Review | “Whose Live Anyway” at the Santa Barbara Lobero

One of the joys of improv comedy is that both the audience and the performers never quite know exactly what’s coming next, and that dynamic of “are they really going to go there” energy was alive and well at the Lobero last week when the “Whose Live Anyway” team played two nights (Nov. 19-20). 

Veteran performer Ryan Stiles (who I remember best from The Drew Carey Show but has been a working actor in all sorts of film and TV projects for decades) stole the show again and again on Sunday night, with the kind of throwaway comedic timing that few can really master. From his lanky limbs to his silly stares, just about everything he said and did was funny. 

But he had ample backup from the other comedians, and for the most part, the audience played along rather well. This comedy troupe — which also included Stiles’ Whose Line Is It Anyway? co-star Greg Proops, as well as Jeff B. Davis and Joel Murray — had clearly done their homework, and some of the riffs on Goleta, Ojai, Isla Vista, Solvang (Pea Soup Andersons got its own little jingle), and Oxnard were among the funniest lines of the night.  

But of course, this was improv, so much of the material was input from the audience, some of whom even came up on stage to help out. The audience bits were funny, particularly when Abby and Samantha (two locals) were called up to the stage to provide sound effects, which was then followed by a radio show skit chronicling the Greatest Hits of Diablo Canyon. All in all it was a very entertaining night.

Who knows what happened on Monday. That’s the thing about improv, it’s always unexpected, and that’s always part of the fun.