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Maybe some people are born actors, the way some people are born athletes or born artists or born smart or born knuckleheaded. Check out hyperkinetic Wayne Brady, bouncing on the edge of a Waikiki hotel chair, riffing on the dangers of drivers who use cell phones. Without realizing it, he mimes a driver juggling a cell phone, a steering wheel and a conversation, and you can sense the phone in one hand, the wheel in the other, and the driver's dawning realization he's headed for a crash. Brady is improv
all the way
By Burl Burlingame
Star-BulletinActing comes easy to Brady, as does thinking on his feet, or in this case, while sitting. Drafted last year as a regular on ABC's surprise hit "Whose Line is it Anyway?," Brady's abilities are known nationwide.
"The show has been selling out since March, and we made the move from improv places to clubs to theaters," said Brady. Because of "Line," audiences these days who were dimly aware of "how special good improvisation is, now are much more educated about it. 'Line' really stirred things up! Audiences come prepared with ideas and props!"
Brady's no stranger to Hawaii. He met his wife Mandy, a dancer, while he was performing in "Blast From the Past" at Aloha Tower five years ago. "My own family, in Orlando, is pretty small, and now I have all these great Hawaiian in-laws as family, carpenters, dancers, newspaper people -- what Hawaii represents to me is family. We'd like to move here when we can."
But for now there is work. "I just want to do good work for 40 or 50 years and be remembered as a nice guy," laughed Brady. "Is that too much to ask?"
Brady is only 28, so expect to see more of him. "The Wayne Brady Show" is waiting in the wings on ABC. The network renewed "Line" for three seasons.
"Whose Line is it Anyway?" began on British television. It marries the free-form, anything-goes zaniness of improvisation with the strict time-tabling of game shows.
"Oh, there's NOTHING as great as good improv and nothing as bad as bad improv," said Brady, squirming. "You know the bit is going nowhere. Oh, please please hurry, you're praying. But on 'Line,' it's 3 minutes, then BOOM! new scene, new character, go go go."
Brady's stage show includes fellow actors and friends Cory Rouse and Jonathan Mangum, and keyboard player Allan Simpson. Brady is quick to credit musicians as an integral part of the improvisation process.
He also is quick to point out that the American show is not a spin-off. "It's the SAME show. Same producer, Dan Patterson and Hat Trick Productions. Ryan Stiles, who was a regular on the British show, became a regular on the Drew Carey Show and introduced Drew to it, and Drew became a fan. Once Drew came on board, ABC agreed to air it."
The only difference between the editions is the humor itself. "We're faster and character-driven, but the British are incredibly clever wordsmiths."
Does he sometimes surprise himself with the things that drop out of his mouth while improvising?
"Oh, you bet. At a show a little while ago we were making up a song about fish, and I was told I was a shark, and suddenly a line about 'rotating cartilage' popped out, something I learned about sharks in high school. All those biology lessons are still in there!"
"Another time, Greg Proops and Drew Carey and I were trying to one-up each other about black history, about who knew the most, and it got really crazy, and we started to laugh, because we all knew way too much. We were all nerds in school who paid attention in class."
Although the actors are credited as writers on the show, they're not paid as writers, but as performers. "But the songs we make up are covered by ASCAP, and we get residuals for that," said Brady.
The show is filmed every three weeks or so over a long weekend. Each show is live, and two and a half hours are edited down to 22 minutes "of the funniest stuff. And they take the problems out."
Problems?
"We crack ourselves up!"
On stage
Who: Wayne Brady & Friends perform improv
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