Missed Connections at Capitol City Theater

Capitol City Theater has been around for awhile now, and I had heard about their improv comedy show over the years, but it took me until this year to finally check them out. I'm not sure why it took me so long because there really isn't any other live comedy action happening in Salem, so they are definitely filling a void. As far as I know (and here I apologize for not being a very good investigative reporter because I don't care to really investigate it at the moment and would rather just tell you what I think is true :)), they used to rent the Elsinore theater for their shows, but in the recent past (maybe a year ago?) they got their own location downtown on Liberty Street. They must be moving up in the world!

When I visited them a few months back, it was for one of their early-ish evening improv nights. It was entertaining and funny enough, but the crowd was pretty small and mostly made up of parents and their children, so you can probably imagine the level of complexity in the jokes. It was still a fun outing, but I didn't have a huge desire to go to that same show again.

BUT the early evening/kid-friendly comedy isn't their only option! I heard about their "Missed Connections" show where they parody that section of Craigslist (seriously, if you've never spent a half hour reading those, you totally should), and I knew I had to check it out.

So on a Friday night we headed down the street a few blocks and joined the queue of people waiting to get in. I was surprised to see such a line since there had been so few people on my last visit. There was a different show before the Missed Connections and once they done and had filed out, we were allowed in.

This time it was a packed house! We found a seat at one of their small round tables. The seating is a little awkward because the seats are staggered around the table so you end up in front of or behind the person you came with, but I suppose that's about what would be expected at your run of the mill comedy club. There are food and drink available, but I'd recommend just coming for the comedy. (That's my nice way of saying that the food and drink selections are nothing special and seem to be more concession stand-ish than not.)

It wasn't long before the show started, and it was pretty much everything I would have wanted it to be. Each scene started out with one of the two actors (they seemed to be more serious actors, but perhaps they were improvers who were acting serious?) dramatically reading the text of the missed connection itself. That was really the best part of the night and what we considered the highlight of the show. Just imagine a crazy and sometimes desperate online post that often has elements of something that should be kept private but is, by its very nature, very public, being read sincerely and passionately. It was great. After each reading was over, a troupe of 3 improv actors acted out the scene as they (humorously) imagined it. It really was funny and pleasurably kept my attention all night. I wish I had written down the improv actors names, but I'm slightly failing as a legit blog writer here because I didn't....but it was two guys and girl and they were all funny, but the girl definitely stole the show.

One last tidbit. I loved that the Missed Connection articles that they chose to feature all came from around our area! Way to embrace the Willamette Valley's weirdness, Capitol City Comedy! :)

I would definitely recommend checking out this show! (The next one is coming up on November 26th at 9:30!)  They also have some other events that look interesting, like a weekly open mic night and some other special events that I think are worth a shot too.  Check them out :)