“Laughing Longer” by Michael Stahl

The lights are still on and the Magnet Theater is getting full. The crowd mingles, cheap beers in hand, awaiting performances by teams with quirky names like Flower Girl and Dr. Champagne. The people gathered here have taken classes together, or have had the same teacher, but for a different course; they’ve been on a team with a new acquaintance’s ex-roommate, or have been coached by a friend’s classmate’s team member they once met at a mixer. More connections are made, prompting iPhoned friend requests and hangouts at Mustang Sally’s after the show.

A few blocks east, just off Park Avenue, the night starts off with drinks in the chic lobby bar at The People’s Improv Theater, better known as The PIT. Shortly afterward, the basement stage is graced by the comedy troupes Nat’l Weather Service, 1–800-London, Dr. Doctor, and Matador. Shenanigans ensue. A lanky strawberry blonde dude is approached by a desperate girl, huffing and puffing. He adopts an obnoxious, but hilarious, ghetto accent and implores her to take a seat inside Chontelle’s Girl’s Bathroom of Advice (he’s a girl too, it turns out). Chontelle has helped many students over the years at the high school, we learn, and she is willing to counsel Jane on her boy trouble, all while Chontelle cuts gym. How does she get away with this? By also advising the custodian and the teachers, even the principal. Audience members knock shoulders while bursting into laughter.

These kinds of nights have become commonplace within New York City’s growing improvisational comedy scene, which is large enough to support not just the iconic Upright Citizens Brigade, but now The PIT and The Magnet as well, creating an improv triangle in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. About 6,500 people a year take classes in the three major locations combined. Each school boasts its own corps of supporters. Each has a unique culture and brand of teaching techniques. However, they all share a direct lineage and appreciation of principles founded decades ago, which not only helped cultivate improv’s appeal, but also defined the performance art and made it accessible to just about anyone with an urge to get on stage…

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Originally published at narrative.ly. Click the link to read the complete story.