Zenprov Comedy: Zenprov Plays Doctor

Showings

Mary D. Fisher Theatre Sat, Mar 23, 2019 7:30 PM
Film Info
Event Type:Live Zenprov Comedy
Run Time:90 minutes

Description

Want a double-dose of comedy shot right to your funny bone? Join Zenprov Comedy for their one-night-only, completely improvised show “Zenprov Plays Doctor” at 7:30 PM on Saturday, March 23 at the Mary D. Fisher Theater in Sedona.


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

Similar to the improvised TV show “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”, Zenprov Comedy performs fast-paced, spontaneous comedic scenes created in the moment—always based on audience suggestions and hands-on participation with the actors. Unlike sketch or standup comedy, nothing is scripted or rehearsed ahead of time. It’s completely spontaneous and never the same show twice.


“Laughter is the best medicine,” said Derek Dujardin, director of Zenprov Comedy. “It’s been proven to boost the immune system and produce endorphins 100 time more powerful than painkillers. If we all could just laugh more, we’d hurt less. And the only side effects are sore cheeks and smile lines.”


The troupe will also be doing an all-new bit called “Ask Your Doctor.” Zenprov Comedy’s own troupe member Dr. Linda Roemer (yes, she’s a real doctor) will be taking live questions from the audience about anything medically related—from personal to professional. From her answers, the troupe will perform 20-minute improvised play based on those themes.


Besides making fun of America’s healthcare system, insurers, big pharma, arrogant doctors, Zenprov will also lampoon homeopathy, antivaxxers and new age cures. No one is safe. “We like to hold a mirror up to reality to show both the absurdity as well as truth in life thru the art of improv comedy. And we are always very surprised by what we discover,” said Dujardin.


For more than a decade, Zenprov Comedy has tapped into the rich source material that comes from living in a community steeped in spiritual seeking, UFOs, vortexes, self-help gurus, psychics, and radical veganism. While Zenprov Comedy’s may start in the woo-woo culture of Sedona, their conceptual otherworldly performances are grounded in fundamentals of rock-solid improv, inventive satire, and their constant search for the big truths hidden within the great Cosmic Giggle.


The troupe embraces the Del Close method of improv acting, 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. Laughter ensues.


The “Super Minds” of Zenprov Comedy includes, Derek Dujardin, Shaeri Richards, Chris Redish, Tom Shoemaker, Shaunn Cochran, Betty Testa, Mary Carder and Dr. Linda Roemer.


Shows are family friendly (rated PG-13) and run approximately 90 minutes. Visit www.ZenprovComedy.com to learn more.