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Three Legged Race



Last Updated: 7/15/2009

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Status: Swinger
City: CHICAGO
State: IL
Country: US
Signup Date: 5/3/2006

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Wednesday, August 05, 2009 

Category: Parties and Nightlife
It's not true that blondes have more fun. Evil has more fun. Sure, great things can be done by good people, but it's the bad guys who enjoy life and look good doing it.

Front for Evil, the second sketch comedy show from Three Legged Race, explores evil in all its forms. At least, the enjoyable ones, like pirates, rehab, Hollywood agents, and alcohol. Not evil like racism. We’re opposed to that.

Directed by Jay Steigmann of Back Table Productions, Front for Evil opens 8/7/09 at the Apollo Studio Theater, 2540 N. Lincoln. It runs Friday nights at 10:30 through 9/25/09, and tickets are $12.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 

Three Legged Race will be holding auditions for their upcoming sketch show on Tuesday, October 28th, from 8:00 to 10:00pm in the downstairs bar of Johnny O'Hagan's (..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />3374 N. Clark St.). The sketch show is on Friday nights in January and February at the Apollo Theater at 10:30 pm. Rehearsals will be on Tuesday nights from 7:45 to 10:45 at Johnny O'Hagan's. Auditions will consist of cold readings. To reserve an audition slot or to request additional information please email Doug at three_legged_race@hotmail.com. No pay.

Monday, July 28, 2008 

Current mood:  excited

Hi there Race Fans -

For those of you playing along at home, you know that 3LR has been going through some major changes. One change we're very excited about is our first sketch show. This morning it became official. We have booked the Apollo Theater on Friday nights (in Jan and Feb) at 10:30. Now we just need to go write the darn thing. Can't wait for you to see it!

Peace,

The nice folks at 3LR

Saturday, July 14, 2007 

Category: Games

TMATTY: stands for Tell Me About The Time You (audience suggestion).  The story teller gets a suggestion such as getting your driver license or got married. The story teller then tells the story while the rest of the group acts it out on stage. There should be give and take between the scene and the story teller. For instance, the story teller might say, "And so she said," which is the cue for someone in the scene to fill in the dialogue and pick up the story.

 

Typewriter: is very similar to TMATTY. For this game, the story teller is sitting at a typewriter typing out a story while the rest of the group acts out the story. The story teller has the ability to delete scenes and lines.

 

Events: starts with the audience suggestion of an event in someones life, again like getting married. The game is played when two actors start a scene establishing part of the story. Another actor will yell "Freeze! Cut to(five years before the event, ten minutes after the event, etc)." The actors will then perform that scene. The game ends when the whole story has been told. If Quentin Terintino did improv, this is the game he would play.

 

Conducted Story: is a group game. The actors stand on the back wall in a line and the conductor sits in front of them (facing them). They get a title from the audience and the conductor points to one player who starts telling the story. The conductor points to someone else who picks up where the last player left off, be it with a new thought, mid sentence, or mid word.

 

Town Secrets: is a point of view game. We all have the one story a friend tells completely different than we do. For this game, the audience gets a town secret (the mayor is an alien; the football coach is actually a woman). The players take positions on the stage and become characters from the town (i.e. town barber, cop, grocery store owner, clergy). They then tell the story from their characters point of view.


Pop up book – This game requires four players – one storyteller and three characters in the story.  As in a children's book illustration, the characters create a scene by posing and freezing in location.  As the narrator tells his story, he describes who each of the characters in the scene are.  When he needs one of the characters to speak, he touches them and the actor who is touched speaks an improvised line that moves the story along.  The narrator at various points indicates when the page is turned by saying so or by making a noise such as "Ding," which requires the actors to move to new poses.

 Day in the Life – An audience member is interviewed about their day.  Usually, one player acts as interviewer and gets as many details of the audience volunteer's day as quickly as possible.  The remaining players then act out the day of the volunteer using as many details from the interview as possible.  Often times, this scene is played in a surreal fashion and the scene is described by the host/interviewer as the dream/nightmare the person is likely to have that evening based on their day.

