Improv returns to the Tinley Park Performing Arts Center this weekend, with new parody sketches and opportunities for the audience to influence the show. The park district’s comedy troupe in residence, Graffiti on the Fourth Wall, performs Saturday with “Parody in Fact,” a show of sketches and improv.
Daniel DeWalt is the artistic and executive director of My Covered Bridge Inc., the umbrella for Graffiti on the Fourth Wall, Kidz on the Bridge youth comedy troupe and other acting classes and productions.
“This will be a parody-intense show with sketches,” said DeWalt, who contracts with the Tinley Park Park District to offer classes and produce shows. Actors in Graffiti on the Fourth Wall are professional and teen actors who have graduated from one and a half years of training with DeWalt. In addition to the park district, they have performed at other theaters and improv festivals over the years.
Mike McCauley, who has been with Graffiti on the Fourth Wall about three years, did improv in the 1990s with IO and the Annoyance Theater. He took time off for family and career, and now has found a way to get back into it.
“I’m really proud of the work (DeWalt) has been doing. It’s really good quality,” McCauley said. “We’ve had some really good crowds.”
Under the direction of Daniel DeWalt, the upcoming show will feature six performers who will be infusing their work with suggestions from the audience.
“(The performers) have varying degrees of experience, which I think is pretty cool,” McCauley said, noting another performer recently graduated from the Second City Conservatory. “There are some younger people starting out and us grizzled veterans.”
One of the newcomers is Oak Forest High School Junior Rachel Fimbianti, who is making her debut with the Graffiti on the Fourth Wall troupe at the May 30 performance. She has graduated from DeWalt’s improv classes and spent several years with the Kidz on the Bridge troupe. She said she’s looking forward to the show and likes being part of such a diverse group of funny people.
“We all come from different backgrounds,” Fimbianti said.
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“I feel that if you’re with a good group of people, and you’re all on the same wavelength, you can come up with some cool ideas. … I find myself cracking up,” Fimbianti said.
Graffiti on the Fourth Wall performs three shows a year at the Tinley Park Performing Arts Center, each with different themes. Past themes have included a backward show and a show using lots of props, McCauley said.
“We try to do something different every time,” said McCauley, whose day job is in sales, which he said can be a good source of material. “It’s very cathartic to be able to bring some real life stuff” to the stage.
“(Improv) is a great life skill to have in your work: commitment, being adaptable, listening, (are) things you use in the business world,” McCauley said.
DeWalt said he has been writing since the 1960s, and he took standup comedy classes at Second City as a way to help infuse comedy into his writing. His performing career took a winding detour through his years as a police officer, a Navy Seal, and the owner of a chain of dog training schools.
“Ultimately, I’m very entrepreneurial, so it was natural to take it on the road,” he said of My Covered Bridge. After having his own theater, he decided to contract out with theaters instead of worrying about the upkeep and business of owning a building. That enables him to focus more on performances. In addition to comedy, he stages murder mysteries and plays.
DeWalt has continued to evolve the My Covered Bridge offerings. In 2007, a child with Asperger’s Syndrome took one of his classes, which inspired DeWalt to get additional training so he can teach children with special needs through park districts, schools and other organizations.
Now DeWalt and co-producer Lisa Akroush are currently working with Comcast to produce a comedy improv show for the cable access Channel 19. Each episode of the show, “Yes, and … Improv on the Covered Bridge,” will be a half-hour. One episode will run weekly for four weeks, and then a new episode will air, featuring both sketches and footage from improv performances at Tinley Park and elsewhere.
He is hopeful the show can begin in July.
Park districts and comedy don’t necessarily seem to go together, but Tinley Park has had successful performing arts programs for years, said Kimberley Madden, the park district’s recreation supervisor.
“We usually get a pretty good turnout,” Madden said. “In the south suburbs especially, there are very few park districts that have a performing arts program and a theater. … We draw from a lot of places.”
My Covered Bridge also hosts open mic nights three times a year at the Tinley Park Performing Arts Center. The next open mike will be July 25. Both Graffiti on the Fourth Wall and the Kidz on the Bridge will perform before opening the evening up to anyone who wants to sing, dance, perform monologues or comedy, do magic or showcase other talents.
“Every time, we get new acts,” Madden said. “It’s a very encouraging audience.”
Fumo Fox is a freelancer.
Graffiti on the Fourth Wall comedy improv presents “Parody in Fact”
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 30; Box office opens at 7 p.m.
Where: Tinley Park Performing Arts Center, 16801 S. 80th Ave.
Tickets: $8 (appropriate for ages 13 and older)
Information: 708-342-4200