The Bloody Doors Off

(I’m gonna get hate mail for that title.)

And scene.

Can I get a non-geographical location?

What?

That’s the joke.

It got a reaction.

Lights down.

Moving along.

…

It’s the equivalent of a blackout in improv.

They’re pretty rare.

Like when I was doing lights for All-Canadian Theatresports.

Guy got a suggestion of street football.

I brought up the lights.

He jumped up and down on stage, waving his arms.

“I’m open!”

Boom.

Lights down.

Huge roar from the crowd.

An entire story told with two words.

“I’m open.”

He’s the kid they always tell to “go long” to get him out of the way.

I knew it.

The audience knew it.

The performer. Didn’t know it.

He berated me after the show.

The director limply came to my defence.

I didn’t do lights for them after that.

Got my revenge just before Covid shut everything down.

I wrote a short play.

Go Long.

Exact same premise.

Only the conversation between host and performer continue after the host tries to end the scene and move onto the next.

It ends up involving the playwright and his wife.

Extremely meta.

And it could only be performed once.

Just like a blackout in improv.