Movie Review – Two players host a Siskel and Ebert-style talk show about a movie.  The players can ask the audience for a suggested movie title of a movie that's never been made or perhaps take simple suggestions and weave them together into a movie title of their own creation.  They explain the premise of the movie and set up a scene acted out by remaining members of the team.  The reviewers react to the scene and use it to build to a second scene, which of course, leads to the big dramatic end or resolution.  Two players host a Siskel and Ebert style show while the rest of the players act out the clips being shown,

 

Saturday, July 14, 2007 

Category: Games

Party Guest: The host leaves the room while the audience tells three players who they are. The host returns and has to guess who is attending his/her party.

 

Dating Game: One player leaves the room. Three other players get characters from the audience. The first player returns and has to ask questions to the characters like on the Dating Game. Player One must guess who the characters are.

 

Press Conference: One player leaves the stage. The rest of the players get a suggestion of why Player One is famous (s/he invented something or was the first to do something). Player One returns to the stage while the rest of the group sits in the audience. Player One then holds a press conference and answers question from the rest of the players until s/he figures out why s/he is holding a press conference.


Info Desk – This game requires four players, three of whom are asked to immediately leave the room.  The remaining player explains that he is working the information or return desk at a large department store.  He asks the audience for three suggestions.  One by one the three players return to stage and have to figure out what exactly it is they are returning based on the feedback they receive from the store clerk.  The audience is asked to help the players by snapping when they get close to guessing the object and applaud when he finally guesses what he is returning to the store.

Name that Tune – Two players are required to act out the titles of three songs or sometimes a certain number within a certain time limit.  They can speak only in gibberish and are highly discouraged from actually singing or humming any part of the song.  A Third player, who has been offstage while song titles are gathered from the audience, is required to guess the titles of the songs as quickly as possible.  The audience can be asked to assist by snapping and clapping as the third player guesses.

Interrogation – Usually acted with three players, one player is asked to leave the room.  He has committed a crime, named by the audience.  It can be anything from a simple daily task to an outlandish, impossible feat.  Advanced versions of the game have the crime featuring a specific act, with a celebrity accomplice or the like, in a specific location.  In either case, the first player returns to the stage and is told that he has committed a crime.  The other two players are tasked with asking questions that will help the "criminal" figure out which crime he has committed so that he can confess to it.  This does not necessarily have to be a police interrogation scene, although that is a common choice for the interrogators.


 

Saturday, July 14, 2007 

Category: Games

Newscaster: One player is the anchor, another is an expert, a third is an on the spot reporter, and two others are eye witnesses. The anchor breaks in with a special report (often into a fairy tale, but earlier scenes also work well) and speaks with the expert. They cut to the reporter who is out in the audience with one of the eye witnesses. Then back to the studio where the expert comments on the new development. The reporter breaks in with the other eye witness and then the action goes back to the anchor that ends the scene.

 

Dr. Know-It-All: Three to four players sit next to each other on stage while a mediator gets an audience suggestion as to what the doctor is an expert of. The mediator gets questions from the audience and the doctor must answer. The doctor is all of the seated players who reply one word at a time until they form a sentence, which should answer the question.

 

The Oracle: This game is played just like Dr. Know-It-All except the positioning of the players. One player stands behind a chair, one sits in it, and the other sits on the ground in front of it. When each answer is given they make mystical, magical movements.

 

Sportscaster: Two players act out a mundane every day event (like washing the dishes) in slow motion. Two other players commentate on the action as if it was an Olympic event.

 

Slide Show: Two players explain slides from their vacation. The slides are random and strange because of the odd positions taken by the other improvisers who make up the slide.

 

4 Square: Four players stand in a square. A caller yells out switch, signaling a rotation of the square. Each set of players has their own scene, each with a different suggestion.

 

The Ad Game: At the beginning of the show a player asks who would sponsor this show. In between (and sometimes during) scenes, players will step out and yell "And now a word from our sponsor," and perform the commercial.

