Do you have the guts to be onstage?

“Stepping into your fear” sounds like walking into the mouth of a shark. Rather silly, if you ask me. Kind of like jumping out of a perfectly good airplane or riding a unicycle blindfolded.

It’s the impetus and the mantra of the improv teachers at Durango Arts Center, and until last Friday night, I probably would have rolled my eyes at such a thing. Then, I experienced something real, raw, hilarious – and I belly laughed for two hours straight as 13 adult improv students took the stage. They called themselves, “The Faker’s Dozen.” The name has some irony (yah, I get the reference to 13 and a baker’s dozen) but these actors aren’t faking it. They’re the real deal. Prior to the curtains opening, our theater staff was busy adding chairs as this show sold out minutes before it began and the excitement building in the room was palpable. I was imagining how the students behind the curtain were feeling. They may not have expected they would draw a sold out show with their debut. It became “real” pretty quickly. Under the direction of the ever-inspired and deeply hilarious Mary Quinn and Cindy Laudadio-Hill, they marched through short improv exercises and built into a long form. Clever zingers flew as the audience roared and screamed prompts for the students to follow.

All of these students walked into this class to learn something new, to shed inhibitions, to triumph over shyness or introversion and to tap into the part of us that can be wildly clever on the wing of spontaneity. Walking into the mouth of a shark? Something like that, as a pause can be deadly and there is no time to think – one just does. When done well, improv is pure firecracker comedy, a whiz-bang-boom that layers one laugh on top of the next. I can’t wait to see what happens when they add music into this, and that’s coming next as the DAC’s Jeff Graves is going to be teaching Musical Improv.

This weekend, you can see something even more spectacular than America’s Got Talent, where the youths of Durango steps into their own proverbial shark mouths to present their skills and talents to a live audience: from dance troupes to singers, rockin guitar players, and a surprise or two for good measure, this wholesome entertainment is fun for all ages. You will discover reasons to be optimistic about the future–these kids are fantastic. How lucky we are to have talent to spare in this little corner of the world.

Donate, become a member for discounts and to be a patron of the arts, register for classes, buy tickets, and keep in touch at DurangoArts.org and find things fast at https://linktr.ee/durangoartscenter.

Brenda Macon has been executive director of Durango Arts Center since 2018.