Cool Story Bro | Big Fork Theatre
Before Friday night, I had never been to an improv event, and quite frankly, any time my high school drama teacher uttered the words 'Space Jump', I would swiftly exit the classroom. For those unaware of the joys of ‘Space Jump’, it is the quintessential improv game, used in classrooms around the world to get people thinking on the spot and working with others. Some people excel at this fast-paced team orientated style, but for others like myself, being forced to do improv in front of other people is a recipe for disaster. So, when I entered Big Fork Theatre’s brand spanking new (and accessible) venue to attend their improv comedy gig, Cool Story Bro, I wasn’t going in with the highest of expectations.
Cool Story Bro is Big Fork Theatre’s flagship show, where a storyteller shares anecdotes based on words from the audience, and these anecdotes form the stimulus for the Big Fork performers’ improvs. Blending storytelling and improv is not the norm of this genre, but boy did it work.
So Cool Story Bro was basically ‘Space Jump’ on steroids, but unlike my high school days, it was a refined process, and, better yet, it was enjoyable. Our storyteller for the evening was Meg Bartholomew (Ruckus Slam and Wham Bam Cabaret Slam) whose job was to pick a word from the cacophony of words thrown out by audience members. Once she had the word, we got a story, and the improvers got their ammunition. Our first word was fan and the second was haemorrhage. The third word has escaped me, but I do remember it launching us into a glorious story about a day that started with Meg getting white girl wasted and stomping on some grapes and ended with her karate kicking her friend on the deck of a party boat. Actually, maybe the word was grapes. Or boat. Who can be sure? Anyway, the last word of the night is one that I am sure about; it was runway.
As soon as Meg finished her story, the ensemble launched into it. Individuals threw offers around the room and before fellow improvisers even knew what they were in for, they were ready to stand behind their teammates. It was such a treat to see so many people working together in harmony, and it led to some cracking moments of comedy that got the whole room in stitches.
An absolute crowd favourite came out of the haemorrhage segment, and it all started when someone became an egg that got released from the uterus and was voyaging down through the fallopian tubes. This offer was instantly ‘yes, and’ed, as someone assumed the role of a sperm, and began the swim to meet the egg. Within seconds, the rest of the ensemble was bunched up behind the Head Sperm, their palms pressed together in front of their waists, shaking about their spermy tails and jostling to overtake the Head Sperm. What followed was a hilarious depiction of Sperm Etiquette, where the Head Sperm had a word with his Subordinate Sperm and asked them to please respect the Sperm Hierarchy aka, ‘let me have a crack at the egg in peace before you pounce’. Seeing a group of fully grown adults commit to this skit was golden; people were practically lifting out of their chairs they were laughing so hard. Just when we thought it couldn’t get funnier, someone took on the role of the evil vaginal wall with a vengeance for the fertilised egg. The wall started to shake as it’s lining started to shed, and the fertilised egg had to hold on for dear life. It was brilliant.
One of the coolest parts of Cool Story Bro is that every show night is its own opening and closing night. What happened on Friday night will never happen again, and the only people in the world who got to experience it are those who were in the room. So for all those reading this, I’m sorry, but you will never, ever, get to experience the pure extasy of watching a group of people spontaneously assume the role of sperms and egg in the fight for fertilisation. That being said, I’m sure that there will be many more incredible one-off moments at next Friday night’s Cool Story Bro, and the one after that, and the one after that, and the one after that. I hope for your sake, that you get to be apart of at least one of them.
Cool Story Bro is the flagship show of Big Fork Theatre and plays every Friday night with a new storyteller at Big Fork’s theatre at Level 2, 252 St Paul’s Terrace, Fortitude Valley. Big Fork Theatre hosts improv, stand-up and sketch comedy nights at their space every week from Thursday to Sunday.
