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https://theconversation.com/thank-god-youre-here-is-back-its-success-proves-australian-tv-is-the-perfect-home-for-improv-comedy-206668>
"Improvised comedy TV show
Thank God You’re Here returned last Wednesday
after a 14 year hiatus, with its premiere drawing an impressive 684,000
viewers.
Hosted by Celia Pacquola, the guest stars include first timers Urzila Carlson,
Aaron Chen, Geraldine Hickey, Lloyd Langford, Luke McGregor and Aunty Donna’s
Mark Bonanno, as well as returnees from the 2006-2009 run such as Fifi Box and
Julia Zemiro.
The premise sees each celebrity guest costumed into a character – who is a
complete surprise to them. They then enter through the infamous door into a
scenario which they must play along with the core ensemble, who are also
improvising but, unlike the guest, to a brief.
Thank God You’re Here, developed by Working Dog’s Santo Cilauro, Rob Sitch,
Michael Hirsh and Tom Gleisner is a “justification game” by theatre sports
categorisation. It employs a similar hook to the theatre sports game Actor’s
Nightmare, where one player can only speak from the lines of a scripted play
leaving everyone else in the scene, who are unaware of the text’s content, to
“justify” their dialogue.
Improv grew from a set of strategies for training actors to a performing art in
its own right.
Australia’s place in the history of improvisation suggests our screens are
uniquely placed for introducing wider audiences to a form that – if sometimes
derided for its “cringe” or lack of diversity – promotes risk, spontaneity and
genuine “liveness” at a level scripted theatre and comedy only aim to emulate."
Share and enjoy,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
