On the lookout for something sumptuous to spice up date night? The Comic Strippers, Canada’s premier traveling striptease troupe, has an intriguing suggestion for you: improv comedy at the Lobero!
After last year’s successful, “sexy-larious” tour through Santa Barbara, The Comic Strippers, a male stripper parody and improv comedy show, return for a night of fab flab (and very little ab). Lighthearted and high-energy, this show offers audiences unscripted double entendre and negligible nudity.
Performer Roman Danylo, who’s had a full career as a stand-up comedian and improv artist, swears there are two things a comic can do onstage for a guaranteed laugh: dance like an idiot and remove articles of clothing. For this reason, gyrating and stripping — such outlandish and atypical acts in everyday society — are a perfect foundation for a parody about male “sensual performance artists.”
Danylo said that while the word “stripper” may concern some sensitive viewers, this evening of spoofy burlesque is more Chris Farley than Patrick Swayze. The impromptu singing, joking, dancing, and shirt removing provide a good-natured evening of non-seedy innuendo. The Comic Strippers teasingly refer to themselves as having “comedy bodies.” Danylo was emphatic about the lack of fitness regimen that informs these characters — the running joke with these guys is that they may (or may not) drop and force out one push-up to “buff up” pre-show. So if you’re looking for Channing Tatum, you’ll have to look elsewhere.
The cast of The Comic Strippers includes Canadian stand-up comedians Roman Danylo, Ken Lawson, Chris Casillan, and David Milchard (whom you may recognize from “Convos with My 2-Year-Old” and Haters Back Off). After two years of touring with this show, the performers have built upon their original concept and refined the performance. The Comic Strippers is a fully realized piece with characterization and narrative arcs that more strongly support the improvised jokes. For instance, one of the strippers is a newbie, and the show follows his induction into the fold — he learns the ropes from the veteran stripper (who’s been in the troupe for 43 years) and gains a worldlier viewpoint from the foreign-exchange stripper from another county. This is all in good fun, of course, and the evening is packed with over-the-top dancing, ridiculous slapstick, and unscripted, prompt-based entertainment. Be ready: Improv comedy demands audience interaction!
4·1·1 The Comic Strippers provide a one-night-only, unscripted comedic experience for (almost) everyone on Saturday, February 18, 8 p.m., at the Lobero Theatre (33 E. Canon Perdido St.). The event is for ages 21+ only. Call (805) 963-0761 or see lobero.com.