Regular Friday Night Romp, "Off The Top Of Our Heads" Has Witty Performers Who Think On Their Toes.

Reprinted with permission

"What are you doing Friday night?" A typical question in our anything but typical Gotham City. Enter Gotham City Improv's Friday night romp, "Off The Top Of Our Heads," a witty and entertaining, fully improvised show that's sure to start your night off right. While many NYC improvisation troupes perform "longform" or "Harold" improv, taking audience suggestions to create full story-scenes, "Off The Top Of Our Heads" specializes in "shortform" improv, and in doing so presents a scintillating variety show.

WGINY recently attended a Friday night performance of "Off The Top Of Our Heads," and was impressed by how quickly the actors could come up with one-liners and quirky dialogue, only moments after a new idea was presented.  The audience was involved in nearly every aspect of the improvisations, as the joking, charismatic Artistic Director, Marc Adam Smith, ran several series of interactive games to get the show going. Smith was a fine MC whose ability to interject himself into scenes at the most unexpected times kept the show fresh and entertaining.

Every few minutes, scenes were changed and altered, and new layers of absurdness ensued, as actors were rotated in and out of the spotlight. There were five performers, in addition to the Director, and each seemed to personify a different personality trait throughout the show, even as they portrayed varying improvised characters. The vibrant, expressive Nannette Deasy had an innate ability to think on her toes and cause raucous laughter as as result. Maddie O'Hara tended to charm as a proverbial "girl-next-door," Christopher Boerger had no trouble making apathy amusing, Curt Dixon's exaggerated style gave him a special glamour, and Alex Decaneas' eccentricity only served to further add to the blithesome frivolity of the evening. Although I understand not all are "regular" castmembers, I have rarely seen such a cohesive, connected group of improv performers. Scenes and jokes flowed like whimsical anecdotes across the stage and into the audience aisles (quite literally at one point...watch where you sit!).

"Off The Top Of Our Heads," showing every Friday night at 8pm, is a great way to kickoff a weekend, or let loose after a long work week. Tickets are only $10, and Goldstar is currently running a 50% off promotion.

Gotham City Improv is located at 48 W. 21st Street, between 5th and 6th Ave. For more information, follow GCI on Facebook and Twitter, and check out their promo video on Yelp!. GCI also holds improv classes (including FREE sample classes), and has a full calendar of other improv shows.