Bored at Work: Next of Haskins

A few years ago, American Dream was my favorite improv team. Not only were they one of the more talented groups of individual performers to ever grace the stage together, but they subverted many of the tired improv conventions floating around the scene. The group would meet a few minutes before each show and decide on which form they would be presenting that night. Then, without practice, they would do it, and do it well. I once saw them perform "Joe's Clothes," in which they dug through a bag of coach Joe Bill's old threads between scenes. They'd put the stuff on, and let it influence where the action went. I'll never forget Megan Hovde starting a scene wearing an oversized basketball jersey and repeating, "I wanna be Michael Jordan" until it got a reaction.

One of the leaders of that group, perhaps by default, was Sarah Haskins. She was always quick to add logic and drive to a scene; in the aforementioned example, she jumped right in as a mom trying to control her basketball-obsessed daughter, and the scene immediatly became personal. It's no surprise that her work at Current TV is equally purposeful.

My Comedy story this week is about her Target: Women TV segments, in which she lambasts the media and commercial advertisers for talking down to women's sensibilities. Sure, they make a solid point, but each is uniquely hilarious. They've already made the cycle around this here office, and I hope they brighten your day as well.

Here's a sample clip, just released this week with more over at Current's website.