Review of the Colin and Brad Show

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
PREMO Member
Patron
Malcolm says it's very funny :yay:

"Washington D.C.’s most uproariously funny show, maybe in history, starred Brad Sherwood and Colin Mochrie. Stars from ABC’s ‘Whose Line is it Anyway’, Colin and Brad put on a excellent improv comedy show. Many in the audience might have missed parts of dialogue while trying to catch their breaths, or wipe tears from their eyes. Witnessing these two artists create the memorable show that isn’t even made yet in their minds is what makes this show more enjoyable than watching a music concert. Someone who has been to every performance wouldn’t know what to expect next, not even Brad and Colin themselves!

There was scarcely a moment that a giggle, chuckle, or a sidesplitting guffaw couldn’t be heard from the house. Even during intermission people in the audience could be heard reciting the funniest lines they could recall from the first half of the show, while those around them laughed. Brad and Colin utilized their improvisational skills to deliver this laugh out loud performance. The show was very interactive with the audience. Most of the skits used members from the audience, and almost all skits used suggestions from the audience.

One of the most impressive skits had Colin leave the room wile Brad took suggestions to conduct an elaborate crime that Colin will have to confess to… but he’ll have to guess it first. The crime that the audience composed was that Colin, while wearing a Roman centurion helmet, pasties, and Capri pants, dewormed a dog and stole Lucky’s lucky charms. The crime took place near Algonquin (I think. For some reason “akakwon” is all I can remember) at Cletus’ watermelon patch, and used an eggplant and herring to aid him. One couldn’t help but laugh at some of the silly but useful clues that Brad gave or let out an impressed clap as Colin guessed each part of the crime, word for word just as specific as the audience had suggested it.

Maybe one of the games that earned the most laughter response (this might be kind of sad and sadistic) was a game called mouse traps, or Weapons of Mouse Destruction as they were referred to. 100 live mousetraps were set across the stage on which Brad and Colin were performing blindfolded. The scene for them to act out, as suggested by the audience was that they were putting together a jigsaw puzzle. The audience yelped out with laughter with the sound of each “click”, “clack”, “snap” and each shout, cry, or curse let out by Brad and Colin. The game being played somewhat faded out, as the duo used the direction of each others voice to chuck live mousetraps at one another.

Aside from the cursing that arose from mousetraps snapping on fingers and toes (did I mention they’re barefoot?) or what have you, this show was a fairly clean show that anyone of all ages can enjoy. There was even a skit where kids were brought onstage to assist with the performance.

The Brad Sherwood and Colin Mochrie Comedy Improv Show is a hilarious, memorable show, for both kids and adults. If you’re looking at for a little feather for your feet, something to tickle your funny bone, this is what I suggest. If the performance in Washington D.C. was missed, don’t be discouraged. Colin and Brad will be returning to the area again soon, and will be performing at the Music Center at Strathmore in North Bethesda, MD on Friday, April 21, at 8PM.

For more information on the show, check out http://www.colinandbrad.com.

--Malcolm Wilson
 
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canuk woman

Guest
vraiblonde said:
Malcolm says it's very funny :yay:

You got to see them?!?!? You're so lucky they actually came to my city last year (and brought some of their other whose line castmates with them) I was going to see them last year but there was a problem... I was 15! and this year I'm 16 and I don't think I can wait another two years.
 

mrwax

New Member
canuk woman said:
You got to see them?!?!? You're so lucky they actually came to my city last year (and brought some of their other whose line castmates with them) I was going to see them last year but there was a problem... I was 15! and this year I'm 16 and I don't think I can wait another two years.

Hey, it's Malcolm. new to the site. yes i saw them this past weekend, and it was by far the funniest thing i've ever seen. I'm going to try and get the company i work with to send me when they appear in Bethesda. So theres a good chance i'll report back some of the best parts and highlights of that show in my next review. I would love to see more of the cast of 'Whose Line...' do a show. It was great enough just the two of them, i can't imagine what the whole crew would be like. There's the Improv All Stars show that i remember hearing about a while ago, they had a hbo, or PPV special for it or something, but it's posted on Mills Entertainments site now... if dont know if it's just about that old show, or if it's coming up again. i would love to see that.
 
C

canuk woman

Guest
mrwax said:
Hey, it's Malcolm. new to the site. yes i saw them this past weekend, and it was by far the funniest thing i've ever seen. I'm going to try and get the company i work with to send me when they appear in Bethesda. So theres a good chance i'll report back some of the best parts and highlights of that show in my next review. I would love to see more of the cast of 'Whose Line...' do a show. It was great enough just the two of them, i can't imagine what the whole crew would be like. There's the Improv All Stars show that i remember hearing about a while ago, they had a hbo, or PPV special for it or something, but it's posted on Mills Entertainments site now... if dont know if it's just about that old show, or if it's coming up again. i would love to see that.

I know that would be cool I don't even have PPV (darn it) and besides it would be cool to see the whole Whose Line cast (minus Drew and Wayne and to a lesser extent Kathy Kinney) doing something again (before Ryan Stiles ends up on the surreal life that's right it might be him).
 

mrwax

New Member
canuk woman said:
I know that would be cool I don't even have PPV (darn it) and besides it would be cool to see the whole Whose Line cast (minus Drew and Wayne and to a lesser extent Kathy Kinney) doing something again (before Ryan Stiles ends up on the surreal life that's right it might be him).
man... i dont want Ryan to go to the surreal life. i think he is one of the funniest guys on whose line. he needs to be touring with colin and brad.
 
C

canuk woman

Guest
mrwax said:
man... i dont want Ryan to go to the surreal life. i think he is one of the funniest guys on whose line. he needs to be touring with colin and brad.

I know that would be so cool though (the reason I picked Ryan was through careful process of elimination on who is or who isn't doing anything right now)
Well lucky for Colin he's still famous in Canada (his show "Getting Along Famously" has been airing on cbc every friday but tonight it's pre-empted because of olympic coverage and won't be back until March 3rd. The show is very funny though and surprise! two of his former "Whose Line" costars have guest starred so far).
 
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mrwax

New Member
canuk woman said:
I know that would be so cool though (the reason I picked Ryan was through careful process of elimination on who is or who isn't doing anything right now)
QUOTE]


interview posted on wliia.net (whose line is it anyway.net) on January 15, 2006.

From Statesman Journal

For Ryan Stiles, improv is the only type of true comedy.

From his beginnings as a stand-up comedian in the 1970s to his work with Toronto's improv group The Second City to later in the 1990s as costar of "The Drew Carey Show" and co-creator of the American version of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?", Stiles has been a champion of improvisational comedy.

Now, Stiles and three other cast members from "Whose Line" are presenting the live touring show "A Night of Improv." The show comes to the Historic Elsinore Theatre on Jan. 28. A second show at 9:30 p.m. was added after tickets for the 7 p.m. show sold quickly.

This is the first time "A Night of Improv" has come to Salem.

The show also stars "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" cast members Greg Proops, Chip Esten and Jeff B. Davis. The musical director is Bob Derkach from The Second City in Toronto.

"A Night of Improv" starts with Proops doing a 10-minute stand-up comedy routine that leads into 90 minutes of fast-and-furious improv comedy games.

Here is what Stiles had to say in a phone interview about the live show, as well as ABC's treatment of "Whose Line" and the art of comedy.

Statesman Journal: What are you up to these days?

Stiles: When "Whose Line" ended (in 2003), I promised my kids I wouldn't work for a few years. I've been writing scripts with a friend. We were just commissioned to do a script for an animated film for Sony. I get a lot of offers to host reality television shows, but I'm not too fond of that stuff. I prefer doing my student films (laughs). I probably enjoy it because I don't make any money doing that.

SJ: Speaking of "Whose Line" ending, it still seems to be tremendously popular on the Internet. Have you been made any offers to bring it back in any form?

Stiles: We haven't, though it might happen someday. You know, that show scared ABC because it was too easy to do. It was a cash cow. There was no writers, no sets. It showed profits after a month, which is unheard of. They started it against "Friends" and "Survivor," and it still did OK. It had everything going for it.

SJ: So why did they have issues with it?

