Zenprov Comedy: A Festival of Traffic Lights!

Showings

Mary D. Fisher Theatre Sat, Dec 8, 2018 7:30 PM
Film Info
Event Type:Live Zenprov Comedy
Run Time:90 minutes

Description

In honor of the biggest holiday event of the year and the joyful traffic congestion it brings, Zenprov Comedy presents "A Festival of Traffic Lights!" Jam-packed with laughs, this improvised comedy show will steer you away from road rage onto the freeway of funny. The show starts at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 8 at the Mary D. Fisher Theater in Sedona. Tickets are $12 pre-sale and $15 at the door.


Mr. Patrick Schweiss, Executive Director of the Sedona International Film Festival has called Zenprov Comedy, “The best comedy troupe in Arizona. People were laughing so hard their cheeks were hurting.”


Since the Mary D. Fisher is located in West Sedona away from the worst of the uptown slowdowns expected that evening, attendees can count on unimpeded access to the show. With that said, leaving 10 minutes early is always a good idea.


If you’ve never been to one of their live performances before, Zenprov Comedy is similar to the TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” The troupe performs fast-paced, spontaneous comedic scenes created in the moment—always based on audience suggestions. Unlike sketch or standup comedy, nothing is scripted or rehearsed ahead of time. It’s completely made up and never the same show twice.


“We’re asking the audience member for ideas of how a family member might ruin Christmas,” said Derek Dujardin, director of the Zenprov. “We’ll then play those out in a game we call “The Drama Triangle.”


For nearly a decade now, Zenprov Comedy troupe has tapped into the quirky source material that comes from living in a small Arizona community steeped in spiritual seeking, UFOs, vortexes, self-help gurus, psychics, tantric sex cults, radical vegans, conspiracy theories and small-town politics.
 

One of the troupe signature comedy pieces leverages actual Facebook postings from The Sedona Bulletin Board as inspiration for improvisation. An audience member chooses one of the postings and the troupe leaps into action with a miniature play created in the moment. Subjects range wildly from small-town gossip to the evils of smart meters to harbingers of next impending apocalypse scheduled for next Tuesday.
 

While Zenprov Comedy’s may start in the woo-woo culture of Sedona, their conceptual otherworldly performances are grounded in the Del Close method of improv acting developed in Chicago, which emphasizes the “group mind” that mysteriously develops during a performance. Miraculously, the player’s minds fuse together to create a “super mind” where they practically finish each other’s sentences—and often do. Look forward to inventive satire and the revelation of big truths drawn from the great Cosmic Giggle.
 

The “super minds” of Zenprov Comedy includes Verde Valley locals Derek Dujardin, Tom Shoemaker, Shaeri Richards, Chris Redish, Shaunn Cochran, Betty Testa, Linda Roemer and Mary Carder.
 
Tickets are $12 pre-sale and $15 the day of the show. This one-night-only performance might sell out so please purchase tickets early.