- #IMPROV MIDDLEDITCH AND SCHWARTZ FULL#
- #IMPROV MIDDLEDITCH AND SCHWARTZ SERIES#
- #IMPROV MIDDLEDITCH AND SCHWARTZ CRACK#
Schwartz took the lead, expressing curiosity for the husband and wife’s feelings on becoming parents. The suggestion that would guide their improv took the form of a 15-minute conversation with a couple expecting a child in three weeks. Though the crowd was spread across the main floor and far up into the nosebleed seats, the duo kicked off the show on an intimate and emotional note. Schwartz expressed relief that they didn’t have to explain what long-form improvisation is, seeing as Chicago audiences are hip to the concept via the teachings of the late Del Close. The makeup of the audience afforded them some confidence. “This is either going to be a great night or a story of Icarus flying too close to the sun,” Middleditch said. The mismatched scale of the show was not lost on the performers. They wore headset microphones and dressed down Middleditch wore a long-sleeved gray shirt and Schwartz had on a red-checkered button-down. The pair had no set to play with, only two thin black chairs standing center-stage.
Improv comedy rarely requires a background set, props or costumes (the three are traditionally big no-nos), and the stage on Saturday night reflected the form’s simplicity.
He was capable of delivering witty one-liners, often referencing cartoons from the 1990s, while utilizing his slender and lanky physicality to roll around on the ground and imbue performances with kinetic energy. While in Chicago, Middleditch could be found at Second City and iO, spending time in training center shows and on a Norwegian Cruise Line for the former and as a staple of Improvised Shakespeare Company at the latter. Provided that improv is your bag, it speaks to the bizarre places a single tale can go when it's not planned.For Middleditch, the show was a grand return to the town where “I cut my teeth,” as he said at the top.
#IMPROV MIDDLEDITCH AND SCHWARTZ CRACK#
"Middleditch & Schwartz" captures the spirit of improv across its three episodes, in watching two friends crack each other up, find a narrative together, and show off their shared knack for characters, voices, and comedy. “Middleditch & Schwartz” has a fluidity that can balance the effect of the two sharing the frame together, as you might see them on stage, but also give their character even more emphasis with a close-up, as you’d only see because of a camera.
#IMPROV MIDDLEDITCH AND SCHWARTZ FULL#
As you watch it, the series' biggest laughs and comedic beats land as if a full production had planned them, but we're reminded by their sporadic fumbling through fake names (always endearing) that this was all obviously made up. One of the greatest accomplishments of this three-episode series is not immediately noticeable-the stage production’s swift visual transition into a medium that offers multiple points-of-views and editing. With only two chairs as their props, Middleditch & Schwartz bounce between different people, like when creating a dysfunctional wedding party in episode one, “Parking Lot Wedding.” And then there’s the secret door subplot that dominates law school anxieties in the second episode, “Law School Magic.” Or there’s the third episode, “Dream Job,” which requires them to even break character and refresh themselves on everything that had happened-a breaking of character that isn’t out of character (so to speak) for the two comedians. With each episode starting off with a prompt received from the audience (each time it’s “What’s something coming up that you’re worried about?”), it’s a delight to see the two build multiple characters out of a real person’s woes, and then treat it with wacky plot turns like an author gradually losing their touch with reality.
#IMPROV MIDDLEDITCH AND SCHWARTZ SERIES#
You simply can’t review improv the way you would a scripted production, but the series excels within the form's different rules: it’s funny, it’s sharp, and the energy of the performers is as exciting as their creativity.
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