 

Judge and Jury: Player one is the judge, player two is the defendant, and player three is the prosecutor. Players get an audience suggestion and then argue it (defend it, prosecute it). In order to take a turn they must object and have their object sustained (instead of overruled).

 

Do's and Don'ts: Two players get a How-To topic from the audience. They then explain how to do the topic properly and how not to, acting it out as they talk.

 

The Bus: One player gets on the bus with a certain emotion or physical abnormality. When a second player joins, everyone on the bus mimics him/her. A third player joins and everyone mimics. When the bus reaches capacity, players exit in reverse order.

 

Scene Tag: Three sets of two players each line up against the back wall and each get a suggestion for scene. Team A begins their scene. The next team (A or B) loudly clap when they hear a line the want to use. Team A steps back and the clapping team steps forwards and starts their scene with the last line of dialogue.


Freeze: – Two players start a scene. After the scene has been established (or after a laugh line), a player not in the scene yells freeze. The two players in the scene freeze and the player who yelled freeze enters. The third player enters the scene by tagging one of the frozen players and assuming the EXACT position of the player he tagged who leaves the scene, and is responsible for starting the scene in a way that offers a different justification of the position he or she has just assumed.

 Arms Expert – This game requires four players, but only two sets of arms.  The game starts with two players each seated in their own chair.  One seated player is host of a talk show and the second seated player is his guest, an expert on a topic, usually a topic which the audience suggests.  The host will run a question and answer session about the topic with the expert, sometimes even getting questions from the audience.  These two seated players have their arms behind their back while the two remaining players use their arms to substitute.  The key to this game is making sure that the experts and their arms work in sync, taking cues from each other and making big gestures to illustrate their point. 

Good advice/bad advice – This game requires four players, one of who is the host of an expert panel.  His job is to facilitate a question and answer session with the other three players on any topic which the audience suggests.  The audience may provide the questions, or the host can ask questions if necessary.  The three players serving as experts start by introducing themselves and then answer questions in the same order, left to right.  The player on the left has the job of giving good advice, the player in the middle has the job of giving neutral or questionable advice and the player on the right has the responsibility of giving bad advice – in fact, the worst advice possible. 

Mission Improbable – Two players on stage get a suggestion from the audience about a mission they must accomplish.  The mission can be complex or outlandish, but usually a very simple objective will serve the purpose of this game well.  The job of the players, with perhaps some assistance from other teammates as necessary, is to accomplish the manner in as complex and dangerous manner as possible.  For example, if the job is to open the mail, players might decide to have venomous scorpions jumping out of envelopes they've opened with machetes.  This game requires actors to act on their suggestions and is successful when there is a lot of action on stage.

Understudy – This game requires four players, two of whom leave the room immediately as the remaining two players act out a scene of a minute or two derived from an audience suggestion.  Once player suddenly feigns illness or another commitment and leaves which means that his understudy, who is one of the players off stage who hasn't seen the original scene and is not even aware of the initial scene suggestion must take the missing persons role.  Once the scene is played with the understudy, the remaining actor also has a reason to leave, meaning his understudy, the remaining off-stage player, must enter and play the scene with the other understudy. This game is often likened to the children's game Telephone, where people whisper messages to each other and the original message often becomes distorted and quite amusing as it passes from person to person.

Superhero – There is something wrong somewhere in the world, and we need four players to help solve the problem!  The first player is the host superhero and he cultivates suggestions from the audience to learn what his superpowers are and what problem is occurring in the world.  As soon as he gets the suggestion, he receives a call, telegram or some other communication from off stage letting him know of the crisis.  One by one, three of his superhero friends appear.  The first friend to appear is given a superhero name that indicates some sort of superpower and the friend must take on that personality and any physical traits suggested.  The crisis is explained and the second friend appears, whom the first friend then has to name and endow with a superpower.  Finally, the third friend appears, is named by the second friend and they work together to solve the world.  The scene usually ends as each friend departs in reverse order of appearance as they announce their plans to save the planet

Funeral – This may be termed an audience participation game because it is based on, and requires a brief interview with a volunteer from the audience.  The game can involve as many players as is necessary, but there must be at least one host who initially interviews the audience member to ask some personal details such as his name, occupation, friends, unique things about his day, and perhaps even how he might like to die one day.  The host then welcomes the mourners to the funeral of the audience member and the players give brief eulogies of the "deceased" based on the answers of the initial interview.

