The Olympian
By Molly Gilmore
June 26, 2008
For fans of improvisational comedy, Olympia is a pretty good place to be. That's because the crew from "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" - who will be in town Sunday to perform "Whose Live Anyway?" - does only a few shows a year, and frequently one of those is in South Sound. That keeps things both lively and convenient.
"It's a lot fresher than it was on 'Whose Line,' " said Ryan Stiles of Bellingham, who was a regular on "The Drew Carey Show" and has a recurring role on "Two and a Half Men." "In 'Whose Line,' it was always Colin and Wayne and I, and we always did the same games.
"It's nice to do it live because we're in control, and Drew's not there slowing it down, giving out points, so it's more fun for us. There's a higher energy level."
Most of the shows Stiles does with Jeff Davis, Chip Esten and Greg Proops are in the Northwest. "I don't fly, so we do them up here," Stiles said.
Do you dislike flying because you're so tall? (Stiles is 6-foot-6 and wears size 15 shoes.)
"How tall do you think I am, 12-foot-2?" he asked, laughing.
"It's a little bit of claustrophobia, a little bit of not being in control, and a little bit of not fitting in the plane," he added. "I should probably go cargo next time.
"I'm picturing a giraffe coming down the aisle," he added.
Maybe it's because Stiles doesn't like to fly, but doing "Whose Live" sounds more like a road trip with his buddies than a gig.
"I figure out the show on a napkin about a half-hour before," he said. "We get together on the bus and play poker. We go to the gig and figure out what we're going to do, and we do it. Then we go out for a couple of drinks afterward.
"Everyone is getting work, so we don't really need to do this."
Indeed, comedy without planning is Stiles' forte.
"I have a theater here in Bellingham, so I try different things," he said. His latest experiment with Proops: "Unplanned," a theatrical version of the British TV show.
"It's just two guys sitting on a couch," he said. "I guess it is improv, but you don't have games ready. You're just talking. That's a format I'd never done before.
"We are doing it in Montreal at the comedy festival next month, so we wanted to try it more than once."
Also in the works for Stiles: more work as Herb Melnick on "Two and a Half Men" with Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer.
"I did both 'Hot Shot' movies with Charlie, and Jon Cryer was in one of those, too. And the show is at Warner Brothers; it shoots two stages from where I shot 'Drew.' It's comfortable."
But how does he get to Los Angeles? He doesn't mind short flights, so he drives to Vancouver, British Columbia, and flies from there, he said.
