Justin Steyer
Issue date: 11/3/06
With themes such as pickle juice, mobster bugs and a homicidal Santa Claus, The Upfront Theatre's production, "Surprise Snack," is an adventure in sketch comedy exploring zany characters, absurd scenes, pop culture spoofs and more, said Tim Eisner, artistic producer and 2002 Western graduate.
Local performers Ben Eisner and 1998 Western graduate Morgan Grobe direct a cast of eight regular Upfront performers who give life to this 14-skit production running through Nov. 4.
The idea for the title "Surprise Snack" originated from Eisner's childhood.
"My father used to prepare snacks and hide them under bowls so we wouldn't know what we were getting-he would call it a surprise snack," he said. "Our sketch show is very similar in that it is full of tasty comedic scenes, but the audience coming in has little idea of what delights await them."
Although Eisner said the Upfront's sketch shows have been very successful, the theater is primarily a home to improvisational (improv) comedy shows.
Improv is a form of unscripted acting fueled by audience suggestion and spontaneous actor interplay.
"With improv you do scenes with two or three people and you play just off of each other," Eisner said.
One of the many improv shows to catch at The Upfront is an ongoing production known as "The Upfront Theatresports."
"Theatresports is the pro wrestling of improv comedy," Eisner said. "It captures the excitement of a sporting event and mixes that with the spontaneous comedy of improv to create a very entertaining show that gets the audience involved and excited."
For people wanting to take their experience a step further, the theater offers more than comedic entertainment. Eisner said the theatre offers several improv acting classes ranging from beginning 100-level to advanced 300-level. Coordinated by education director DK Reinemer, the Upfront employs a staff of local instructors, including Kathleen Ferrara, an instructor at Fairhaven College.
"[Improv] is a great skill to learn if you want to be a performer and become funnier, quicker and more spontaneously creative," Eisner said. "If they are not interested in that, it's just a great outlet for people to relax and build on their communication and creativity."
Most of The Upfront's main-stage cast consists of performers who learned the art of improv from the theatre's classes.
"We kept teaching classes and teaching ourselves," Eisner said. "Right now all of our shows are pretty much done by local performers-we have developed a strong main stage cast and crew."
Patty Watters, resident director for Buchanan Towers, is one student who is now a main-stage cast member.
"I started taking classes last October because I wanted something to do off-campus," she said. "It's a huge adrenaline rush."
Local comedian and TV actor Ryan Stiles opened the downtown Bellingham theatre in August 2004.
Eisner said Stiles' primary motives for opening the theatre were to give the improvisational community in Bellingham a venue to showcase its skills and to have place to perform while he is in town
"Ryan knew there was a large group of improvisers in Bellingham," Eisner said. "[Stiles] said, 'I'll build it and you guys can run it and do what you want with it. I just want a place to play in town,'" Eisner said.
"Surprise Snack" is showing Nov. 3 and 4 at 7:30 p.m., followed by a 9:30 p.m. performance of a brand new show, "Upfront Unscripted," which Eisner compared to what might be found on the TV program, "Whose Line is it Anyway," a show Stiles was a regular on.
