Four Day Weekend Reinvents Improv Comedy.

Satirically Sharp and Hilarious

Todd Camp
The Fort Worth Star Telegram

When the five-man improvisational comedy troupe Four Day Weekend first set up shop on weekend evenings at Casa on the Square, audiences probably didn't know what to make of them.

For most Fort Worth types, the only time you're actively engaged in a comedy show as an audience member is if some snarky stand-up is poking fun at your hairpiece.

But improvisation as a comic style has blossomed from rich roots, particularly classic mainstays like Los Angeles' The Groundlings- the origins of Paul "Pee Wee Herman" Reubens- and Chicago's Second City, training grounds for most of the top talents behind Saturday Night Live and SCTV.

Four Day Weekend peppers its performance with prepared skits which rotate nightly to avoid repetition, but like their big city ancestors, most of the mirth is born solely out of audience suggestions.

Playing a series of "improv games," the group concocts off-the-cuff skits, musicals, movies, letters, or even operas from solicited responses stem from the liquored-up, after dinner crowd at Sundance Square.

Leaving Las Vegas finds the perfect balance between subtle wit and over-the-top antics, while Frank Ford is at his best when delivering outrageous characterizations.

Over the past few weeks, an interesting dynamic has emerged with each of the performers taking on an individual shine. David Wilk fancies himself the consummate straight man, but he's walked away lately with many of the night's biggest laughs. Troy Grant (he's the one who looks like that guy in local theater favorite), Chamblee Ferguson is the company wild card, often throwing an unpredictable monkey wrench into the proceedings- always a delight to behold. David Ahearn serves as the group's wiseacre emcee, while David Holt provides top-notch musical accompaniment.

They've already proven themselves willing to do just about anything for a laugh- Wilk recently appeared on stage in nothing but his underwear, and that was the night his parents were in the audience. But despite the night owl time slot (10 p.m. Fridays and 11 p.m. Saturdays), the Four Day boys demonstrate a refreshing touch by avoiding raw language or bawdy humor.