Men Are from Goose Creek, Women Are from Savannah

Wed. @ 8 p.m., Theatre 99

With 30-plus members in the Theatre 99 comedy company and at least a half-dozen named groups seeking stage time during any given week, scheduling can be a bitch. One thing that never changes, though, is that Wednesday evenings at the theatre – otherwise known as Laugh For a Lincoln night, with a $5 admission price – is the best time to spot an up-and-coming act. That’s because Wednesday after-acts are for workshopping new shows. One excellent example is the multi-format, many-syllabled show Men Are from Goose Creek, Women Are from Savannah, which first hit the boards last summer and is now holding down its own slot in the Comedy Fest’s opening evening.

Starring Caleb Usry, Jessica Chase, Jason Cooper, and Brandy Sullivan as two couples who meet, begin dating, establish relationships of variable integrity and success, and run into each other at the mall a lot, Men Are from Goose Creek is largely a scripted show, but it stars some of the company’s most dedicated improvisers – so anything’s liable to happen.

“Jason Cooper and I were just looking to write a show based on relationships,” says Usry (who’s also appearing in Moral Fixation and The Sofa Kings), “and so we paired off with Jessica and Brandy, who doesn’t normally do a lot of scripted stuff.”

“That show’s the best of both worlds, it’s maybe 80-percent scripted and 20-percent improv,” says Have Not! Greg Tavares, who’s watched the show incubate since last summer. “It’s basically a hybrid piece that showcases both those forms. It feels like a play, but it feels a little like sketch comedy and improv as well. So it plays across the board.” –Patrick Sharbaugh

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