performed its fourth show this year at the Pressed Cafe on March 12.
EFT combines the recounting of real-life stories and long-form improvisation into a two and a half hour performance.
The three troupes participating in the March 12 show were The Urban Woodsmen, The Birds of Prey, and Catch & Release. They were joined by Crush Improv’s Tim Anderson, an improv actor with 16 years of experience.
Anderson said he felt a little naked on stage as the concepts of his real-life stories were interpreted on the spot by Catch & Release, a group made up of mainly Carleton students.
“I thought they did a very good job,” Anderson said. “I’ve been involved in events similar to this, but I’ve never had my own personal stories being interpreted comically as they were tonight.”
Catch & Release played fun at Anderson’s childhood revenge stories, radical high school exploits, and sketchy doctor appointments.
“The crowd really had a laugh,” he said.
Ryan Pickering, a Carleton student and member of Catch & Release and the Carleton Improv Association, said he would love to see more students in the audience.
“It’s a very social scene where you will meet a lot of new people, have fun, and laugh a lot. We’ve got really good beer and really good sandwiches,” Pickering said.
EFT performs a long-form improv set that involves longer scenes interlaced by themes, characters, emotions, and stories.
The Urban Woodsmen performed a 20-minute scene from only one word that was given by the audience. The audience shouted “scorpion,” so a story emerged about a couple striving to have their fourth, spontaneous McDonald’s marriage.
“I think it’s going really well,” Pickering said. “We’re all trying to focus on skill-building so that we’re all ready to go on stage and help each other by sharing the weight of the scene.”
“It’s a really interesting show. I like how it’s not the Whose Line is it Anyway concept I’m used to,” said Leo Ben-Natan, a first-time audience member.
