The Bluff City Liars, a long-form improv comedy troupe in Memphis, plan to take their funny business online. No, that’s not a recycled lead from 1994, it’s a birth announcement. With WWW Dot Dot Dot, the Liars will take cues from both their audience and the internet, spinning improvisational comedy out of panel discussion.
Benny Frederick wants everybody to know he’s only a spokesman. WWW Dot Dot Dot was a team effort. Frederick, the stand-up comic and host who used to work under the stage name Benny Elbows, says he and his fellow Liars have been developing their new internet-inspired concept for months. “We’re going to be creating hopefully humorous scenes based on the internet,” he says. “Specifically sites we’re all familiar with. Things like Google searches or Instagram hashtags.
“I’m really hoping somebody gives us an OKCupid profile to inspire us,” Frederick adds.
Dating profiles are an endless source of comedy, as anybody who scrolls through their funnier friends’ social media feeds already know. But if nobody swipes right, the Liars are also prepared to work with the most fundamental element of internet-based comedy: the Google search.
“We ask the audience to give us three random words and we’ll put that into Google and look at the results,” Frederick says. “If something inspires, we go into the scene and act it out on the spot.”
WWW Dot Dot Dot won’t be available on the internet. To play along, you have to attend. “This is all in front of a live audience. We will not be broadcasting, although that’s an interesting idea,” Frederick says. “Maybe in the future.”
