Improv and music go hand in hand. After all, how do you make music without a little bit of improv? But Zephyr McAninch, director of the improv troupe Bluff City Liars, wanted to add more music into their improv because who doesn’t like a little bit of music with their improv? So they came up with the two-night Liar’s Ball, where the Liars will play improv games inspired by and backed by the tunes of Louise Page on Friday and Rosey on Saturday.
“Our regular shows typically don’t have a musical element,” McAninch says. “Every now and again, we’ve been able to work in a musical game. … But the ball aspect is there’s music very heavily integrated into the show [with the special musical guests].”
This ball will be the Liar’s second, with last year’s featuring Dandelion Williams and HEELS. “It was just such a success. I think it’s my favorite show we’ve ever done,” McAninch says. “It makes me feel like more of a rock star right there with the band. Everything we’re doing is a little bit silly, but it feels cooler when you’ve got Rosey giving you the backing track for your doo-wop song, or you got Louise Page laying down the piano for Hoedown [a musical improv game you might recognize from Whose Line Is It Anyway?].”
The show will also give audience members a chance to hear Page’s and Rosey’s originals in between games. “I can’t recommend these bands enough,” McAninch says, “so I’m excited for the possibility of getting to introduce somebody to either of them.”
But, of course, being the improv aficionado they are, McAninch is also excited about the possibility of introducing anyone and everyone to improv. “I think everyone should try improv,” they say. “I was the quiet, shy one before I started doing improv [in college], and when I told my parents I joined an improv troupe, they said, ‘You?’ … I just kind of fell in love with it. It’s a wildly fun, massively accessible art form, and it’s weirdly applicable to so many other parts of your life.
“Improv is just not knowing what’s happening. That’s everything that’s ever happening in your life. And on top of that, when kids play, they’re just improvising; they just have fun. We forget how to do it, so I just want to help people remember how to do it.”
So, in addition to shows like the ball this weekend where folks can watch childlike play in action, Bluff City Liars hosts a free improv workshop where attendees can take part in the play themselves at TheatreWorks@The Square on the first and third Monday of each month at 6 p.m. “It is no-commitment,” McAninch says. “You just drop in whenever you feel like it. We adapt what we’re talking about that week to who is there and what skill level is present.”
Keep up with the Liars at bluffcityliars.com, where you can also purchase tickets for the upcoming Liars’ Ball.
Liars’ Ball, TheatreWorks@the Square, 2085 Monroe, Friday, June 7, 8 p.m. | Saturday, June 8, 8 p.m., $12/advance,
$15/at the door.
