What's Up

I posted a story earlier this week on the Portable Reality Show at Poulsbo’s Jewel Box Theatre. Tonight and tomorrow they’ll travel time to the Old West for a fully improvised cowboy musical. I was lucky enough to catch a rehearsal last week, and was surprised at how swiftly their onstage world came to life — and how often it cracked me up. I don’t think there’s quite any way to explain the funniness of any particular improv sketch, as the nature of the art is fleeting. With no scripts written, the stories last only as long as the audience remembers them. Here’s a clip of the troupe performing last year — a regular show, not one in the Wild West. Notice their penchant for breaking into song despite not always staying in tune. See Rupert Kettle, the musician in this clip, strumming with the troupe this weekend. Alice Ostdiek and Todd Erler, who appear at about the 3:25 mark, will also kick up some dust onstage. See the show at 8 p.m., and get tickets here.