Tweet this article ! The creators of Face Off Unlimited -- Jay Painter, Eric Robinson and Joe Tex -- don’t want their live show A Whole ‘Nother Level, which debuted to a packed house at The Secret Theatre in Long Island City on September 28, to be viewed as just another improv show. And while the performance is technically long-form improvisation, it is much more than that.

 

To open, the audience turned its attention to a video screen where Painter, Robinson and Tex shook their scrawny (and not-so scrawny) butts to Queen’s “Fat Bottom Girls.” The group then entered the theatre, jumped onto the stage and announced how they were “completely unhindered by rehearsal.” Unhindered, unshaken and unanimously creative might be the right words to describe this dynamic trio.

As with most improvised shows, the audience is prompted to throw out suggestions. With the debut show being a month from Halloween “witches” was the first of three (suggestions) yelled out by the audience. Without missing a beat, Painter played some Wizard of Oz music on the guitar as smoke filled the room (kudos to the technicians). Robinson and Tex took their turns under the spotlight making up songs about famous witches.

While Tex confused "Bewitched" with "I Dream of Jeanie," at one point, no one in the audience seemed to notice, and if the rest of Tex’s group did they certainly didn’t let on. Just one of many examples of this team’s strong and consistent synergy. Painter’s flying monkey was funny and physical. There were also some well-executed, wicked voices and some funny jokes thrown in to complete the scene.

The two other inspirational words from the audience were "string cheese" and "blind date." Tex’s clever joke about “ripping Polly-O from seven of his friends,” was hilarious as was the relationship between Eric and Joe as husband and wife farmers. The two clearly defined their male and female roles and never broke character.

Through music (Painter enthusiastically playing guitar) and a series of short-form games, the scenes and suggestions continued to flow,  taking the audience for a fun ride that led from witches to tornadoes, to a farm that produces string cheese, and finally a blind date in that very barn. The progressive, character-driven scenes were nothing short of brilliant and creative.

The interwoven games, however, were at times a little confusing and distracting (especially if you are not familiar with that kind of improvised action). A game called ‘forward-reverse’ was obvious with Painter making the calls and actually became rather funny when Tex was commanded into slow- motion mode. An original game called “slang that” was less thrilling and even hard to understand when Robinson called it. The games that involved music were easier to follow and a bit more lively. One of the highlights of the show was when the trio broke out into a blues-type song with a repeating chorus of, “I can’t see you” (to go with the ‘blind date’ scene) which had the audience clapping and singing along.

Some self-deprecating humor, call backs to earlier jokes and even a comical reference to the warm temperature in the theatre, rounded out a wonderfully entertaining performance that just demonstrates the true genius of Painter, Robinson and Tex. It’s no wonder this trio has decided to take their improvised spectacular to "a whole ‘nother level."

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As a post script, it would be wrong not to mention the opening act of this particular show – none other than Face Off University’s Level 2 improv class. The students performed six short-form games that were funny, thoughtful and purely enjoyable.

Face Off’s next A Whole ‘Nother Level will take place on November 16, at The Secret Theatre in Long Island City. Admission price is $12. Reasonably priced beverages (including 4 Yuenglings for $10) as well as hamburgers and hot dogs were available outside the theatre throughout the show. There was an intermission for those in need of a snack or a bathroom break.

For more information on upcoming shows go to http://faceoffunlimited.com/live-shows