Halloween, of course, brings costumes and candy, but it can also bring unscripted laughs and a cappella music, as shown by Improvcappelloween Friday night in the McNeil Room. For the second time, improvisational comedy troupe Sheer Idiocy joined the Rensselyrics to put on a Halloween show of laughter and song.
The show’s beginning was without a doubt the best part; both Sheer Idiocy and the Rensselyrics were on the stage to start things off. All of the Rensselyrics were covered in white sheets as the Idiots acted out a hilarious mini-spoof on cheesy horror movies, which saw them falling victim one by one to the draped singers.
This, however, lasted only a few minutes and for the rest of the show, the two groups were never on the stage at the same time. Improvcappelloween was not a combined comedy and a cappella show, but rather a comedy show followed by an a cappella show. Although the comedy was very funny and the singing was very talented, the lack of a synthesis between the two groups was a letdown from the promise of the opening kickoff.
Sheer Idiocy, all in Halloween costumes of course, began the combined show. Especially funny were the costumes of Idiot Mike as Quailman, from the Nickelodeon cartoon “Doug,” and Idiot Wei as the bill that wants to become a law from the Schoolhouse Rock cartoon.
In the spirit of the evening, the Idiots played Chain Murder, which has an audience member and two Idiots figuring out the preferred weapon, scene of the crime, and target occupation of a serial killer. This is done only with pantomime and gibberish language, and the result had the audience in stitches.
The Idiots introduced a new game, for which each of five Idiots is given a number from one to 15 by the audience, and that is the number of words each must speak per line. The comedians then do scenes in pairs, swapping with the others who stand in the back. The funniest part of this wonderful game was the blatant and unabashed counting of words on fingers.
Sheer Idiocy rounded out their show with the always funny Slideshow and some free-form improv where a suggestion of pancakes from the audience went wherever the winds carried it in a series of loosely connected scenes.
The Rensselyrics, also in costumes, then took the stage, and wowed the costumed crowd with truly impressive renditions of “River of Dreams,” by Billy Joel, “Insomniac,” by Billy Pilgrim, “Wherever You Will Go,” by The Calling, and more.
Any a cappella performance is, in and of itself, an extraordinary display of the versatility of the human voice, but the Rensselyrics are especially talented and not a group to miss. The Rensselyrics continued their usual practice of having one singer take the lead for each song while the other ‘Lyrics provide other vocals and backup; this practice allows all the singers to have their moment in the sun while ensuring that everyone has a part in every song.
Although the singer who took the lead for “Wherever You Will Go” could have been a little louder, that song and all others were faithful reproductions of the well-known songs, right down to the uncanny similarity of some of the lead singers’ voices to the artists they were imitating.
Overall, the second Improvcappelloween was a great way to spend part of All Hallows’ Eve, providing laughter, song, and a generally festive atmosphere, despite the lack of integration between the two acts. The show left many audience members looking forward to next year’s Improvcappelloween.
