To make improv work, you need three things: audience goodwill, creative players, and a format that allows them to shine.
Goodwill was flowing when I saw Duck Duck Moose and every one of the players had a moment or two in which they showed their potential. But the format, which is a riff on Squid Game, defeats them.
For starters, the set-up takes way too long. And part of that set-up, which involves selecting a “random” volunteer from the audience is a cheat: two contenders, who arrived together, had already been preselected in the lobby, which undercut a device that could have created tension and real stakes.
And the body of the piece is not just repetitive (a game, the death of a contestant, a vote about whether to continue), it’s narrowly restrictive. The improv players get a few chances to show their stuff in monologues before their characters’ deaths, but there are too many players, so opportunities are spread thin. And there’s not a single instance in which two or three players get to develop a scene based on fresh audience suggestions. That’s the heart of improv and it’s missing here.
Remaining performances on Sept 7, 4:00; Sept 9, 8:30; Sept 10, 5:45; Sept 13, 5:45, Sept 14, 2:00. Tickets
It’s a stageful at Duck Duck Moose — too full. (Photo by Gordon Woolvet)
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