Stiles: Well, I just think it was too different at the time. When Drew (Carey, who also served as producer) and I went in to pitch it, we didn't have any of the usual things -- a script, characters, specs. We had the British version of the show as an example, but the format changed a bit for the American one. In the British one, you always had a different group. But ABC wanted Colin (Mochrie), Wayne (Brady) and I on every show so we had only one spot that could rotate. And at the beginning, they wanted us to use celebrities in that slot. We tried to explain you don't need celebrities doing bad improv. We tried to explain having Carrot Top on "Whose Line" wasn't going to work. And eventually, they figured that out.

The first season, they ordered 26 episodes, a regular season. But see, we could get two to three shows in each taping so they ended up with 72 episodes.

SJ: You seem very passionate about improv. Where does that come from?

Stiles: I started in comedy in the late '70s, and I did stand-up in Vancouver (British Columbia), worked all these different cities. I got bored with stand-up. When I joined The Second City in '86, it was like, this is what it's supposed to be like. I didn't have to worry about material because it's always different. When you do stand-up, they have this "make me laugh" kind of attitude. But with improv, they feel more invested in the show because they are part of it.

SJ: Do you think "Whose Line" brought improv into the mainstream?

Stiles: It does seem like it is more prevalent now. A lot of schools have improv as part of the theaters arts. My kid has it at school. We have an improv theater now in Bellingham (Wash., where Stiles lives). We started out with different touring improv groups, but now we use local people. We have about 40 performers and classes for kids.

SJ: What is it called?

Stiles: UpFront Theatre. It seats 120 people, and it's full all the time. It was basically this big hulk of concrete, and I based the stage on The Second City. It's a beautiful cabaret-type theater. I have yet to make any money on it (laughs). It's nice, because when I'm in town, I can pop in and be there, but it runs itself now.

SJ: Can fans of "Whose Line" expect to see a lot of the same with this live show?

Stiles: We don't decide until a half an hour before what games we're going to do, so I can't say for sure what we'll be doing. We don't do the ones that use props as much. There is a lot more interaction with the audience than with "Whose Line." In this show, all the suggestions come from the audience. You will not see "Hoe Down," but you'll probably see "Greatest Hits." I love watching the music stuff in the show.

SJ: So you never get tired of improv?

Stiles: I'm still excited about doing it. There's a lot of improv groups in L.A., they are doing it because they are trying to get a TV show, or because it's hip or whatever. But with us, we would do it even if it didn't pay. It's still fun to do or I wouldn't do it. I have to get on that stage. It's a drug for me.
 
C

canuk woman

Guest
mrwax said:
canuk woman said:
I know that would be so cool though (the reason I picked Ryan was through careful process of elimination on who is or who isn't doing anything right now)
QUOTE]


interview posted on wliia.net (whose line is it anyway.net) on January 15, 2006.

From Statesman Journal

For Ryan Stiles, improv is the only type of true comedy.

From his beginnings as a stand-up comedian in the 1970s to his work with Toronto's improv group The Second City to later in the 1990s as costar of "The Drew Carey Show" and co-creator of the American version of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?", Stiles has been a champion of improvisational comedy.

Now, Stiles and three other cast members from "Whose Line" are presenting the live touring show "A Night of Improv." The show comes to the Historic Elsinore Theatre on Jan. 28. A second show at 9:30 p.m. was added after tickets for the 7 p.m. show sold quickly.

This is the first time "A Night of Improv" has come to Salem.

The show also stars "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" cast members Greg Proops, Chip Esten and Jeff B. Davis. The musical director is Bob Derkach from The Second City in Toronto.

"A Night of Improv" starts with Proops doing a 10-minute stand-up comedy routine that leads into 90 minutes of fast-and-furious improv comedy games.

Here is what Stiles had to say in a phone interview about the live show, as well as ABC's treatment of "Whose Line" and the art of comedy.

Statesman Journal: What are you up to these days?

Stiles: When "Whose Line" ended (in 2003), I promised my kids I wouldn't work for a few years. I've been writing scripts with a friend. We were just commissioned to do a script for an animated film for Sony. I get a lot of offers to host reality television shows, but I'm not too fond of that stuff. I prefer doing my student films (laughs). I probably enjoy it because I don't make any money doing that.

