By Mary Ann Bourbeau
RED BANK – It’s time to brush up on your improv skills because after a long COVID-19 pause Improv Jam is returning to Red Bank. Starting 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 13, it will be held once a month at Basie Center Cinemas and admission is only $5.
Improv Jam is a two-part performance; the first half consists of a cast of uber-talented improv masters creating unscripted sketches live onstage. In the second half, audience members are invited to join the cast onstage and test out their own skills by participating in spontaneous scenarios.
“It’s a safe and fun place for kids to go for less than the price of a movie,” said Improv Jam founder Michael O’Keeffe, who has been performing and teaching improv comedy professionally for over 25 years. “It keeps them from getting in trouble or going out drinking. There’s a sense of community, a sense of family. They have an amazing time for 90 minutes.”
What sets improv apart from standup comedy?
“Improv is instantaneous,” said O’Keeffe. “You get a real-time response from the audience. There’s a cohesiveness of the performers on stage bonding with the audience because they’re the ones giving the suggestions. Imagine a comedy show with performers making it up on the spot! There’s no other feeling in the world like it.” After graduating from Villanova University with an English literature degree and a minor in theater, the Brielle native moved to Orlando with the goal of being an entertainer at Disney World. Soon he and some friends joined the Sak Theater Comedy Lab, an improv theater in downtown Orlando.
“It just took off,” said O’Keeffe. After a few years, so did his friends, when they decided to seek fame and fortune in Los Angeles. Among them were Wayne Brady (“Who’s Line Is It Anyway?” “Let’s Make a Deal”), Nathan Fillion (“Castle,” “The Rookie”), Lou Taylor Pucci (“Thumbsucker,” “American Horror Story”) and writer Bart Nickerson (“Yellowjackets”).
“A lot of them went on to bigger and better things,” said O’Keeffe. “I had every intention of going out to L.A. to meet them, but after six months, none of them had jobs. They were sleeping on floors and waiting on tables. I decided on the lucrative route of public education.”
O’Keeffe, who lives in Point Pleasant, earned a master’s degree and was teaching in Wall Township but realized he could have more of an impact working in an urban district. He was offered a position teaching third grade in a Trenton public school and couldn’t be happier.
“I focus on social and emotional learning. We even use some improv listening and speaking skills,” he said. “Just like with Improv, I don’t call on people who don’t want to participate, especially if I see that they are having a bad day.”
In the ’90s, O’Keeffe started an improv theater in the Galleria at Red Bank with 11 p.m. shows every Friday and Saturday. It was a big success, with soldout crowds of 120 kids every night. When the facility closed, the event moved to Broad Street Cinemas, until that venue closed as well. They performed at the Internet Café in Red Bank, the former Wawa next to The Basie, the Eatontown Playhouse, a venue in Asbury Park and at Monmouth University.
“For the last five or six years, we’ve been like gypsies, traveling to schools and colleges,” he said.
O’Keeffe was thrilled when he was invited to host shows again at Basie Center Cinemas.
“Izzy (Sackowitz, Basie COO) and Jon (Vena, Basie chief marketing officer) have been phenomenal,” he said.
It’s important to O’Keeffe that the James be kept at a low price so more young people can afford to take part.
“Movies, comedy and live theater are so expensive now,” he said. “I’d rather have a full house paying $5 than a few people paying $20. The bigger the house, the better the show because there’s more energy.”
The monthly event will have a rotating cast of five performers who entertain during the first half of the evening.
“Then we ask for volunteers and open the stage to let people do their jam,” said O’Keeffe. “I hope to do workshops to train people to be part of our monthly show if they can prove themselves onstage.”
You never know who might show up for a night of Improv. Several years ago, when Wayne Brady had a show at the Basie, O’Keeffe took part in Brady’s show and Brady returned the favor by surprising the audience at Improv Jam.
“I didn’t tell anybody about it,” said O’Keeffe. “I just said we had an extra cast member. No one was expecting to see Wayne Brady. It was great!”
Does O’Keeffe ever have regrets about not moving to L.A. with his castmates?
“Yes and no,” he admits. “Yes, it would be great to be famous. But no, if I went, I might not have what I have now, my family and the opportunity to teach low income and special needs students.”
Basie Center Cinemas is also bringing back Open Mic Comedy Night every third Thursday beginning Oct. 20. Tickets are $5 at the door. “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” also returns at 10 p.m. Oct. 28 and 29. For more information, visit thebasie.org.
