No scripts. No line memorizing. Just raw, off-the-cuff comedy. On any given Thursday night, you can wander into the Somerville Theater in Davis Square for a night of belly laughs, courtesy of Boston improv troupe, Awkward Compliment.
See scenes made up on the spot inspired from crowd recommendations (i.e. “What was the last thing you Googled?”) that spiral into hilarious bits. Each week, Awkward Compliment invites new guests to perform as well, including other local improv troupes and stand up comedians.
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Last Thursday night I went to their show, where Awkward Compliment hosted improv troupe, Casual Denim, and stand up comedian, Dave Boczinowski (aka Dave Boz). Casual Denim opened with a 15 to 20-minute series of scenes based on the crowd recommended topic of tomatoes. One thing led to another and the improvisers were doing scenes about lumpy tomatoes and farm-owning families with unusual relationships and crop dusters shaped like missiles.
“That part amused me,” said Dottie Harris, an audience member from Carlisle, MA. “I liked the crop duster scene; they looked like they were having fun up there.”
Stand up comedian, Dave Boz, followed Casual Denim with his amusing take on life using logical reasoning. “I found out a very interesting fact about dolphins,” Boz said. “They actually have sex because it feels good; not just because they instinctively do it to reproduce.”
He argues that if this is true, doesn’t that imply dolphins can fall in love? And if they just have sex and don’t fall in love, doesn’t that mean all dolphins are scumbags? “So if a guy does that with a girl, I have reason to believe he’s a scumbag,” Dave said. “I wouldn’t say that guy is a pig, I’d say, ‘That guy is a dolphin!’”
Pretty hilarious reasoning that makes perfect sense; yet is not typical for anyone to normally make that connection.
Transitioning to bits about misguided career advising, clam meetings and Klan meetings, Awkward Compliment took the stage by force, improvising scenes based on the crowd’s topic suggestion: farming.
“I’m a 22-year-old in my last semester in high school and I have no direction,” a student tells his guidance counselor.
Guidance counselor’s advice: “Be a farmer. Be a lifeguard. Be a cat sitter.”
Terrible career suggestions from a deranged high school guidance counselor – arguably drunk or chemically imbalanced- inspire his student to become a professional cat sitter who physically sits on cats for a living.
Awkward Compliment seamlessly transitions to varied scenes with recurring characters with eccentric personalities and idiosyncrasies the audience enjoyed.
“I love coming to these shows,” said Sarah Gudernatch, an audience member from Boston. “I love the honest, raw nature of the whole thing. It feels grassroots and the actors are local and really care about what they’re doing.”
Improviser and founder of Awkward Compliment, Matt Gudernatch, enjoys performing in the weekly show he and his troupe have been hosting for the last six months.
“We’ve been extremely fortunate to have some wonderfully talented openers and comedians,” he said. “We always love putting on these shows and trying to make each other laugh as much as the audience.”
Awkward Compliment and featured guests perform every Thursday night at the Somerville Theater at 8pm. Admission is $10/$5 with a student ID.
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