For General Fools member Jayden Pfeifer, this being the third iteration of the troupe’s improv festival means that by now there’s a lot less stress about things going wrong and a lot more being able to sit back and enjoy the performances.
In keeping with the improv spirit, though, the Fools have a ballsy way to close out the four days of performances.
The past two General Fools Festivals have had big finales as well.
“Every year we try to do something really big for the final night, so we did the Japanese game show for the first year that a company from Atlanta does. Last year, we did The Doppelganger Project, where we shot short films during the day and finished them in theatre that night live,” says Pfeifer.
This year, all the performers will be a part of Neutrino. On Saturday night, for the final performance of the festival, three groups of improvisers will each get a someone with a camera and, from there, will have to spread out from the Artesian and start making an improvised film.
“Every time they finish a, whatever, five- to six-minute scene, they have a runner with them who just grabs the tape and hightails it back to the theatre and you have somebody in the theatre who’s live editing the story together,” says Pfeifer. While all this is going on, the audience gets to watch the film unfold.
I don’t think I have to mention that this is a big undertaking, even for the seasoned improvisers that General Fools have brought in. Pfeifer mentions that they were hesitant for a moment (“It took a little bit of, ‘Argh, are we really going to embark on this? It’s going to be so much fucking work.'”) but that the payoff seemed worth it.
On the night itself, all the performers get to dive right in.
“It’s like, everybody understands the rules, everybody has the gear. All the things are set up. Cables are plugged in. Let’s fuckin’ – OK. Lights go up, we got a show to put on. We gotta do it. Gotta pull it off.”
No matter what, it promises to be an entirely unique show.
The General Fools Festival runs from Wednesday, June 15 to Saturday, June 18 at the Artesian. More information can be found at their website. Pfeifer’s variety show, Red Hot Riot, is also running at the Artesian on Sunday, June 19.
