Windsor’s Chrysler Theatre became the funeral site of a beloved family member on Saturday night (Jan. 25). Fred, the black and white porcupine with laser eyes suddenly passed away in a motorboat accident and a large congregation of Windsorites gathered at the theatre to laugh their asses off as the event proceeded.
That is exactly what improv by hypnotism is all about – absolute insanity. You’ll never know what to expect when professional hypnotist Asad Mecci and improv master Colin Mochrie get together for a new show.
For this one, the show is called Hyprov – a slick merger of hypnotism and improv. To get things going, Mecci gathered 15-20 volunteers from the audience to come on stage and try to fall under the suggestions of hypnotism. The first half of the show takes the audience on a journey to narrow down that crowd to no more than five or six people. From that point, comedy legend Mochrie takes the remaining volunteers (in this case, six of them) and guides them through several improv skits, with content randomly shouted out by the audience before they begin.
This is where Fred comes in. The volunteers were there for the funeral of the spiky rodent, both crying and mourning our beloved black and white friend with those laser eyes (by the way, laser prepared toast is quite tasty).
Other skits included Mochrie’s relationship with a Broadway singer through a musical performance, an old murder mystery about a stolen golden waffle and in a Western movie scene starring the Colin Mochrie gang and several law enforcement officers, in an effort to stop the old west gang from being in public in their underwear.
There is literally no way Mochrie could have prepared himself for what was to come. The death of Fred had him laughing at times and he mentioned that no one has ever defected from the law to join his old west gang before.
Mecci appeared to have a slight cough, but was still able to hypnotize a very entertaining group of volunteers. His style is very calm and at times the professional side of his hypnotizing skills shone through the absurdity of the night. He also has a slight Windsor connection through former AM800 personality Kara Ro, who went to high school together outside of Sudbury.
Mochrie also has a slight Windsor connection, having filmed parts for a new movie in Windsor last year called Boys vs Girls, for director Michael Stasko. Mochrie is always funny and his improv skills are unmatched (except when he’s with the Whose Line Is It Anyway? cast). The Canadian icon left the entire audience in tears, not because of Fred’s passing, but because his comedy skills are immaculate.
Hyprov is a great two hour ride that will leave you in stitches.
All photos by Dan Boshart
Why does erectile dysfunction occur
