OCT’s Impulse is witty, impressive, kid-friendly improv comedy

Oregon Children’s Theatre has put on yet another amazing show, called Impulse! Impulse is a comedic improv show full of fast-paced scenes and games that are bound to make you laugh! Part of what makes improv shows so amazing is that the actors interact with the audience by asking for suggestions on the topic for each individual game, and no two shows are alike. The actors in the Impulse group, who are all Portland high school students, are incredibly enthusiastic and hilarious!

There were a lot of different games played. One such game was “Objection!,” a well-known improv game where the actors get a topic from the audience and argue about it. Two or three judges are also chosen from the audience. One person steps forward when they have something to say against the original speaker and tries to use something the speaker said against them. If the judges like the objection, then the other person may continue proving a separate point. In the show we saw, the topic was “donuts” and the group argued about whether chocolate donuts, cake donuts or maple bars are the best donuts.

Another game that was new to us was “Good, Bad, Worst.” This is a simple game where three of the actors sit together in a line acting as Good, Bad and Worst from left to right. Audience members are invited to raise their hands and ask about something they need advice on. Then the good advisor gives good advice, the bad advisor bad, and the worst one gives the most horrible advice. (One kid in the audience asked “Should I do my homework?” … You can imagine how that went!) This was one of our favorite games of the show, and some of the advice was actually pretty good.

All in all, Impulse is a wonderful experience for the whole family. Devlin Farmer, one of the Impulse actors, said, “Impulse is a solid experience for teenagers and kids to be introduced to new type of comedy that they may never have seen before.”

Impulse runs now through Feb 12, 2017.
Tickets $10-12, get ’em online or call 503-228-8571.
Last year’s shows sold out (and Feb 4-5 is ALREADY sold out) so hop to it! Quick!

Josiah and Michael Bartell are both actors at Journey Theater Arts Group. They have been doing theater for more than five years and continue to love it! Josiah is an 8th grader and Michael is a 6th grader at Hosford Middle School.