Improv troupe brings silly, on-the-fly comedy to Lakes Region

As the husband of Courtney Palmer, the associate producer for Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative, Alex Palmer is often asked to step in when a performer drops out of a show.

During one such last-minute engagement, a few of the actors forgot their lines, and the action onstage stopped abruptly. “That was when I realized that there was a need for improv experience in the local theater community,” Palmer said.

He brought the idea to form a troupe to Powerhouse’s producers, Bryan and Johanna Halperin. Almost at the same time, Amanda Wagner approached the Halperins with the same thought. Wagner’s motivation was partly her own interest in being part of an improv troupe; she figured she’d need to be part of starting one first.

Since this spring, Palmer and Wagner have been working to build a team of nimble performers. In mid-November, after competitive auditions, they launched Powerhouse’s latest offering, the Circuit Breakers improv troupe — 10 area performers who like to think fast and work as a group to make people laugh. Both Palmer and Wagner are members.

And talk about improv. The troupe’s first public appearance will come only a month later. They’ll riff for 30 minutes on Saturday, Dec. 13, during a 7:30 p.m., 21-plus-themed night that also includes a run of a new parody of “A Christmas Carol,” called “Fezziwig’s After Dark” at the Colonial Theatre in Laconia.

“It’s really fun to have the challenge,” Wagner said. “With improv, you don’t really prepare anything for a show, but it does take a good amount of rehearsing to get to know each other, and get a sense of how we’re going to put on a show for people. Improv is so expansive, and there are so many ways to do a show and curate it.”

While she doesn’t know how the act will unfold, she says the audience can expect a lot of Christmas-themed silliness, and, “they can expect to laugh.”

Launching a troupe

Wagner, of Gilmanton, describes improv as a theater magic trick: You get a suggestion from the audience and then turn that word or idea into something much bigger — a scene, or an entire play potentially.

A graduate of Occidental College with a bachelor’s degree in theater, Wagner is a professional actor. She performed at Winnipesaukee Playhouse this past summer, and works in a chapter of an international theater company called Live History.

She got involved with the Halperins and Powerhouse in 2022, and last winter, she asked them for advice in starting an improv company. “They said, ‘We already have a theater company. Let’s create an improv wing,’” and she and Palmer connected about the initiative.

The two led improv workshops in the spring and fall to assess interest, which was plentiful. The slots filled up quickly, and then there was a waiting list, so they decided to move ahead with forming a group.

During the November auditions, Palmer and Wagner played the same types of games and exercises they’d used in the workshops. In one, called Genre, people performed the same scene several times in different theatrical genres. For example, they might run through a skit the first time as if it were in a horror show. Then, they performed the same bit as a musical, and again, as a romance.

“It was a two-hour audition, and we were really watching to see peoples’ ability to think on their feet but also, how did they work with other people?” Wagner explained. “Are they able to come up with strong characters, and can they support what other people give them in the scene? Everybody did a strong job. It was a challenge to figure out how to cut it down.”

Meet the performers

In addition to Palmer and Wagner, the Circuit Breakers are Alex Bradley, Connor Butt, Adam Drapcho, Sam Holley, Chris Janosa, David Nelson, Liz Rohdenburg and Lorienne Valovanie.

All performers have a knack for bringing humor into a conversation. Asked if she has a theater degree, for instance, Rohdenburg said, “I took drama in high school. Does that count?”

A Meredith resident, Rohdenburg says doing improv is like getting together with your wackiest friends in a timed cooking challenge where nobody has the recipe, yet somehow they must work together to create a show-stopping dish.

“That’s the Circuit Breakers, and who wouldn’t want to be a part of that?”

Rohdenburg took part in the fall improv workshop, and has held ensemble roles with The Winni Players, done a couple of stints on Lakes Region Dancing with the Stars, and been part of several teams for the Winnipesaukee Playhouse’s annual Improv Olympics fundraiser.

She loves improv for the chance to be around silly people who make her laugh. “Improv blends that with playing outrageous games, stepping out of your comfort zone, and thinking outside of the box in real time.”

Nelson, of Gilford, wanted to try improv as a means to enrich his acting and performance skills. “I thought the experience might serve to sharpen my wits outside of theater as well, and help me think a little quicker on my feet,” he said.

A participant in both improv workshops, he was active in local community theater while growing up in the Lakes Region, and has been in dozens of performances in recent years.

He’s excited to be working with talented people, amazing themselves with the hilarious scenarios they create, and says improv is very different from acting in a play or musical.

“To be successful at improv, you have to let go of the idea of having prepared what you are going to perform,” he explained. “It’s better to go into it with a blank slate and an open mind, and simply be present in the moment with your scene partner or partners, and just let things go where they go. The magic comes from not knowing what’s going to happen.”

Palmer, who recently moved from Laconia to Meredith, took an improv course in Washington, D.C., run by the Armed Forces Service Arts Partnership while he was stationed at the Pentagon as a U.S. Marine. “From there, I fell in love. And once I started school at Northeastern University and eventually met my wife, Courtney, I always had improv on my mind as an outlet,” he said. Courtney studied theater and history at Suffolk University in Boston.

He works in sales for Schneider Electric, and points out the irony that he sells circuit breakers and other electrical distribution equipment.

“So Powerhouse Theatre Collaborative and the Circuit Breakers are much more relevant to my life than you would think.”

He thinks improv is timeless and fresh, new every time, and likes the fact you don’t know what’s coming next.

“You get to steer the ship, reacting to the audience in real-time, choosing to satisfy them at every turn by giving them what they want right away, or delaying that gratification for the bigger splash,” he said. “You can do comedy, horror, drama, romance; your characters can be goofy, wicked, crazy, mild-mannered. Improv is spur-of-the-moment, and the rules are simple, and the best part is that the laughs don't come by trying to be funny; they come from being human and just saying what comes to mind.”

What’s next

Palmer’s vision for the Circuit Breakers is preparing for performances through regular gatherings to work on skill-building and cohesion, and spreading joy and laughter throughout the Lakes Region and beyond with live improv.

“In my mind, these events are largely aimed at being funny, yet approachable for most ages, because I see that as an area of comedy that takes an extra ounce of wit, but benefits the most and lasts the longest in the public mind.”

After "Fezziwig's After Dark," there are no further performances yet scheduled, but Wagner is also excited for the future, and hopes the group may one day need to expand.

“We’ll continue to practice and perfect our different shows, and the different ways that we can deliver improv to the audience, and finding what works for us as an ensemble.”

For tickets and more information, visit powerhousenh.org.