Panel of Experts – The audience is asked for three or four different magazine titles, depending upon the number of experts on our panel.  Each player should ask the audience, in turn, for a different title, or perhaps genre of literature.  They are then required to act as experts on any topic of the audience's choosing and must address the topic from the point of view of the magazine they received as a suggestion.  There should also be a host for this game to facilitate and ask questions.

 

Saturday, July 14, 2007 

Following is a list of one liner games.  The audience is asked to provide a simple suggestion such as a noun (person, place or thing) or perhaps an occupation, event or person.  The team's job is to use the format of the one liner to come up with a creative or humorous way to say one sentence featuring the noun.

Sex is – Sex is like a (audience suggestion) because (players fills in punch line one at a time). 

185 – 185 (audience suggestions) walk into a bar, the bartender says "Sorry, we don't serve your kind here," and the 185 (suggestions) say "Why not?" and the bartender says (players provide punch line).

 I like my Dates – I like my women (or men) like I like my (audience suggestion), (players provide punch line).

Yo mama – Yo mama so (audience suggestion), (players provide punch line).

 World's worst – The actors get a world's worst (occupation, thing to hear at a social event, things to hear at a specific location, etc) and step out one at a time and deliver a punch line which describes the world's worst. 

Celebrity To-Do List – The audience suggests a celebrity (dead or alive) and the team lists several things that might be on that celebrity's to-do list.


Wednesday, January 10, 2007 

Current mood:  creative
Category: Life

S. Douglas Albers Doug is thrilled to be returning to the stage with Three Legged Race. Doug was gentically spawned in a lab over 30 years ago and has struggled with the memories of the expierments done to him ever since. 3LR counts as therapy.

 

Derick could not be happier to be out of jail and back on the prowl. After graduating from ZQU, Derick found himself cold, alone, and broke. He then decided to study abroad under the tutelage of the great Dr. Zagreda of Albania. After his three years in Albania, Derick went on a Quaalude induced bender and eventually ended up in a Philippines sweat shop. After escaping the Philippines, Chicago was the next logical step.


Greg Landgraf is sweet, but creepy. You learn to love him though. His nickname is Mao. 

Monday, May 22, 2006 

Category: Games

Stand, Sit, Lie: One player must always be sitting, one must always be lying down, and one must always be standing.

 

Two Lines for Two Players: Two players in this scene can only say two lines of dialogue they get from the audience. They can repeat these lines as often as they can with different inflections and emotions. The third player must justify their participation in the scene.

 

Count it off: Each player gets a number between 1 and 10. They must speak in sentences containing their number of words.

Monday, May 22, 2006 

Category: Games

Poetry Corner: This is not necessarily a musical game, but it is a lyrical game. Four players stand on stage and must create a poem together in verse. Each player takes a line of the poem. Lines 2 and 4 must rhyme.

 

Blues, Blues, Die!: Four players take the stage and one player acts as conductor. They get a suggestion as to why they have the blues and then sing a song about it. Round one starts with each player taking their own verse and chorus. The conductor then starts making them switch one line at a time until someone makes and error. That player must die. The remaining players pick up the song again but now are made to switch mid sentence. When someone dies again, they switch to mid-word.

 

Do Wa Diddy: We all know the old song: She looked good, she looked good, she looked fine, she looked fine, she looked good, she looked fine, she looked so good I nearly lost my mind Do Wa Diddy, Diddy dum diddy do. Same tune and chorus with improvised lyrics.

 

Do Run Run: Same game as Do Wa Diddy, but with the song Do Run Run.

 

Irish Drinking Song: The players improvises and Irish drinking song.