Well, we’ve come to the end of the summer. Jack and Donna opened the Firehouse Theater to us on Thursday nights, and we couldn’t be more grateful.

For this, our last show of the summer, we were lucky enough to have a FAM who not only had stories to tell but the cutest name ever. Jeri. What’s that you say? That’s a lovely name, but not the cutest ever? Well, she was sitting next to her husband Tom. That’s right. Tom and Jeri. She once owned a dress shop. He travels a lot for work. Together, they’re Tom…and Jeri.

We started the night with our questions and then a song about Jeri and her dress shop and its smelly patrons. We moved on to Revolver, Good Cop/Bad Cop and Back in My Day. Anna and Jim from the Bit Players came up to help us on a bunch of games. And Mel brought down the house during Story, Story, Die.

We closed the night with another song about Jeri. This time it was about her husband’s ever-changing name!

All in all, it was a great night. Thank you so much to Jack and Donna, to the Firehouse Theater and to Newport for letting us play all summer.

Hi all. Welcome to another addition of, “How Can We Make You Laugh?” Tonight we’re joined by Adam Kennedy, Jimmy Sorel, Dan Wood, and me, Beth Hicks. If you haven’t been to a show in Newport, you have one more chance to see BYOI on Thursday nights. That’s right, just one. And you won’t want to miss it.

Ben, an investor, helped us with our first game by FAM-ing it up. The man may not think he has interesting stories, but as a former guitarist in a band with a name like The Clap, I can only imagine the tales he could tell. Sitting next to him were people he knew, because they came with him. Ben is a cool dad. Cool enough to bring his son and daughter to a night of hilarity!

After a song, we jumped right in with Two Line Vocab and some help from our birthday lady, Mel. Mel volunteered for several games and was awesome and funny in all of them.

We rapped. We lined up. We laughed. We played until we could play no more. It was the penultimate performance for BYOI at The Firehouse, and it was a good time.

Our second show in Newport was all about friends and family. People came in groups, and those groups were having a good time encouraging each other on stage and off.

We started the night off with a little FAM action. Joe came up and answered some questions about his favorite things. No, not raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Those are my favorite things. Joe loves basketball, peanut butter, and math. And his friends aren’t afraid to talk about him. Luckily, they only had good things to say about him.

Once we sang a song about the fabulous Joe, the show began with a short and snappy Short Cutz. The best intro of the night goes to Jon for an elaborate description of Alphabet that made the game sound so exciting that we sought to live up to. And we did! With help from the audience and some fantastic suggestions. Then it was time for some lying to the boss in Excuses, Excuses. And there was. Lying that is.

Does anyone not like Six-Pack? No? I didn’t think so! With help from Frank of The Bit Players, three scenes of increasing silliness and fun led the audience from a wedding gone wrong to Guatemala to a strange servant/employer relationship. Then whoosh! In the time machine we went for Back in my Day. We finished up the first half with Guacamole and four fantastic volunteers who helped us create a classroom that was taken over by Joe! our FAM.

Intermission. I’m sure stuff happened to people, but we were keeping our energy up and in the zone. We opened the first half with an energetic game of What are you Doing? Did I hear a bell? Hello, Dr. Pavlov. Welcome to the game we play that you inspired. Your game changing experiments with dogs led to a scene about farting and ear plugging. Progress. It’s on the menu.

Following Pavlov, the show kept it kicking. After a round of Rap Now! that took place in the saddest book store in the world, the audience got to find out what happens when an eternal optimist and an unrelenting pessimist meet in Fortunately/Unfortunately. We closed the night with Catchphrase and a rousing round of FAMily Parody sung to the tune of Billy Joel’s Piano Man.

It was our second week in Newport, and we’re having a great time at The Firehouse Theatre. Thanks, Jack and Donna!!

And thanks to Joe, his friends, and all the wonderful audience members who watched and played with us.

Last night, BYOI had its first summer show at The Firehouse in Newport, RI. The air outside was scorching, but the theatre was cool and welcoming and above all, filled with comedy! We were lucky enough to have some Bit Players in the audience and one of them became our FAM for the night.

