REVIEW: TIM @ iO

Give me more Timmy Mayse.

I am on cloud nine. So many Tims just made my world complete this evening. I have had the pleasure of seeing this show one other time, but tonight was a pleasure all unto it’s own. Tim Whetham, Tim Chidester, Tim Stoltenberg, Tim Ryder, Tim Paul and Timmy Mayse all made an appearance tonight.

Timmy Mayse is one of my favorite improvisers. Period. He owns his shit from the moment he steps on stage. Every time, without fail. From a sexually distraught woman pining for a spicy lover to an attorney role-playing southern prostitution with his wife to a soloist handicap kid singing about how RoboCop has had a hand in all major events throughout American history, Timmy Mayse, my friends, does it all. This guy absolutely kills me. I would watch every show he’s in if I could. It’s like indulging in a great desert. Timmy Mayse is my improv decadence.

Aside from my love for Timmy, let’s not forget about Tim Paul and Tim Stoltenberg. In my opinion, the three combined stole the show. Ryder is the king of perfectly-timed one-liners that round out every scene he’s in and Whetham and Chidester still played important roles, but Mayse, Paul and Stoltenberg killed it tonight. Tim Paul might play one of the best women I’ve seen played by a man. Maybe even by a woman. Who knows? With his witty rumble of sexually persuasive banter and 100% commitment to his roles, Tim Paul is hysterical. Five stars and a high five.

I am ashamed to say that I haven’t had the privilege of witnessing Tim Stoltenberg perform often, but I’ve never seen him shine as he did tonight. He had strong character choices, made smart scene choices and knew just how far to push a scene to exploit it’s hilarity without turning it into a mockery. At the end of the show he had developed a game where he first asked Mayse to sit on his lap, not facing away from him but straddling his knee facing towards him, or “taking a knee on his knee” as Mayse called it. After Mayse was released, Ryder got the opportunity to take a knee on Stoltenberg’s knee, with the comment “of course, I forgot that’s how we do it in this family.” Ryder’s character was a potentially illegitimate orphan in a house with three guys and when confronted at the end of the show, he confirmed that of course he’s legit, as the ” biological offspring of these three men.” Perfectly-timed one-liner and perfect way to end the show. He just sees clearer and packs a bigger punch with fewer words. Well played sir, well played.

I’m sure this review doesn’t do this show justice, but it was the highlight of my night to see the closing show of TIM this evening. Thank you, gentlemen, for the hearty guffawing you bestowed upon me.