Brad Morris, Joe Canale, Matt Walsh, and Tim Meadows

Bluebird Improv is coming to the Garner Galleria Theatre for a limited time – May 16-18. Don’t miss your chance to see these hilarious comedians in action, including Tim Meadows, Matt Walsh, Brad Morris, and Joe Canale.

We had the opportunity to sit down with Tim Meadows and Brad Morris for a closer look at Bluebird Improv, and what audiences should expect from the show.

DCPA: Bluebird Improv uses Chicago-style improv. Can you describe what that means, and what makes the style fun for you?

Tim Meadows: Chicago long-form improv uses an audience suggestion or spontaneous conversations between the audience and us or between ourselves, and then we create comedy based on those ideas.

The fun for me is in the creation of the scene and characters with my friends on stage. We don’t know where it’s going, and we are seeing it for the first time just like the audience.

Brad Morris: I guess it means like, roots improv for us since we all started in Chicago. For me the attributes are committed, playful, spontaneous, energetic, free flowing, funny and wild.

DCPA: Why did you decide to pursue improvisational comedy?

Meadows: I decided to pursue this style of acting because it was a combination of writing and acting and working with a group. It was one of many approaches we use to learn to act or perform. I wanted to learn how to be an actor and improv seemed like a good way to approach it.

Morris: Growing up in Chicago and seeing shows at Second City as a kid planted the seed. Then in college I auditioned and made a sketch/improv troupe and got hooked. The immediacy of the creation, the impermanence, and the collaborative nature made it appealing to me.

DCPA: What is the most memorable sketch you’ve staged while performing with Bluebird Improv?

Meadows: Brad was leaning on a chair and scolding Joe (his son) for taking the lawnmower out without his permission. As they continued the scene, I crawled under the chair (as if it was the lawnmower) and told Brad he was being too hard on his son who had just run me over with the lawnmower. Matt entered the scene through a real door onstage and said he was with the fire department. Brad asked him had he just walked through his house? And why? He could have just come outside to the backyard where we were all standing. Matt admitted that he had taken a shower while inside Brad’s home. I lectured Brad on being a better neighbor…

But I guess you had to be there…

Morris: I can’t remember any of the scenes I’ve done. That’s why I keep doing the shows.

DCPA: How would you convince someone who has never experienced an improv show to see Bluebird Improv?

Meadows: I always tell people coming to see our show that it’s all new, every time. And we have fun creating it together.

Morris: Everyone leaves with 1,000 dollars. And laughing burns calories and it’s much cheaper than Ozempic.