On the scene: iO double header

I settled into a hard chair at the iO Del Close Theater last night for two enjoyable iO premieres. The first show, Without Intermission: not featuring Jesse Case, stars Seth Weitberg in a solo performance. Qweirdo, the second show, is a variety showcase for gay improvisers and sketch artists headlined by 1, 2, 3, Fag!, a trio comprised of Seth Dodson, John Hartman and Kellen Alexander.

Without Intermission, is a written, one-man performance by iO fixture Seth Weitberg (The Armando Diaz Experience, Bullet Lounge, The Frank Hayes 4, etc.), a very talented entertainer. It begins with Weitberg, a compact and wiry figure, rushing on to the stage with a rolled up rug tucked in the crook of his arm and carrying a handful of vintage suitcases. He drags his pianist (the tacit and lumbering Jesse Case) out from backstage who then nimbly begins striking a few old-timey chords as Weitberg unravels the rug and artfully arranges his luggage. He then launches into his first character, a magical man (actually a covert Jew) from the land of marshmallow and taffy trapped, at least for a fleeting moment, in our monochrome world. This leads to unraveling of characterizations including a gaggle of burnout teenagers sneaking a smoke and waxing philosophically on life, a spoken word artist stuck on iambic pentameters, a pedant who must explain to us the difference between didactic and pedantic (among the evening's most ingenious monologues), a pet owner who is crestfallen over his sickly beta fish and so on.

There's a vaudevillian feel to all this with Weitberg as the traveling showman just popping into iO for a night to entertain us with his bag of tricks before dashing off to the next Midwestern city. He fiddles with, rearranges and cantilevers upon his suitcases constantly as he shifts from one character to the next. He does not always succeed. A few characters, like his ruminating Frenchmen or his temptress on the veranda, don't feel as fully inhabited or fleshed out as others. But the characters that do come to life just pop like hell. In one ridiculous number, Weitberg breaks into song over what will happen to his Facebook profile when he dies. It's not only a pointedly funny mockery of the Facebook generation, it's also so bracingly Broadway that we can almost imagine Spring Awakening's Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik having penned this number for their next musical. With sweat on his forehead and the kind of ebullience only the Great White Way can deliver, Weitberg really nails it. Cerebral, wiry and quick, we continue to watch Weitberg with fascination.

Qweirdo meanwhile turned out to be the funniest gay comedy show in awhile, shattering any gay label one might try and attach to it. It begins with gay-straight sketch comedy troupe the Alliance resurrecting select pieces from their recent revue Gayrilla Warfare. This perfectly pleasing batch of scenes included a parody of child-rearing as the panacea to all marital problems, two uneven Liza parodies (the imitation was solid but something was missing from the writing) and a genuinely endearing breakup scene that looks like it was born out of improvisation among others. Missing from the set was their Rainbow Records sketch, an excellent parody of the golden era of record companies (too logistically complicated to recreate here according to ensemble member Keith Ecker).

Next, LGBT members of iO's house teams joined together to perform a gay version of iO's signature Harold, referred to as the Gerald. All nine ensemble members were in terrific form—it would be interesting to know if this particular group had played together before. As they dashed through a number of scenes based on the suggestion of "Star Trek," the chemistry was unmistakably good. It's true that in improvisation, when the cast is having one, we have fun. There was a lot to chew on here but the scenes in outer space and the ones with the dueling twins were the most entertaining. They were followed by monologist and former TOC Theater editor Christopher Piatt in a brisk, razor-sharp rant linking the absurd Don't Ask Don't Tell policy with last week's killing of abortion doctor George Tiller in Wichita, Kansas (Piatt's home state). Based on his writings, we already know Piatt is of formidable skills but to learn that said talent included pitch-perfect comic timing delivered with ecstatic rhythm was truly enjoyable.

The house really filled up by the time headliners 1, 2, 3, Fag! took the stage in a three-scene set of improvisation that first included an excellent domestic trifle between a mendacious mother, her rebellious children and a befuddled dad. Dodson, Hartman and Alexander amped up the scene by nimbly switching characters throughout. This led to a second, somewhat flat scene involving a meeting between a council of wizards, but the trio resurrected itself with a finale featuring three air-headed sorority sisters arguing over a stray cat. Again, each man jumped from one role to another ably demonstrating just how well improv works when actors listen, commit and fully inhabit their characters.

Qweirdo is a benefit for Lambda Legal and its lineup (aside from 1, 2, 3, Fag!) changes each week. Both Qweirdo and Without Intermission run throughout June. See Comedy.