'Rumble' players, and audience, aim to kill
Sometimes, improv is murder. That's just the way Tim Paul likes it.
Paul is creator and director of ``The Rumble," a long-form improv show that features the death of one character every few minutes, that begins a three-week run at the Tribe Theater tonight. The audience controls the setting and who dies when and how, until there is only one performer left.
The audience participation draws the crowd in, sometimes a bit too much.
``It gets to the point oftentimes where I can't hear anything because it's just a cacophony of murderous suggestions," Paul says. ``During the best `Rumble' shows it's kind of like being in a Roman amphitheater because people get very violent in their imagery of how people can die."
Two actors start the scene with a location suggested by the audience, and then Paul, acting as host, stops the action to send the rest of the actors in one by one. He then gets suggestions from the audience about who should get the ax. How it happens can include suicide, homicide, natural disaster, and even death by Plinko, which happened once when the suggested setting was backstage at ``The Price Is Right."
``I think they kind of like deciding the fate of the show and seeing what the actors do with it," Paul says.
Improvisers have to think even more quickly than usual, knowing their character could be singled out next. Neraj Tuli , founder and artistic director of The Tribe, says the show teaches improvisers to be efficient with their choices.
``They don't have time to build up to something," he says. ``They've really got to decide what their point of view is and what they're going to do onstage very quickly. Otherwise the audience is ruthless with them."
The show was conceived as a way for Paul to bring together his favorite performers from the city's best groups, from established houses like ImprovBoston and Improv Asylum to younger troupes. Paul's goal is to move to Chicago, which boasts the premier improv scene in the country, anchored by Second City. He'd love to be able to bring the show with him and pass the reins of the Boston production to someone in the Tribe. He enjoys the challenge of creating shows, whether it's ``The Rumble" or a sketch revue.
``I feel that's where I thrive," he says. ``But I'll also take any opportunity that's given to me."
‘‘The Rumble’’ takes place at the Tribe Theater, 67 Stuart St., tonight at 8 with the Tribe Players. Also: June 1 and June 8. Visit www.tribeboston.com for tickets.
