Holy songs of the plumber, Batman! Drew Carey is back on the air with all of his improv buddies. Last November, the Game Show Network (GSN) struck a deal with Carey to create and host an unscripted comedy sketch show. Forty episodes of Drew Carey’s Improv-A-Ganza were ordered and began filming in early 2011 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The show is co-executive produced by Revolution Studios’ creator Joe Roth and Drew Carey with producer credit for Ryan Stiles among others.
If you’re like me and you’ve shaken your fist at the suits who canceled Whose Line is it Anyway? in 2003, relax. Every weeknight at 8:30pm and 11:30pm you can catch the rotating team of Colin Mochrie, Ryan Stiles, Greg Proops, Brad Sherwood, Chip Esten, Jeff Davis, Kathy Kinney, Jonathan Mangum, and Heather Anne Campbell sing, dance, and one-liner their way through half-hour episodes. Special guests will appear from time to time. Thus far, fellow former Whose Line is it Anyway? Cast member Wayne Brady has joined in the fun for five episodes.
The show consists of several games which vary with each episode. Audience participation is extremely important for ideas on what and who the players act out as well as their physical positions. Games include:
Two-Headed Expert – a duo acts as an expert in a field and must speak the same words at the same time when responding to the other duo who ask questions by each speaking one word in alteration.
Sound Effects – Two audience members are brought up on stage to supply sound effects for the actors based on what they do.
Mousetraps – Actors attempt to play out a scene blindfolded and barefoot while making their way back and forth on a mousetrap infested stage.
Taped in front of a live, paying audience where food and alcohol are sold, things can get a bit weird. One episode included a woman who was picked by Mochrie to physically move Stiles throughout a scene for Moving Bodies, announced she was drunk once up on stage. Her inebriated state caused much head-scratching and a few laughs for the cast and audience.
If you’d like to attend a taping of Drew Carey’s Improv-A-Ganza, the next show dates are June 23, 24, and 25, 2011. Tickets are $89.00 and can be purchased thru the MGM Grand’s website. Keep an eye out for more upcoming live performances.
Check the links below for my other freelance work as a photographer and writer.
Lisa K. Berton 
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