Tall Boys New Year’s Eve at the Hotel Foster

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Tall Boys Improv

Tall Boys Improv

There’s a kind of desperation that bleeds out of almost any comedy. One doesn't have to be drenched in flop sweat to come across as being needy and anxious onstage in a comedic capacity. The very act of getting onstage with the express idea of trying to make people laugh in and of itself can seem like a cry for help even from the most successful comedians. It’s one of those things that makes stand-up so difficult to stomach at times. There’s a real need for genuine laughter and it can be extremely uncomfortable when it’s not there. 

Maybe that’s why I’ve been enjoying the short video promos that Tall Boys Improv has been throwing online. Casual conversations. Casual moments. Casual people. No desperation here. Just a bunch of guys sitting around talking about the holidays.

I could talk about how good improv is with people like Robby McGhee or James Boland or Lee Rowley or Eric Koconis, but there’s nothing that sells their act quite like the group of them hanging out on a couch just...talking. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the fact that 90% of comedy is simply liking the people who are practicing it. It’s easier to like people when they don’t seem desperate. 

Anyway...they’re featured on a New Year’s Eve program with stand-up comics on the No Vacancy Showcase at the Hotel Foster. For $5, you can hang out with the Tall Boys and stand-up comics Kyle Gagnon, Nick Martin, Tyler Snodgrass, Sam Gordon, Geoff Asmus. Sounds like a casual New Year’s Eve out with the guys...

The show starts at 8:30 p.m. at the Hotel Foster 2028 E. North Ave. (On Dec. 31, of course...)