History of Laughing Gas
Improv
Laughing Gas, South
Florida's premiere comedy improvisational theatre troupe, is now
in its sixteenth season! Not bad for a group of actors who started
out without money, publicity, or even a theatre to call their
own.
Let's
get this out of the way up front: improv is an accident. It was
never meant to be new performance artthat just sorta happened.
Improv was really just intended to make actors better actors.
Almost half a century ago, a Chicago director named Viola
Spolin was looking for a technique to make actors more spontaneous,
to force them to connect with each other. What she stumbled on
was improvisation. If the actor had no script, she reasoned, the
actor wouldn't be able to plan ahead, so the performance would
be fresh and real. And the only way for the actor to survive in
the improv is to actually pay attention to the other actors' emotions
and behavior! It offered a ready antidote to the overly internal
acting techniques coming out of New York's Actor's Studio.
Spolin's system caught on, and
in the late 1940's, some of her students noticed something. Improv
was entertaining. Improv was funny! Maybe people would pay money
to see it! And so The Compass Players, the first modern
improvisational theatre company, was born. They devised the model
that improv troupes have used ever sincethe actors would
take random suggestions from the audience to create absolutely
unique shows every night. The original Compass Players
broke up and several Compass troupes sprang up in various
cities as the players spread the gospel of improvisation. In Chicago
this evolved into something known as The
Second City, the improv and sketch comedy theatre with operations
in Chicago, Toronto and elsewhere, that spawned two generations
of comedic talent including Stiller and Meara, Alan Arkin, Mike
Nichols, Barbara Harris, Robert Klein, John and Jim Belushi, John
Candy, Gilda Radner, Tim Farley, Mike Myers and many more. Soon,
improv companies sprang up all over the world (click here
for an interactive directory of other improv companies around
the country).
And
in a little town called Miami, actor/director Sandy Mielke
founded a troupe called Mental Floss in 1986. It thrived
for six years and even had its own theatre in the heart of Coconut
Grove until Hurricane Andrew brought it to a suitably cataclysmic
end. The audience stopped coming (having things like fresh water,
food and shelter on their minds rather than light entertainment),
so, unable to cover the rent, the old company folded. Thus, in
1992, several ex-Mental Flossers took it upon themselves
to found a new company, which came to be known as Laughing
Gas. Now headed by Gerald Owens, it was (and remains)
a vagabond troupe, renting other companies' theatres, but it has
lasted a staggering fifteen years. For ten years, Laughing
Gas made its home at the critically acclaimed New
Theatre in Coral Gables, before moving to our new home
in Miami Lakes at the newly-completed Main
Street Playhouse in the heart of the Main Street entertainment
district.
Unlike
many other area improv companies, Laughing Gas performers are
mostly professional actors and comedians who also work in live
theatre, television, feature films, commercials and industrial
films, and several are stand-up comedians as well. The troupe
is committed to presenting interactive entertainment that is both
intelligent and profoundly silly. Many members are also active
in Miami's busy independent film scene.
Laughing Gas has appeared at The
Caldwell Theatre and The New York Comedy Club
in Boca Raton, at The Burt Reynolds Theatre in Tequesta,
aboard the cruise ship M.S. Discovery Sun in the Bermuda
Triangle, at The Improvisation Comedy Club in Coconut Grove
and in Hollywood, as well as Coconut's Comedy Club in North
Miami and Coconut Grove. Our meanderings also took us to
the Museum of Art in Fort Lauderdale, the New Theatre
in Coral Gables, the PGA Golf Resort in Palm Beach Gardens,
the Cuillo Centre in West Palm Beach, and the Opus Playhouse,
Majestic Glades Theatre, and City Center in Coral
Springs, as well as the Country Club of Coral Gables, The
Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach and the Kravis Center for
the Performing Arts in West Palm Beach.
Our
previous college bookings include the University
of Miami, Miami-Dade Community
College, and Florida Atlantic
University. The troupe has produced many private shows for
professional organizations and youth groups. Corporate bookings
have included Stanley Tool, Boston Scientific, ADP
TotalSource and the SC Johnson Company. Click here for
more information on private performances. Laughing Gas
also offers professional-level workshops
in improvisational acting.
Laughing Gas performers
have assisted humorist Dave
Barry in four charity fundraisers for Big Brothers/Big
Sisters of Miami. They have also appeared without charge at
events sponsored by Gilda's Club, The Arts and Business
Council in Miami Beach, Kids in Distress in Hollywood,
and Center One in Pembroke Pines.
Copyright ©2008 - Laughing Gas
- All Rights Reserved
(305) 461-1161 for Reservations
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