Jarrod told us everything we needed to know about his life and more. We sang a little ditty about it. And then it was on to the games.

I don’t know what went over better Try That on for Size or Chainsaw, but both were hilarious. And, um, I have to put a little plug in for Questions, cause this lady held her own during three different scenes. Adam, Jimmy, Dan, and Jon, et. al rocked out in games of Six-Pack, Good Cop/Bad Cop, and Short Cutz. And for the family aww moment of the night, Jon’s father-in-law joined us onstage for Slogans. He asked that we call him Mister. We did not argue.

The night ended with a song. But our shows in Newport continue all summer long. Come down and join us!

It’s heee-rrreeee. That’s right. The Providence Improv Fest is back and in its 7th year. To celebrate, the festival is featuring the best and brightest of improv from Providence and across the country. Tonight, BYOI performed in the 2nd line-up with The Bit Players and Trinity Zoo.

John opened the show and picked out the lovely Elizabeth to be our FAM. Elizabeth was with her bff and does not like someone with initials that rhyme with Z.K. Your secret is safe with us, Liz. She dreamed of being a singer and loves hockey both now and when she was a kid. Oooh, and if she could sing any song in the world, it’d be Happy Birthday…in the style of Marilyn Monroe. Rowr.

So it begins. The first game? Try That on for Size. With the help of our volunteer, Kevin, we made dirty jokes, clean jokes, almost jokes, and ridiculous jokes. All while trying it on for size.

Sports Commentator, what? Our volunteer, John, competed with Jimmy to be THE champion toast maker. And when playing fair didn’t work, the men stabbed, strangled, and finally electrocuted one another in an all out battle for supremacy. John and Ken sat at the “Sports Desk” and kept the action moving with their commentary and shock at the brutality. The brutality!

What game keeps a woman sniffing every time she hears the word I, another woman chicken-tap dancing at the sound of the word guacamole, and a man scratching his beard when the word tango is said…in a scene about tango classes? Pavlovian Response! John was Pavlov scratching away, Beth sniffed like a fiend, and our lovely volunteer danced her heart out.

We ended the night with a good ol’ fashioned Irish Drinking Song about mandolins. And it was delightful.

Well hey there campers. This is your counselor Beth. If you weren’t at the show on Wednesday, you missed a lot of laughs. Luckily, Twitter was there. And I decided to spend some time with him…it! I mean it. Every crazy moment and hilarious one-liner made it up (except when I was laughing too hard to write.) Below are the highlights from beginning to end.

Adam, Jon, Ben, Jimmy and John. Good lineup tonight. And guess what? Good audience too.

Lesson! Object work that doesn’t get referenced directly in the scene. Adam is channeling Arnold S. Ben is an extra from Fargo.

Inspiring…an Austrian mom who called her son over 40 times a day.What? That doesn’t sound so bad. Kids in the woods. Playing football. See a deer. And the deer decides to play! Kid gets tackled. Deer gets pummeled. Awww. Who changes the words to Humpty Dumpty? The BBC does, that’s who.

Hot seat, what? Jon’s explaining it and not open to the idea of a beanbag chair.

Placenta collection? GROSS.

Polenta collection! AWESOME.

Adam wins the first round. Woo!

Ben wins! He made it happen with a Kennedy joke.

Chainsaw y’all. Occupation, Location and Object. All in mime and gibberish. Bring. It. On.

Occupation: D.J. Location: Pumpkin Patch Object: Surfboard

Let’s see how they did. Adam: D.J. Woo! Cheese sculpting factory. What? A ski. Close!

No one got surfboard!!!

2nd Round: A terrorist in a public swimming pool with a swing became an exterminator in a pool with a ladder on top of a sit and spin.

Ghost Hunter, Rain Forest and Flip-Flops

Ohhhh. Jon was a lip gloss.

Jimmy’s hosting. Adam, Dan W., and Kevin are gonna make his party the best ever. And the most insane. Literally. Kevin’s a serial killer. Hoo boy, and Dan’s David Letterman and Adam is a camel toe. Or just camel toe. Which is a different animal entirely.

Aw jeez, eh! Jimmy’s a Canadian AND he just got a round of applause.

