“I took a stand-up class, and I just met a bunch of people in Dayton’s stand-up community that were all kind of mystified as to why I was comfortable on stage right away,” she said. “So, I started teaching comics just silly improv games to help them.”
Bowser was eventually introduced to Jaffe through mutual friends both into stand-up and improv in the area. About a year ago, Jaffe and Bowser formed this group with the help of other members Justin Greear, Cody Lough and Chris Corwin. Bowser said each member contributes something different.
“Everyone definitely has their role that they’re comfortable in,” he said. “Cody is honestly the perfect straight man. He’s still funny, but he is perfectly content being sincere playing along and just letting everyone else be. He’s the anchor, so everyone else can be crazy on stage.”
Bowser described Greear as being the “chameleon” of the group because he is good at recognizing what is needed in a scene. Corwin and Jaffe are both great at character work, while Bowser is good at being funny and object work. Object work is where the performer mimes picking up cups or opening doors. Improv is done only with a chair on stage while everything else is invisible.
“Brent is best at wordplay and knowing exactly where, I hesitate to say jokes, but the funny part,” Jaffe said. “He’s also the best one at object work, and it makes me so mad because I just can’t get that good at it.”
The group was practicing and performing at Wiley’s Comedy Club until they shut down. Now, with the help of Kevin Ruppert, the owner of Bricky’s Comedy Club, Pullin’ It has a new home where they perform every second Thursday of the month. The sshow’sows’ audience has been growing, and the group wants improv to become a staple in the community.
“Not just we have found our group within our group and the show, but we have found our group within the audience that we are cultivating,” Bowser said. “That repetition. It’s not just an improv thing, it’s a thing that exists in Dayton.”
The group focuses more on short-form improv playing games that can last five minutes. Sometimes a scene could go longer if everything is hitting just right. The group also enjoys creating their own games to make the show unlike other “Whose Line Is It Anyway”-type shows.
“Most improv is decidedly geared toward theater,” Jaffe said. “And that’s wonderful, and there’s definitely a place for it. I think what we do is far more comedy-adjacent. It makes it more palatable for people that just want to watch TikTok videos.”
The group practices by playing the games and having every single member try to be in every single role. So while each member has the thing they excel at, they still know what the other group members need in a scene because they’ve practiced it.
“We rotate through all the roles even if you don’t like doing it,” Bowser said. “Well, you’re going to do it in practice, so that you can understand what it looks like when you’re not doing it. It’s almost like empathy training. What I really like about our practices is that it’s an improv kitchen. Like an experimental kitchen.”
Jaffe said the group has some solid fans who come to every show. As in most improv shows, the audience is important because they contribute to the performance mostly in the form of suggestions for characters or situations. But Jaffe and Bowser said the audience can just come to laugh if they want.
The next show is at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 14 at Bricky’s Comedy Club. Get tickets at www.brickyscomedyclub.com.
MORE DETAILS
Jaffe also teaches improv for businesses and corporate events. For more on her, visit www.karenjaffecomedy.com. Bowser recently released a new comedy special, which can be found on YouTube. His website is www.brentbowsermerch.com. For more on the group Pullin’ It, find them on Instagram.
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