The group that takes this year’s General Fools Festival from national to international is Dad’s Garage. Of the out-of-town improvers hear for the four day event, they’re the one I have the least familiarity with.
According to General Fools member Jayden Pfeifer, if I lived in their hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, that wouldn’t be the case.
“When you go down there and you go to their theatre, they’re not a small deal,” he says. “People love it. Dad’s Garage is an interesting thing, too, because they’re not just improv. They do that and theatre. They’ve got a two-tiered schedule. There’s a lot of crossover between the improvisers and the actors.
“They’ve got a very interesting way of working that I’m very envious of, where they’re producing plays alongside improv shows. On any given night there might be one of each.”
On the improv side of things, Pfeifer continues, “[t]hey take the idea of format creation very seriously. It’s not just that they want to be doing improv — they want them to be creative, interesting improv formats.”
Two formats they’ll be bringing to the festival are Samurai Davis Jr. and Dim Sum’s Super Mega Happy Fun Time Improv Show and Kill the Dog. The first is a Japanese game show that’ll be closing out the festival. (More on that later.)
The second is an improvised screenplay whose name is a twist on the screenwriting book Save the Cat.
“In addition to playing characters, they’re also doing a side narration, using the tenants of the screenplay to explain what’s happening. They explain the shots that they’re using, they explain how a camera is being used,” says Pfeifer.
Dad’s Garage will be performing the Kill the Dog format on Friday, June 8 and will be part of the festival assemble as well. The General Fools Festival continues tonight all the way to Saturday, June 9 at Artesian on 13th. For more information, go to their website and check back on the Dog Blog.