Ashley Harrell

Last night was my first rehearsal for a new Improv venture, a new team for Character Dogville presented by Manhattan Comedy Collective in Times Square.  I was lucky enough to be told about this group by my friend Victor, a fellow UCB classmate.  At last night’s rehearsal, nine of us came together to work on some improvised monologues, 2-person scenes, and “montages” in a documentary format – think Christopher Guest’s Waiting For Guffman or Best in Show.  The premise, or concept, of this show is “character” improv – so we will develop a variety of characters over our six weeks of rehearsal and end up with a cast of characters that can interact in our final performance in February.  (NYCers, I will shamelessly plug this in a few weeks!)  Last night, I tried out a few characters- including a meat-factory protesting vegan, a book-reading philosophy professor from Big Fork (shout out to Auntie Bev!), and a peg-legged one-eye pirate who invents a miniature telescope – called a “Micro- scope.”  I wasn’t too happy with my characters or scenes – but I guess I was a little out of practice.  Well, the people in my class are absolutely hilarious, and I’m really looking forward to what will come in the next couple months!