Underwriting support from:
/Courtesy of UICA
/Courtesy of UICA
Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts invites you to learn more about West Michigan's creative workforce, neighboring cultural organizations, and about ways to engage with Grand Rapids' art-scene with interviews and guest features highlighting our local and regional community members. Visit uica.org/learn for monthly interviews.
Plant Parenthood formed in 2015 when the founding members met at Comedy Outlet Mondays, a recurring comedy show at Dog Story Theater. Members have trained at Detroit’s Go Comedy (Detroit,) iO Theater (Chicago,) and through several workshops in Grand Rapids.
How would you describe Plant Parenthood?
PP performs long form improv, produces videos, and runs a meme page. We strive to keep our finger on the pulse of Grand Rapids, and Michigan as a whole.
What milestone or experience led you to a career in the performing arts?
We have a collective need for validation.
Who or what has been the biggest single influence on your way of thinking as a group?
Improv has taught us to actively listening, remain present, and embrace the reality presented.
Where can we find you performing regularly? What types of opportunities are you seeking?
PP perform monthly at Comedy Outlet Mondays at Dog Story Theater. We strive to build community and foster growth in the West Michigan comedy community.
Do you have a performance that stands out in your mind as something?
Our Grand Rapids themed memes help us stand out in the local scene, but our recent parody video ‘Hot Tamale’ went somewhat viral. Our audience has expanded beyond Michigan and we are adapting.
You'll be performing at UICA during the inaugural fundraising event, Off The Wall. What are you looking forward to most?
Off The Wall gives us a unique opportunity to show our brand of comedy to people who may not otherwise be aware of Grand Rapids’ burgeoning comedy community. We also LOVE Funny Girls, and are looking forward to watching them perform at this event.
What can guests of Off The Wall expect to experience during your performance? What do you hope they will walk away with?
Guests can expect us to take them on a completely made up journey with just one word or phrase. In long form improv, a single suggestion from an audience member is taken and turned into an entirely improvised series of scenes. The scenes can be loosely or tightly connected at the performer’s discretion. A typical long form performance will usually span 15-30 minutes but sometimes even longer.
We hope guests will leave with an appreciation of the creative flow, collaborative nature, and structure of long form improv. We hope to get more people interested in the rest of the Grand Rapids comedy scene. We hope they laugh at (with) us!
What other events or collaborations do you have on the horizon?
PP will be performing in the Koning Microcinema at Wealthy Theater for the first Saturday of April, May and June of 2018. We have will be sharing the stage fantastic performers from Chicago and locallly.
Where can we learn more about you?
Go like our social media pages please.
Our facebook page, Plant Parenthood, or our Instagram page, @plantparenthoodimprov.
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