Sand

Brunlieb, Thomas, and Scott are the improv team Sand. They had a show last night at midnight at iO. It was a great show and the crowd was packed to watch 'em. It was one of those nights that happens every once in a while where friends perform and they are great and the audience members are all friends who perform and the energy in the room is full and positive and loving.

It had been a while since I had seen them and I think, for me, iO is the best place to watch improv. I don't mean the best improv but the best stages, the best set ups, and I feel the best in them. So watching them last night I enjoyed them more and was able to be more open when I was watching. What struck me was there form, their structure. It is relatively rigid or seems so- they do a monologue then three scenes with the person who gave the monologue, another monologue from a second person then three scenes with that person, a monologue by the third persons then three scenes with them then done. They called their own out and just took a bow without a light pull. What struck me was given the spartan simplicity of the structure they could stop worrying about form completely and focus exclusively on the characters which they are wonderful at, its their strength.

It just seemed so genius to me and almost like a trick, have a form so set and firm that any thought of it vanished- freeing you up. I enjoyed the show as an audience member and laughed my face off but also felt liberated as a performer watching my friends be truly original not as improvisers but from a longer view as theorists, inventing a new canvas, a new solo, a new way to play.

A great team, a great show, an eye-opener.