The Black Box Improv Theater — Attraction in Dayton

My wife and I decided to have an impromptu date night early in the afternoon. I scrambled to find something interesting or fun or different to do for it. After trolling through the various local events, I saw an ad for A.I. and Womit 2.0. A quick text to confirm that this would be a potentially acceptable date, tickets purchased online, and we were set. I've seen some improv and even been slightly involved once (I was the audience member picked for part of a scene - so not that involved). We have watched a entirely too many episodes of 'Whose Line. .', so we had an idea of what to expect.

We arrived at the theater about when it opened, 30 minutes before a performance, and found our reserved table, second row with an excellent view of the stage. By excellent view, I mean it was about five feet away, so it was definitely ideal. It was fun listening to the music and watching people come in to fill the performance - it wasn't quite a sell-out crowd but pretty close.

[Note: The Black Box offers a couple of soft drinks and water. The mistake I had made was that I didn't read where they suggest bringing your own drinks/food, if you'd like more. That said, it was dang funny sober.]

Womit 2.0 is a series of improv sketches keyed off a single word heard by the cast called out by the audience at the beginning of the performance. This night's word was 'collectibles'. Each scene built off of the original scene, which was built around the word. It was creative and organic and there was definitely a story that evolved - I've watched movies with a lot less plot than they made up as they went along. I laughed a lot, the audience laughed a lot, and I don't think I've seen my wife laugh that hard without having hurt myself in a long time.

A.I. is sort of a hybrid improv. One actor has a script and sticks to it regardless of what happens. In addition, there are two improvisers who have no idea what the script is about dealing with the chaos a focused participant can bring. Two of the scenes grabbed me as especially great - the 'Dad' discussions and the 'Existential Crisis' with two airline pilots. Both had the audience locked into the story, anticipating what twists and turns and laughs were going to come next.

We will definitely be back. If you haven't been to a show, I heartily recommend you fix that - bring a date, bring friends, bring your date's friends - it is worth it.

I had been talking with some college friends about how the theater reminds me of one of the theaters at our school - and as I described the theater and the performance during intermission, one of them said, 'I'm glad you hit improv gold!' and we definitely had. Keep up...

I would not recommend the classes. The owner is a jerk. He’s like that really irritating kid from high school that constantly wanted to be the center of attention. He walks in and out of the room while class is going on. Has conversations in the room, eats, randomly interrupts to tell jokes or make mildly sexist comments, and cuts off the person actually teaching the class to repeat things that were said when he wasn’t around. At one point he bragged about how his wife didn’t get the theater in their divorce. Spends a lot of time telling you how amazing he is at doing improv (if he was as good as he’s claims he wouldn’t need to try to convince you). And it’s not like there’s no other space for him to be, he has an office in a separate room. If this was just a need for attention or him being oblivious to how disrespectful he is to everyone, it could probably be ignored. But his defense of this behavior was: “I’m the king of this space, I don’t have to listen to anyone.” “Students are just a $100 dollars to me, I don’t care if people don’t have a good time. I’ve got 70-80 people desperate to get on my stage, I don’t need to make anyone happy.” “I can do whatever I want, you can drive to Columbus if you don’t like it because I’m the only choice here. There’s some lady that does stuff at Wiley’s, but they suck.” “I tell people that complain to go start their own theaters.” “Everyone that comes in here sucks, I don’t know why they just do.” It was pretty clear that he was not actually interested in teaching people and thinks he has some sort of holy-grail in having a performance space. If the best defense you have for your behavior is that people have no other choice than to deal with you and you’re okay with that I don’t want know what to say. I’ve done improv for about 7 years, and I do it because it’s usually fun and most people are friendly. The person that’s ‘desperate’ to get on stage is rare. If you’re interested in having fun and doing improv, I would recommend taking the owner’s advice and driving to Columbus, or Cincinnati, or getting in touch with the Lofty Aspirations (the lady that does stuff at Wiley’s), instead of coming here. If you really are ‘desperate’ to get on stage, you might be better off trying an...

Improv saved my life, no joke. There was a point in time when I was living in my own head, my anxiety had complete control of me nearly to the point of living a hermit lifestyle. After an anxiety attack over something that would seem trivial to most, I had hit my rock bottom. I sought out therapy, but I needed something more. I needed to bet on myself more, so I decided to jump headfirst into improv. Improv, to me, boosted my confidence that I hadn’t seen in 20 years atleast. Improv also taught me some amazing life skills, such as staying grounded, being present, and not being afraid of failure. Improv’s greatest lesson is that even if something goes horribly wrong on that stage, everything will be wiped clean a minute later.

Black Box has one of the most welcoming community of performers that I’ve gotten the pleasure to get to know. No inflated egos and everyone has their moment to be the star. They truly embrace what I love about improv, making your partners look good. The classes are helmed by incredible instructors who definitely put the F-U-N in the Fundamentals of Improv. No skill level is needed to start and is well worth the money, especially since each class gives you passes to every show during your course where you can go, watch, and study more seasoned performers. Also, you will make new friends! I definitely did!

Whether you need a break from reality, a night of fun, or a boost to your mental health, Black Box will provide that much needed respite you deserve. Treat yourself to a show, and even a class, it will be worth your time...