Duel Interview: Meanwhile and Homegrown!

We’re mostly a long form group. Our preferred format is a 30 min first half long form game, such as 5,4,3,2,1 or convenience store, etc. Our 2nd half is what we call a LARD (living armondo room diez) which is just us chatting about a subject, then scenes based off the conversation. We try to include a sketch, whether it be video or live.

Meanwhile invites a special guest, who is usually a local performer, celebrity, etc., to be a part of each show.  At the beginning, we tell the audience a little about the guest.  Then we get a question from the audience, and the guest answers with a true story from his or her life.  The members of Meanwhile then make-up scenes based off the ideas that came up in the answer. After about a half an hour or so, we sometimes move to a “Guffman” format, wherein we get a word from the audience, and two or three of us act like people being interviewed about that topic.   We then do scenes with those characters or based off those ideas, and the special guest can join in the fun if he or she wants.

              

 The team (with the exception of Scott) took a [Comedy]sportz class in the spring of 09. We really liked it so we kept meeting throughout the summer, and eventually Josh Barto wanted to start a team, so he did. We rehearsed for almost 5 months before we put a show up.

Some of the members had been in previous groups or took classes together, but mainly it came out of “open improv.” Open Improv was a Tuesday night event at the Alchemist Theatre in Bay View where anyone could come and perform improv scenes together.  We got to know each other there, and some of us decided to form a group.  The group itself has existed about 3 years and the current group has been together about a year.

Actually the idea was inspired by Dave Lane [a player at ComedySportz Milwaukee and a friend of both groups]. I was complaining to him about wanting to do more, or something different. He suggested doing a show with another group. The next day I was proposing the idea to Lee Rowley [the founder of Meanwhile]. The team was all for it. We think Meanwhile has a ton of talent, and we could benefit from each other.

Jazmin approached Lee with the idea of a shared show.  Meanwhile’d been looking to try some new things this year, and thought this was a great opportunity to do that and to work with HEC.  It’ll be a fun show for the audience and the players! 

4. What can we expect from the show on the 18^th?

You can expect for us to do another long form game, Meanwhile to do their thing, then a big open jam at the end.