The Nefarious Popes
written by Elizabeth Blue
Many improvisers will say that after watching and performing improv regularly, it can be difficult to watch sketch comedy. When one is used to seeing actors create scenes in the moment, pre-written comedy can feel a bit static or stiff. The Nefarious Popes are able to bypass that common problem by bringing in refreshing elements of improv into the creation of their sketch show, The Gertrude, performed recently at The People’s Improv Theater in New York. The Gertrude is one part extremely smart and tightly rehearsed material, and the one part organically seamed-together, fluid comedy.
The first scene, a history lesson of sorts, feels much like an organic opener commonly used at the top of an improv show. All the actors are on stage giving hints of the characters and scenes we will be taken to later. They introduce the theme of their show: the passage of time. Is there a formula to evolution, or a secret to finding happiness?
The answer comes in the form of a short video that parodies, the hugely popular book, The Secret. We discover that some of history’s greatest villains used The Formula to visualize the disasters they brought upon civilization. Attila the Hun used the power of positive thinking to overtake ancient empires. Hitler found happiness through using The Formula. Even Darth Vader used The Formula – he tore out pictures from magazines to collage his dreams.
Well, what about everyone else, for whom The Formula didn’t work? The Popes explore the lives of normal people as well throughout history who didn’t get written about in the books. As cast member, Matthew Love, says, “These are their moments.”
The Gertrude is the fourth show that Matthew Love, Lori Steele, and Pete LePage have undertaken together. Love and Steele met in a writing class, where Love wrote the sketch, “Living in God’s Anus.” Thus he won her writer’s heart. (LePage later won Steele’s actual heart, and the two were married in 2008.) The trio’s humor and writing styles aligned and they found in each other partners they could learn from and grow with in the process of creating a sketch show. In each show, they cast guest actors from the comedy community. In The Gertrude, Amanda Peck and David Bennett lend enthusiastic support.
They use no props and wear simple black gear, so that the focus is entirely on the writing and character work, something director Pat Shay was very grateful for. Shay uncovered the hidden connections between sketches and brought continuity to the time span. As Shea says, “I focused on discovering things that were already there as opposed to making things fit.” Shay, an improv teacher at the P.I.T., uses another familiar improv influence in his directing. Rather than relying on the basic blackout, scenes often end by characters slowly transitioning into new characters in new environments, transforming the series of sketches into a well-rounded show.
One basic rule of improv is toyed with in several scenes: the core of every desire is either to seduce or kill. A farce-like scene takes place in the Victorian era, where each of the characters must painfully suppress their desires for another. Steele and Love play a couple in the midst of an angst-ridden affair. Watching Steele drive Love mad with the simple removal of a glove is especially entertaining. Their suppression eventually finds its only release in the form of a shotgun, and their dead bodies cover the floor at the end. Later, Mrs. Deeds takes us to the 1950’s, where she teaches young women a lesson on how to kill one’s husband. The girls curiously ask about the best way to kill their husband, and giggle over the rumors they’ve heard from friends who have already killed their husbands. “My friend did it and she said that it could hurt the first time, there was blood everywhere, and you could see it on her face for days!” Mrs. Deeds leads them in screaming out their husbands’ names and grabbing themselves to feign love for their husband while doing the deed. It is up to the audience to decipher which deed she is referring to.
Their brand of comedy is not just for the brain. Some purely for-fun sketches include the keystone cops, a Charlie Chaplinesque sketch with bumbling characters just missing each other, an audience favorite. Amanda Peck, in particular, masters the keystone cop hop. Another enjoyable scene takes place in the Middle Ages. Watching Pete LePage on his hands and knees, professing his unwielding love to a cow named Douche was priceless. (“Oh Douche! Douche, I love my Douche!”) After poor Douche’s death, the Wizard neighbor turns the cow into a satchel, so that LePage’s joyful king can carry around his douchesatchel with him wherever he goes. Thus we discover the origin of the “douchebag.” And, as I overheard audience member Ben Masten say, “I could watch Matt Love as the wizard for hours.” As could I. Love excels at oddball characters.
In a scene between two characters with big dreams of creating a typewriter that includes the emotions yet to have symbols, we find out that the “Gertrude” is a symbol for the in-your-face feeling a person gets by beating a rival. Similarly, the Nefarious Popes get in your face with smart comedy. They give the audience credit for being smart. The closer you pay attention, the more laughter you can reap. They are a sketch group best enjoyed the second or third time around. The silly scenes are just as fun to watch, and more so even because you are expecting and looking forward to them. But you can also pick up on the gems you missed at first, like rereading a mystery novel to understand how the killer did it. No doubt, the killer grabbed herself and screamed her husband’s name with delight as she did the deed.
Elizabeth Blue is a writer from New York. Visit elizabethblue.wordpress.com.
Photos are by Keith Huang. His web site is www.improvisgoodforyou.com.