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Laurie Callaway Laurie Reviews Off the top of Our Heads at Gotham City Improv  For a place that is billed as New York's greatest improvisational troupe, Gotham City Improv certainly has a less-than-princely location. Through two buzzer doors, up a flight of skewed tin stairs, and behind a paper placard, lies a reception area and stage that is probably someone's rent-controlled apartment. The way that it has been converted into a performance area mirrors the spirit Gotham City Improv: done with good intentions and in even greater fun. Someone with a reticent side that comes out when participation is demanded of them would be very uncomfortable at Off the Top of Our Heads. This is not the place in which a respectful silence is maintained. To fuel their ribald, off-kilter humor, the five actors in the production take turns posing questions to and extracting volunteers from their audience. At the beginning of the first improv, there is a palpable uneasiness, comparable to the long first minutes of a blind date. As the improv continues, everyone involved -- viewers and performers alike -- loosens up, and as they do, the show becomes inventive and comical. Off the Top of Our Heads is the much-talked about 'New York Experience' that no one seems to be able to find. There is not much that is similar; its location would make a native Manhattan-ite do a double take -- and it's cheap. Still, the most enticing advertisement to be given is that it is a cleverly thought, enticingly preformed show. Go; have a good time at Gotham City Improv; it's worth the effort of climbing the strange flight of tin stairs. |
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