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by William McEvoy
Show reviewed January 12, 2002

Montclair, NJ is the epitome of quaint. One expects George Bailey to walk out of one of the 1920s office buildings that line the town’s main street. But hiding in the basement of the town’s movie theater (a real vintage movie theater, not a multiplex), you can find a little bit of New York City grit in the form of the improv troupe Possible Side Effects. Their show is called the Comedy Revolution, and they do a longform they call Edge City, developed with John Ross Bowie of Feature Feature fame, it is a combination of formats, the La Ronde and the Mono Scene. The troupe succeeds admirably when it comes to clever lines and quirky humor, but falls short when it comes to commitment to their environment and storytelling.

Every member of this eight-person ensemble is quick witted, the quips, jokes and offbeat suggestions came regularly and from all directions. They are also very capable at “finding the game”. In one memorable part of the show, almost every character gets involved in finding the proper word for more than one moose (meese, mooses, moosi?) without ever repeating or stepping on each others lines. It is also clear that several players are able to establish and maintain objective. None of the characters had needs that were too complicated, and some were quite determined. This especially goesfor Rhea Dates, whose secretary character displayed an ongoing obsession with Tom Schmidt’s mailman.

One may find that Possible Side Effects is too clever for its own good. The format opens with the Mono Scene, which is one continuous scene in a set location. The story set up by Jim Festante and John Frusciante (two wannabe detectives), was about a serial killer moose (Pat Shepherd). Like Ms. Dates, Mr. Schmidt’s mailman was obsessed, he with guns (he carries a thirty-ought-six on his route and is a black belt in judo). His wife, played by Rebekka Johnson, follows him around on his route. The town constable, played by Steve Booth, is inept at his job, and Matt Donnelly’s Black-eye Joe, of non-descript occupation, seems to just hang out at the police station. With everyone establishing such quirky characters no one played the straight man, which makes telling the story very hard, as the characters move the action through so many twists and turns. For example, the location started off as an office, but switched implausibly to a police
station. Half the characters had to spend time justifying their entrances (especially Ms. Johnson and Mr. Donnelly). The moose turned up at the police station for no good reason as well. Entrances and exits were forced, and at one point, in an effort to clear the stage, a character entered claiming that a woman just flew out of a third-story window. This was greeted with a shrug by most characters. Despite all the obstacles the group put in their own way though, they did keep us interested. The characters were strong, and while they torpedoed their story, they were compelling.

The second half of the show is the La Ronde, which is more Harold-like with quick scene changes performed in a tag-team manner. This format better suits the troupe, as there can be time jumps and shifts with no justification needed. What became obvious at this point is the group’s problem with movement and object work. Most of the scenes were physically stagnant, two people standing and talking about the action, rather that doing anything. Mimed objects were often dropped, or not given any importance. A flamethrower appears, but no one seems very worried about it being used indoors. Ms. Dates’ character explains that she hides the dials for her stove because she can’t trust herself (a very creative idea), but then doesn’t commit to digging them up and replacing them physically. When the cast doesn’t commit to their environment, the audience finds it hard to believe in it either. In addition, some cast members managed to turn their backs on the entire audience (not an easy feat with a thrust stage).

At the same time, some sharp verbal repartee was bouncing around. Ms. Dates explained that she’s got whatever the female version of blue balls is, and callback after callback was brought in. A hilarious scene was initiated by Ms. Johnson involving wanting to mate like a donkey, and Ms. Dates quickly slipped herself into the next scene as the couple’s daughter wondering what all the noise was about.

They were able to tie the story together at the end, and the killer moose is brought to bay. It’s possible that the loss of Mr. Bowie to the West Coast explains the shortcomings of their set; it seems to me the sort of thing a good director would not allow to happen. Possible Side Effects definitely has the chops to pull off a top-notch show, they’re smart and funny. They just need someone or something to tie them all together, or consider changing to a format that better suits their talents.