The Vandy Cab Room was the place to be this weekend, as the space played host to My Mother’s Fleabag for four shows across Friday and Saturday nights. The beloved improv comedy group always marks the end of the semester with their Spring Big Show, and it’s safe to say that they did not disappoint.
Perchance the Band, the musical guest of the night, provided enthusiastic pre-show entertainment. Later on, their exciting rock interludes and well-timed drumbeats helped add to the atmosphere of the show.
As the music lulled, a large projector emerged from the ceiling to showcase Fleabag’s pre-recorded skit. This semester’s video was a bit titled “Who Ate the Pizza?” where the Fleabaggers had to get to the bottom of who ate all of the pizza they ordered for rehearsal. The video was entertaining and well-edited, showing off the group’s chemistry and dynamic comic ability.
As the pre-recorded skit concluded, the group ran down the aisle to take the stage. Their yelling, clapping, and dancing to Perchance’s backing music invigorated the audience. As the Fleabaggers introduced themselves, the crowd’s shouting and applause overpowered the room. After the audience calmed down, Fleabag launched into their first game: Double Blind.
Double Blind is a game dependent on the audience’s participation. Two Fleabaggers begin with a scene, and at any point, an audience member can shout “freeze,” causing the scene to stop and two different actors to tag in where the scene left off. What began as a scene about a debate team turned into a police encounter, then into a cruise, then into a particularly memorable playground argument over friendship bracelets.
After Double Blind came a game called Bing, which relied on three Fleabaggers: two who acted out a scene, and a third who sat off to the side. The third actor held the “power of Bing,” which meant they could change anything the Fleabaggers said or did during the scene. After the audience gave the location of the hospital, the two Fleabaggers took on the roles of patient and doctor, both with an unknown disease that made them behave strangely.
After the humorous Bing game came Growing Shrinking Machine, which had two Fleabaggers begin the scene, then had three more actors enter one at a time to change it. Then, after each bit with a new person was established, Fleabaggers leave one at a time until they’re back to the original two-person scene.
Growing Shrinking Machine was a standout of the night because of how effortlessly each scene played into the next. What started as a scene between a wimpy athlete and an aggressive coach morphed into a group of siblings trying to form a human pyramid and then into a sandcastle-building disaster. Each bit was funny on its own, but watching them flow in and out of each other had the crowd buckling over with laughter.
Another standout came right after with Pillars. This game required two audience members to sit next to the actors as they did their scene. At any point, the Fleabaggers could tap the audience member closest to them to finish their sentence, giving the two crowd participants full control over what the actors said next.
What ensued was an absurd scene about a husband trying to bribe his marriage counselor into disagreeing with everything his wife says, complete with a kindergartener attending counseling for his “lucky lady.”
Fleabag went through a couple more games: My Movie, where actors act out original films on the fly, and Yearbook, where Fleabaggers introduce themselves in character based on a school club-related prompt. Fleabag also did their long-running segment 185 “blanks” walk into a bar, which contained several long-winded puns based on the prompt “zoo animals.”
The final game of the night was Montage, where Fleabaggers acted out a story based on one of their real-life experiences. The prompt was “accident,” leading to a scene about a pre-lacrosse game ritual of peeing oneself before going out onto the field. The scene quickly spiraled into an absurd breaking-and-entering bit where burglars camouflaged themselves in the house’s wallpaper.
And with that, My Mother’s Fleabag’s Spring Big Show came to a close. The group’s comedic talent and quick thinking never cease to amaze audiences, and this year’s group of Fleabaggers is no different.
