The Dream is usually the second or third act in an improv show at iO. The host brings someone up from the crowd, interviews them about their day, then the improvisers do a piece based on the response. Sometimes it can be fun, most of the time its relatively sedate. Last night The Dream was very different.
The first striking difference was it was just seven of us, instead of the Deltones the second show was going to be a one person musical and that person wasn't going to participate. The usual number of people doing it is 15-30. The second thing was the guy that did it. His name was Perry and he was a new agey guy who talked about getting his tarot cards read, being a spiritual traveler, transitioning from being a telemarketer to a spiritual healer, and playing an instrument called a Hang Drum. He has a daughter named Truth.
As the interview progressed I started to panic. The stuff he was saying was not typical and once we started doing scenes it could go from fun to making fun of him very quickly. I was anticipating it to be very difficult and to go very badly. He had his hang drum with him and we invited him to accompany Dave on piano while we improvised. It has this resonate, sharp, bell like quality.
The piece itself was a shocking success. It was very organic with little to no scenic elements- a lot of narrating, physical transformations, and direct address. It was the first time in a long time an improv piece I was in felt almost solely artistic, we didn't try to make jokes or do bits at all, it had a very trance like quality- ethereal and fleeting. We ended it by all seven of us mirroring him playing the hang drum with its tinkling foreign tones filling the room.
It's relatively unsatisfying describing an improv show, I know, but this one was special, unique, and one I'll never forget.
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