Something Different!

By hlimprovers | July 21, 2021

There was excitement in the air as the players arrived at the Jam Factory. Something different was happening, and everyone knew it was going to be a diverse sort of show.

Live music would be the opening act, and the improv band, Stone Immortal, was already set up and doing sound checks when the players gathered.

With the Jam Factory in use, the warm-up was held in the Incubator, certainly enough space for the group to get their brains firing.

A few run-throughs of the games for the newer players, then it was off back to the Jam Factory to listen to the music as it came to the end of its set.

But the band wasn’t the only thing that was different on that cold winter’s night. The Good Food truck had trundled over the hill from Matamata and parked at the steps. It didn’t take long for the patrons and the players to line up for the hot soups and coffees, and other delectables on offer.

The show opened with Kathy leading the ‘Categories’ game, seeing the team trying to call out different types of fish, cocktails, and Italian foods. To make it even more intriguing, the foods had to be spoken in Italian. That was a challenge, but even pineapple pizza is hilarious if spoken with an accent.

‘Alphabet’ saw Fee and Kev on a first date and drinking heavily. They didn’t quite get drunk enough to end up “under the table”, but they skipped the meal and zipped off straight to the room which had been booked “just in case”.

Another excellent rendition of ‘Sign Language Interpreter’ from Kelly as Kev interviewed Brett on his expertise in teaching giraffes to play ping pong. Kev seemed to be more interested in the mating habits of the giraffes than in the fact that Brett wanted to get them to the Olympics.

A new game was introduced to the show’s lineup. ‘Complaints Department’ which had Sue, Mark and Ian returning items. Of course, the players didn’t know what the article was and had to guess through Kathy’s subtle clues. See for yourself in the snippet below.

The ‘Dating Game’ had Kev morphing into a racehorse, Sue with a stutter and Ian with an Elvis obsession. All three were relatively easy to guess by Billy-Jean, a deep, deep Southern Girl tired of dating her cousins, played by Kathy. It was pretty obvious she would pick the Elvis fan to go “in the ghetto” with.

Through other games, including ‘Space Jump’ and ‘Director’s Cut’, the Honest Liars pulled out all the stops and entertained the receptive audience.

‘Themed Restaurant’ wound up the fun-filled evening as Fee and Kev sat at a table with Vegas-themed dining as the rest of the players waited on them.

The crowd meandered out with many compliments, smiles and still chuckling, then the players put away the chairs and sat down together to celebrate the night and Kathy’s birthday.