Persuasion • Comedy Day 1983

We got wind that, despite performing at the First and Second Annual Comedy Day Celebrations, this year we were likely to be 'bumped' off the roster of 40 comedians scheduled to perform a 5 minute set in Golden Gate Park's Bandshell. Comedy Day was  the 'opportunity to publicly thank the people of San Francisco for their support and contributions to the successes we all enjoyed throughout the years.' Also, sitting on the sidelines on the big day was no fun at all.

Initially, befuddled, then incensed —an entire range of emotions was likely experienced - being members of the stereotypically and historically hysterical gender group— we used the challenging hurdle to take stock of our 3 years of cumulative accomplishments and present our list of reminders to the forgetful folks in charge… with our regular aplomb. 

Below is a one-of-a-kind plea, disguised as courteous discourse. Few other performers took the initiative to craft such a pre-emptive case-building document or were expected to 'beg' in such a fashion.  We included a full-boat press package, to boot.

As you can see from the program above, our efforts were fruitful and we performed on that sunny Saturday in July. And never had to ask nicely again.

May 5, 1983

To: The Organizing Committee of the SF Comedy Day Celebration From: FEMPROV Re: FEMPROV's Participation in the 1983 C.D. Celebration

Dear Comedy Day Celebration Committee Members,

FEMPROV, currently the longest performing improvisational comedy troupe in San Francisco, congratulates you on the growing success of the Comedy Day Celebration in Golden Gate Park. Enthusiastically, FEMPROV appeared in the first two celebrations, and the group looks forward to participating in this year's event.

As stated in a recent review in the S.F. Chronicle, FEMPROV is one of the most highly regarded improv troupes in San Francisco. FEMPROV adds to the unique character of the City's comedy scene by virtue of the fact that they are one of only several all-female comedy troupes in this country!

Listed are a few additional examples illustrating FEMPROV's contributing effort to help maintain San Francisco as the Comedy Capital of the world.

By performing at fund raising events, FEMPROV contributes their time, talent, and energy to national as well as local service organizations. Some of FEMPROV's benefit performances include the Cerebral Palsy Telethon, A Safe Place (a home for battered women) benefit, the University of San Francisco's Educational Fund benefit, S.F. City College fund raising event, the National Organization of Women, and the Organization for Abortion Rights. FEMPROV instigated the perpetuation and growth of the comedy scene in S.F. by involving themselves directly in the creation, development, and opening of Cobb's Pub in the Marina. FEMPROV-ET Terry Sand worked with the owner of Cobbs (Ron Kakiki) with the initial ground plans for transforming Cobb's from a neighborhood pub to what is now a very popular comedy club. FEMPROV as a group worked as consultants in regards to Cobb's stage design, public relations, and scheduling. FEMPROV was the first opening act at Cobb's and continued to perform there on Friday and Saturday nights for the first three months of the club's existence. Since that time, FEMPROV still performs at Cobb's on a regular basis. When the Punchline decided to add improvisational comedy to their weekly lineup they called upon FEMPROV to kick-off this idea. FEMPROV is an innovative contributor to the art of comedy. Their most recent innovation includes the use of video in their shows. Lead by FEMPROV-ET Jeannene Hansen, FEMPROV continues to explore the use of modern video technology in conjunction with live improvisational techniques. FEMPROV serves as a spring board for comediennes to grow and develop their talents into many areas of performance and comedy. Susan Healy and Carol Roberts are two examples of comediennes that began their careers with FEMPROV. FEMPROV encourages its members to grow and each FEMPROV-ET works in other areas of entertaininment ranging from stand-up to writing, teaching, and acting. The group also guests many other comediennes and provides an arena for developing their improvisational skills.

These are but a few examples of FEMPROV's contributions to comedy. The group's longevity is testimony to their hard work and tribute to the support they receive from the City's comedy fans.

FEMPROV looks forward to participating in the 1983 Comedy Day celebration and we thank you for your time and consideration!

Warmest regards, FEMPROV 1983

"Femprov is the warmest, most personable improv group in the city."

Flashes and flops: improv lives on 

by Steven Winn • SF Chronicle

A Monday night, several weeks later, 9:30 PM. Femprov, the Bay Area's only all-women improv troupe, is doing a set at Cobb's Pub on Chestnut Street. Formed in 1979 out of a frustration with the subservient roles women were assigned in earlier improv troupes, the group was popular initially as a novelty. Now the following is widespread, and deservedly so. Femprov is the warmest, most personable improv group in the city. 

