Members of the improv troupe Redmond are ready to switch gears mid-act and perform with a thick Irish brogue, the flat monotone of a robot — even an orgasmic screech. What will they say next? Not even they know. It all depends on the luck of the draw. Literally.
Redmond is one of a growing number of improv groups making clever use of Utter Nonsense, a new, “inappropriate” party game that features amusing phrases and accents printed on hundreds of playing cards. The troupe has built a whole monthly show around the act of playing off whatever card randomly is drawn at different moments of the performance.
“It’s really neat to use to get into characters and scenes or incorporate it into a show because it’s like a Pandora’s box of suggestions,” said Redmond comedian Jamie Yates, 26, of Roscoe Village, who has a soft spot for the “Russian” card because it means she gets to come up with her own style of Soviet accent.
“Do I act like a spy, a scientist from a movie or just the cliched Russian accent?” Yates asked. “Who knows? But it’s fun.”
Co-creators Tim Swindle and Dave Mazurek—both 34, of Fulton River District—didn’t necessarily have comedians in mind when they launched Utter Nonsense. It was intended as a mildly offensive party favor in the vein of Cards Against Humanity with a thespian twist—players act out cards instead of simply reading them aloud. The concept is simple: Each deck is divided into two kinds of cards. Phrase cards determine what you’ll say (“I’m an Elite level Yelper, so yeah, I know what I’m saying about sandwiches”), and accent cards change how you’ll say them (redneck, pirate, surfer dude).
“A lot of the humor comes through the juxtaposition,” Swindle said. “Like, it’s just naturally funny when you say a redneck phrase when speaking with a British accent.”
Once each player takes turns acting out his or her cards, a judge determines a favorite. It’s a modified version of the game Swindle and Mazurek say they started playing a decade ago as college students.
“We were sitting around a campfire, tapped out on other games and starting writing phrases and accents down on paper and putting them in a hat and played it until the wee hours of the morning,” Mazurek said. “It was our favorite game to play.”
A hangover-fueled brainstorm session at Schoolyard Tavern on New Year’s Day 2014 prompted Swindle and Mazurek to turn that simple homemade game into a part-time job. Inspired by the makers of Cards Against Humanity—fellow Chicagoans who’d turned their own throwaway college party pastime into a wildly successful business—they raised more than $15,000 on Kickstarter in August and published the game in November.
Utter Nonsense’s creators say the game has been a relative hit among their target audience — the “politically incorrect” crowd. The popularity with improvisers in Chicago? That’s a bonus that developed through their professional association with Landis Wiedner, co-founder of Nindis Social Media. While working on a social campaign for the game, Wiedner—who also produces a monthly comedy show—discovered it was “a natural fit” for improv.
“You’ve got the blind line format in improv where you ask the audience for a suggestion and sometimes the crowd feels like it’s staged. But there’s no way you can memorize a box full of cards, so we thought it’d be funny to do a line grab with Utter Nonsense,” said Wiedner, 30, of Lincoln Park. “It gets you saying ridiculous things with funny accents and gives the audience a way to be in on the joke.”
Wiedner helped spearhead the Utter Nonsense monthly show, and buzz has spread throughout Chicago’s improv community in a few short months. Some Second City Conservatory classes have begun using it as a practice tool. Yates said she’s constantly loaning copies out to performers.
“There’s really not many tools out there like this, and it just seems perfect for improv, especially for beginners,” Yates said.
Swindle and Mazurek say they now feel a little silly that they missed the improv connection while developing the game. But now they’re trying to correct that oversight and encourage improv’s burgeoning love for the game through Redmond’s monthly show. They also signed on as a sponsor for next month’s Chicago Improv Festival, and Swindle says they are planning other future collaborations.
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“It’s a community we want to be a part of, and we’re both in Chicago, so we’re saying, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.'”
Ryan Smith is a RedEye special contributor.
Utter Nonsense show
Featuring stand-up comedians Chris Redd and Grace Lusk, sketch group Sibling Rivalry and improv troupe Redmond
7:30 p.m. Friday, Workshop Chicago (935 W. Chestnut St. Suite 530)
Tickets: $10 at eventbrite.com.