Ben as Paul Schaffer. Wonderful. “One hump or two? One hump or two?”

Jimmy doesn’t remember inviting a serial killer? How does someone forget that?

Not surprisingly, the camel toe stands alone. And Jimmy’s got it! Two great games of Party Quirks.

FREEZE Freeze Tag that is:

Bambi has a boss. And he’s from the ’30s! Where did the Jedi come from?

The whales have beached themselves. How sad. Don’t kill them! They’re not deer.

Jimmy found love in an insane asylum. Strait jacket and all.

He’s not a real pencil, He’s a school mascot! You can’t sharpen him.

Revolver- Rotate Right!

Disappointment, smoking pot, dreams, and Santa Claus.

Kevin and Jon are dueling Santa Clauses. Santa Claui? What’s the plural? Wait, there is no plural. D’oh.

Ray: So, how hot does this have to get before I can smoke it? Ben: Well, basically when it’s on fire.

Famous Last Words hosted by Jon. Cannot wait. And I don’t have to, because it’s being played right now.

Fairy: Oh no, I see an iceberg ahead. Captain, turn me, turn me!

Dustin Hoffman as Rain Man: I should really drop character, I’m about to die.

Amelia Earhart: Okay, publicity stunt, here I go.

Tony the Tiger: Did you see my new tiger carpet? It’s greaaaat.

FEMA: Yeah, Mr. Dumpty, I think you’re screwed.

Great night, everyone! Good to see familiar faces (hello Marina and Lauren!) and some new people too.

Hope to see everyone at our Halloween show. Dress up and party down costume style, yo!

Last night’s show was great for many reasons, not least of which because of all the auditioners who showed up to play. Thanks guys for coming out! And thank you to the non-auditioning audience members who laughed a lot and made the night grand.

Tonight’s festivities began with a “Yes, and…That’s How It’s Done” about mirroring. And once again, Adam and Ben proved that they are funny even when teaching a lesson. Jimmy gave us some stories for Inspiring Minds about leisure. Oh, btw, if anyone knows where I can get a dumpster, that would be swell. I’ll invite you to swim in the pool when it’s done.

We warmed up the audience and ourselves with a fantastic game of What Are You Doing? Cam thinks that modern weapons include a light saber. Methinks someone has seen Star Wars one too many times. The game ended with Jimmy proclaiming that, “This video game is awesome!” And yes, the video game was awesome.

Adam ran Alphabet, and people were creating scenes and impressing even a wordy chick like me. Though, Adam, I have to protest. X-mas starts with an X. Not E. Don’t ding that bell! And the winner for the most creative sentence starting with X goes to Ken. “Xenon gas is seeping through the court!” Ken and I almost got through the alphabet in 60 seconds, but sadly a momentary miscommunication prevented us from triumphing.

Our last game of the first half, Shopkeeper, was a lesson in literalism and not overthinking. Adam as the shopkeeper managed to figure out the Dan had a firehose that shot fire, “My wife is pissed!”, Cam got stuck with a shot glass that actually shot people, “Half of my fraternity brothers are dead! , and Jimmy was returning a colander made of cheese, “I thought it was American, but it’s Swiss made!”

After a moment to catch a breath (not outside. Apparently the weather is stuck between sauna and surface of the sun.), the second half opened with a kinetic and fast-paced game of freeze. The t-shirt gun from What Are Your Doing? reappeared and the Inspiring Minds’ story about the blow darts provided fodder for several scenes.

We played two rounds of Movie Critics. Ben and Ken (okay, that’s adorable) were Steve and Tony hosting Boom! That’s a Movie. Jimmy and Joe played a football player and his adoring Shoelace Townie. Ben and Ken, excuse me, Steve and Tony had my favorite one-two punch of the scene. Ben: Did anyone else recognize Sean Penn in all that prosthetic makeup?” Ken: “I thought it was Brian Bosworth.”

Adam and Cam criticized…I mean created a movie for Ray and me called “Fatten Up.” And a better or more confusing spaghetti western has never been seen. Besides dealing with modern technology in the old west, we didn’t even get to eat spaghetti. We were stuck with penne. Ray got the line of the game with his, “We’ve been here in peace!” and we did come in peace!

