TJ & DAVE, aka TJ Jagodowski and David Pasquesi, walk out on stage with nothing prepared, and within the hour they miraculously improvise multi-character, fully realized comedic plays.
They hail from Chicago and the Second City, a famed starting place for many famous comedians on primetime shows like Saturday Night Live, sitcoms, and major mainstream films. Described by The New York Times as “Second City-seasoned masters of long form improv", the comedy, theatrical world and their characters are discovered entirely in the moment on stage.
When people think of improv, they often think of the tv series Whose Line Is It Anyway? This is what's known "short form improv": snappy comebacks, one-liner jokes, and deft puns. Short-form improv is often seen at the big comedy festivals in Ireland and the UK.
But the mastery of TJ & Dave's long-form improv is more theatrical, leaving space for both comedy and the dramatic, full of rich narrative and world-building. The Guardian described their show as “laughs with a surprisingly moving emotional twist”, in a 5 star review.
The core tenet of improv, “Yes And”, is also present in improvisational theatre: accepting the established reality of whoever is on stage, and building on it. But building a one-act play live in front of an audience requires a keen presence from the performers, a good memory, and an incredibly fine-grained attention to detail so that no small gesture or seemingly throwaway line is wasted.
The artistry to let a deeper story emerge is something TJ & Dave have been cultivating onstage for 22 years, through regular performances in Chicago and New York City as well as festival stages around the world.
As they tell it, “When we started, the only places that did long form on a regular basis were in Chicago. Then a few years ago, we did a workshop in Vienna with people from all over Europe knew what long form was. One friend of ours even got long form improvisation added to the constitution of Denmark as a national funded art form. It’s amazing to see how it has grown and spread.”
Stephen Colbert said of TJ & Dave: "One of these guys is the best improviser in the world. And the other one is better." You can catch them in Galway:
Thursday September 5
Nuns Island Theatre
Doors at 7:30, Show at 8pm
Tickets www.eventbrite.ie