SJ: Speaking of "Whose Line" ending, it still seems to be tremendously popular on the Internet. Have you been made any offers to bring it back in any form?

Stiles: We haven't, though it might happen someday. You know, that show scared ABC because it was too easy to do. It was a cash cow. There was no writers, no sets. It showed profits after a month, which is unheard of. They started it against "Friends" and "Survivor," and it still did OK. It had everything going for it.

SJ: So why did they have issues with it?

Stiles: Well, I just think it was too different at the time. When Drew (Carey, who also served as producer) and I went in to pitch it, we didn't have any of the usual things -- a script, characters, specs. We had the British version of the show as an example, but the format changed a bit for the American one. In the British one, you always had a different group. But ABC wanted Colin (Mochrie), Wayne (Brady) and I on every show so we had only one spot that could rotate. And at the beginning, they wanted us to use celebrities in that slot. We tried to explain you don't need celebrities doing bad improv. We tried to explain having Carrot Top on "Whose Line" wasn't going to work. And eventually, they figured that out.

The first season, they ordered 26 episodes, a regular season. But see, we could get two to three shows in each taping so they ended up with 72 episodes.

SJ: You seem very passionate about improv. Where does that come from?

Stiles: I started in comedy in the late '70s, and I did stand-up in Vancouver (British Columbia), worked all these different cities. I got bored with stand-up. When I joined The Second City in '86, it was like, this is what it's supposed to be like. I didn't have to worry about material because it's always different. When you do stand-up, they have this "make me laugh" kind of attitude. But with improv, they feel more invested in the show because they are part of it.

SJ: Do you think "Whose Line" brought improv into the mainstream?

Stiles: It does seem like it is more prevalent now. A lot of schools have improv as part of the theaters arts. My kid has it at school. We have an improv theater now in Bellingham (Wash., where Stiles lives). We started out with different touring improv groups, but now we use local people. We have about 40 performers and classes for kids.

SJ: What is it called?

Stiles: UpFront Theatre. It seats 120 people, and it's full all the time. It was basically this big hulk of concrete, and I based the stage on The Second City. It's a beautiful cabaret-type theater. I have yet to make any money on it (laughs). It's nice, because when I'm in town, I can pop in and be there, but it runs itself now.

SJ: Can fans of "Whose Line" expect to see a lot of the same with this live show?

Stiles: We don't decide until a half an hour before what games we're going to do, so I can't say for sure what we'll be doing. We don't do the ones that use props as much. There is a lot more interaction with the audience than with "Whose Line." In this show, all the suggestions come from the audience. You will not see "Hoe Down," but you'll probably see "Greatest Hits." I love watching the music stuff in the show.

SJ: So you never get tired of improv?

Stiles: I'm still excited about doing it. There's a lot of improv groups in L.A., they are doing it because they are trying to get a TV show, or because it's hip or whatever. But with us, we would do it even if it didn't pay. It's still fun to do or I wouldn't do it. I have to get on that stage. It's a drug for me.

Thank you so much I really needed that yes like I said they did come to my city last year but I couldn't go because of an age limit and bad language (thanks alot mom I may have missed my only chance to see Ryan Stiles in person come on I know what those words mean even if they do come back this year I'll sneak in age limit or no age limit).
 
C

canuk woman

Guest
mrwax said:
man... i dont want Ryan to go to the surreal life. i think he is one of the funniest guys on whose line. he needs to be touring with colin and brad.

Ok it looks like no one from the Drew Carey show will end up on the surreal life anytime soon because I just found out that Ryan does the voice of Angelica's pre-school friend Harold in the rugrats spin-off "Angelica and Suzie's Pre-school Daze". Plus I just saw him on a recent celebrity Poker Showdown (and unfortunatley he was the first to end up in the loser lounge).
 
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canuk woman

Guest
OMG! OMG! OMG! Colin and Brad are coming to my city on October 1ST! Now I know what I want for my 17th birthday!
 
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canuk woman

Guest
Grrr I feel so ripped off! I just found out that the show date in my city might be cancelled because it's not on the schedule anymore (that's the second time Mochrie!)
 
C

canuk woman

Guest
OMG last night it was so awesome I almost caused a riot when they played mousetraps and I screamed "I GOT A TOE!!!"
 
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