Making people laugh is no laughing matter. It takes training, experience, skill, and instinct to separate a clown from a comedian. And in the metro, there is one theater guild that specializes on improvised comic performances. Not only do they keep the people laughing long after bedtime, they also let the audience get into the act.
These silly people
Silly People’s Improv Theater or SPIT is a group that performs every Thursday at Mag:net High Street in The Fort. The group is composed of theater actors and actresses, as well as a live band that jams with their session from time to time. Currently, there are fourteen main acting members of SPIT, all with theatrical backgrounds from their respective universities or colleges.
SPIT members do an improvised rap performance
Originally formed in early 2002, SPIT came a long way into making its stable way into the streets of Serendra. Performing in many places in the Quezon City area and doing gigs for special events, SPIT’s long journey has improved their skills in the art of the funny.
In on the act
Telling jokes in front of an audience and expecting them to fall off their chairs from laughing does seem hard. But with SPIT, while the cast provides the laughs, the audience determines what to laugh about.
Members of SPIT ask for audience input: suggestions for scenes, the lines from their favorite song, most loved movie scenarios, and other situations from which they can draw seriously hard hitting comedy.
An example would be the members the audience to write down random phrases (song lyrics, corny movie lines, or pickup lines, for instance) on pieces of paper. The papers are collected and handed over to the cast, who will randomly pick and insert a line into their skit. This has resulted in storylines like one involving a kidnapping incident leading to a long-overdue reunion of brother and sister, with the supposedly heart-rending scene ending with the latter muttering “Who let the dogs out.”
SPIT cast draws comedy juice from the audience
Other than doing acts similar to those on Whose Line is it Anyway? and other traditional gag show skits, SPIT also has several unique sketches of their own. And with years of making people giggle at a certain parody or laugh out loud after a well-delivered political or celebrity joke, SPIT has earned a permanent place on the monthly lineup of Mag:net High Street.
More than just jokes
Because of their unique theatrical style and their niche for comedy, SPIT certainly created a name for itself and its brand of entertainment. Senior SPIT member Gabe Mercado, Yakult’s commercial endorser, believes that the group has earned its spot on the stage.
Senior SPITer Gabe Mercado
“We are honored that 8 years after we started, we are still packing in the crowds on a weekly basis at our regular shows in Mag:net High Street. Aside from the steady flow of talented improvisers that have joined SPIT in recent years as the older actors retired, we are lucky that the audience has grown with us as we have steadily experimented with other improv forms aside from the usual short form games that people might have been used to us playing.” says Mercado.
The SPIT Crew: 8 years and still funny
Booze, laughs, and a company of friends, seem like the best way to end one’s Thursday night. Welcome the end of the week with a smile, and perhaps, a joke you want to tell a friend or two.
Click here, here and here to watch the SPIT gang at work.
For Mag:net’s monthly act calendar, click here.
All photos by Keith Cortez
Incoming search terms:
