Exploring issues with improv, the Theater of Public Policy is seriously funny
The Theater of Public Policy, a Twin Cities improv group, plays wonky topics for laughs, but hopes to inform as it entertains.
By Kristin Tillotson
Published in the Star Tribune, April 3, 2014
The swingingest mayoral debate in the history of Minneapolis went down last October at the Bryant-Lake Bowl.
Perched on stools on the tiny stage, six of the leading candidates took questions from a bow-tied young moderator whose earnest demeanor couldn't hide his whip-smart political savvy. At one point, candidate Bob Fine stripped down to a Superman costume, but the real laughs came when a group of improv comedy actors popped out from behind the curtain to create spontaneous skits about the issues just discussed.
If CSPAN had this format, it'd get much better Nielsen ratings. At a time when Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are more popular than straight newscasts, the Theater of Public Policy, which begins its sixth season Monday at the BLB, is ready to be taken amusingly.
"What sticks with people are stories, not policies," said co-founder Tane Danger. "So we reframe political conversations into narrative."
"You want people to tune in for 90 minutes to your ideas on a farm bill?" said Brandon Boat, his partner in bureaucratic hilarity. "This is the way to do it."
T2P2 — as the theater is known for short — has staged fall and spring seasons since 2011. Guests range from "public-policy rock stars" like Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie to experts in civic affairs, education and science. They also take their act on the road to such cities as St. Cloud, Rochester, Duluth and Grand Rapids.
The duo, both 28, met as students at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. Boat tried out for LineUs, a still-active improv group that Danger founded. He got rejected, but came back the next year, and it was fate that two guys with born-for-drama surnames would go on to form a partnership dubbed Danger Boat Productions. Danger is the show's director, onstage host and interviewer; Boat improvises in most shows and takes on the administrative roles of an executive producer.
Brandon Boat, left, and Tane Danger, the duo behind the Theater of Public Policy.
Perched on stools on the tiny stage, six of the leading candidates took questions from a bow-tied young moderator whose earnest demeanor couldn't hide his whip-smart political savvy. At one point, candidate Bob Fine stripped down to a Superman costume, but the real laughs came when a group of improv comedy actors popped out from behind the curtain to create spontaneous skits about the issues just discussed.
If CSPAN had this format, it'd get much better Nielsen ratings. At a time when Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert are more popular than straight newscasts, the Theater of Public Policy, which begins its sixth season Monday at the BLB, is ready to be taken amusingly.
"What sticks with people are stories, not policies," said co-founder Tane Danger. "So we reframe political conversations into narrative."
"You want people to tune in for 90 minutes to your ideas on a farm bill?" said Brandon Boat, his partner in bureaucratic hilarity. "This is the way to do it."
T2P2 — as the theater is known for short — has staged fall and spring seasons since 2011. Guests range from "public-policy rock stars" like Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie to experts in civic affairs, education and science. They also take their act on the road to such cities as St. Cloud, Rochester, Duluth and Grand Rapids.
The duo, both 28, met as students at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter. Boat tried out for LineUs, a still-active improv group that Danger founded. He got rejected, but came back the next year, and it was fate that two guys with born-for-drama surnames would go on to form a partnership dubbed Danger Boat Productions. Danger is the show's director, onstage host and interviewer; Boat improvises in most shows and takes on the administrative roles of an executive producer.
"'He's more of a tree person and I'm more of a forest person," said Danger, who grew up in Florida as the son of a journalist mother and Lutheran minister father. He has landed an impressive variety of jobs since graduating six years ago, and all have informed his current situation. As an intern on Rep. Tim Walz's campaign for Congress in 2006, he launched one of the first candidate Facebook pages in the country. He was the communications director for Minnesota's sesquicentennial celebration in 2008. He also taught English in Korea for a year, where he used improv games to help his students learn.
T2P2 aspires to more than merely amuse audiences a la the popular D.C. comedy troupe the Capitol Steps, Danger said: "We want people to leave knowing more about the issue than when they came in, but it also needs to be fun. Learning about government and politics doesn't have to fit the Theater of the Oppressed school of thought."
Troupe member Jim Robinson, a veteran of Brave New Workshop, called what T2P2 does unique, satisfying — and challenging.
"Tane knows how to get good information out of a person, so every answer is a gift for us to work with," Robinson said. "The trick is not to get didactic and boring. So if the topic is agriculture, and they mention sugar beets, you might cook up a romance between a beet and a soybean."