Blank Walks into a Bar, and everyone laughs. The night ended with a line-up of funny jokes and puns and groaners. Come and see the show, and you can be part of the fun. You won’t regret it.

If you were at the show, this is a recap of the hilarity that ensued. If you weren’t, why the hell not? Wait, wait, come back. What I meant to say is, if you weren’t at the show, I don’t like you very much. Oh, I kid. Come to The Spot. You won’t be disappointed. Now on with the show.

The intro and the first game, What Are You Doing, rocked. Ben and I demonstrated object work with a box of mangoes and some spiders, and Jimmy inspired our minds. And what did we do? We took a census in a kangaroo pouch. Apparently a lot of guys name Joey live there.

Now Titles. Hmm. How to say this. Titles is not a game for the weak at heart. It’s a challenge. And though I hate to say there’s a winner in an improv game, Jackie wins by a mile simply by helping to create scenes while pulling the most fantastic titles out of the air. Everyone who came up and that includes the cast gets a pat on the back for having fun and making everyone laugh during the game.

Ah, yes. The Dating Game. Where else will you see Michael Jackson’s plastic surgeon, a man with a foot fetish, and a nymphomaniac vying for my affection? Or better yet, a genie, Carmen Electra, and a man melting into a puddle who can’t wait to be Jimmy’s date?

The second half started with freeze tag where Jimmy got some wings, “I had a red bull!” Ben and Jimmy played lines from a hat with some fantastic audience members and Blank Walks Into a Bar ended the night strong and funny. Cause walking into a bar always leads to a laugh. As long as you don’t end up with a concussion.

Hey, you know that scene in Ten Things I Hate About You where the nerd has the party expecting ten of his friends to show up and instead the entire high school crashes the fun? That was Wednesday night’s show yo! We started with a few people and ended up with a full house. Thanks to all who showed up and to those who participated. And here’s hoping you get into Brown if you so choose, young scholars! And if you don’t, Penn is just as good. No matter what your mother says.

The night started with some RESPECT and some introductions. Which seemed superfluous after an entrance to the worst but most enthusiastic rendition of Do-Re-Me ever sung. Adam told us about turtles and naked dentist visits and Ben and I gave a Yes, And…That’s How It’s Done lesson on descriptiveness. On to the games!

What Are You Doing?

Apparently Jimmy likes to snort crack in the road, Adam likes to fly naked, and I was a hapless reporter who pissed off the teleprompter. And there’s a cold front in Southern Massachusetts that is sleeping with your boyfriend.

Questions

Ben asked the audience to help him judge, and they did an admirable job. The bell was fair but swift when needed. A young man named Alex SCHOOLED us tonight by playing questions longer than anyone else and being funny while doing it. We went from a dorm to an island and finished at a dorm on an island. I was RA of all of them.

Movie Critics

In the first round of MC, not one but two young women rocked it onstage with John and Adam. John and Rachel played Mother/Son movie critics and Adam and Brianna were actors in an action comedy that featured ants and some karate. A great one-two punch came from Adam and Rachel:

Adam
“Let’s not use protection and screw with love on Wikipedia.”

Rachel to John
“That’s when I covered your eyes.”

And Rachel also gave John a confidence boost.

“You’ve been reading up on your pop culture, I am so proud of you.”

In the second round of MC, Jimmy played out what was possibly the longest death scene on record, and Jon A’s excellent Cheech and Chong  joke fell flat, since most of the audience was too young to know who they are.

The second half, oh the second half. You had to be there to truly appreciate it, but let’s just say John Ring needs to study his crappy directors. Michael Bay. It’s Michael Bay, John. Dude’s a gazillionaire with zero talent and a penchant for blowing things up.

Thanks for reading, and if you want more hilarity and hijinks step away from the computer and come to a show already!

You know what doesn’t make me laugh? Clowns.

And for the record CIRCUS, I would really enjoy it if in between the amazing trapeze artists and super cute lions you wouldn’t bring out a car full of my childhood fear. Thanks.