The connection between the members is evident, in the responsiveness to each other's drift —or grammatical miscues —in a bit.  Ego seems to be nonexistent.

A movie trailer parody for "Nice Girls After Dark," is apt and droll. There's a gooey, loopy love-song number addressed to a male member of the audience, rich in a kind of mad cap hyper-sexuality "What I love is that women are supporting each other," one member drawls satirically in another bit. "Sexist" or "feminist" behavior, by conventional definition, is adopted by the members and shrugged off at the same time. Wit fails at times, but the bond to the audience is strong.

"When I did standup," says member Pat Daniels, "I did jokes about not getting dates. A lot of men, and women for that matter, think you have to compromise your femininity in order to be funny. Improv lets you get away from that. We can do a scene where four other women are actually supporting what you're doing instead of competing with each other —and the audience —to run themselves down."

Adds Terry Sand, "What a lot of actors are doing is 'indicating' emotions. In improv, you don't have time to get set to do that. Whatever comes up, that's what you have to go with."

Haight's Ruling Beauty

 

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Winning the title of the first-ever Miss Haight-Ashbury Saturday evening at the Great American Music Hall was Miss Laurel Heights, a.k.a. comedian Terry Sand.

~Beth Trier • SF Chronicle

 

The leap to the world of professional comedy took place about 1 ½ years ago, when, after refining her skills at improvisational workshops, she was asked to join Femprov, the Bay Area's first improvisational troupe composed entirely of women. Her present success at stand-up allows her to perform only occasionally with Femprov, but inspired moments of improvisation provide the basis for much of her routine…

~Richard C. Zimler • SF Datebook

Comedy Celebration 1982

Official Program for Comedy Celebration 1982

In the early days of San Francisco's Comedy Day, aka Comedy Celebration, a program was supplied as an alphabetical roster of those performing. The physical program encouraged the audience to "Give Your Spirits a Lift, Support Comedy" Perhaps this was a subtle suggestion to become patrons of the five comedy clubs that also graciously sponsored this bright daylight performances in an open-air venue.

The performers, unaccustomed to working during the day under a limitless height of ceiling space, much less a vast sprawling lawn or grove of trees, needed to adjust to the circumstances by 'playing to the balconies'. Femprov did their best to adapt with sketches suited to the enormous outdoor venue. By way of introduction, our piano player, Jim Cox supplied musical accompaniment for our BIG musical number of the time. This year in particular we performed our Motown-inspired piece 'You Can't Hurry Us' sung the tune of 'You Can't Hurry Love' by Diana Ross and the Supremes. Our entrance was frantic and chaotic to cover as much stage space during the opening bars, until we settled in front of the microphones spread wide across the stage to belt out the parody. The conceit was we were touring backup singers who's sequined evening gowns had been stolen 'somewhere near Barstow' suspiciously at the same time of the disappearance of our lead singer. Consequently, the vestiges of our costumes were our long white evening gloves. In this case, they worked like flags on our wildly gesturing arm dancing to let our presence be known. We likely added a quick round of L.A.Tag to fill our 5 minute slot. And then Jim played us off to the thunderous applause we earned. 

Pre-show gathering or post-show debrief

Jim Cox, the glue for our musical numbers.

Steven Pearl photo bombs Femprov.

Confessing "We're just here to improvise"

Susan Healy of Femprov directs Les Cafero, left, Rico Ramos, Sandy Van, Nancy MacLean, 
T.C Nurov, and Janice Heiss in a round-robin of Story Story at Femprov's improvisational workshop 
held every Saturday afternoon at Cobb's Pub in the Marina. 

For $4 you, too, and have them rolling in the aisles 

by Ken Wong  • Examiner staff writer

San Francisco is a mecca for comedians. They come from all over the country to a town where comics drive cabs by day and perform in cabarets by night. All dream of being another Robin Williams.
It's a return to the 1950s when the hungry i was incubating newcomers Woody Allen, Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl.

And now, for $4, you, too, can learn to be a comedian. Each Saturday afternoon Femprov offers a three-hour improvisational comedy workshop at Cobbs Pub, a saloon at Chestnut and Steiner streets in the Marina.
Femprov is an improvisational comedy group similar to the Screaming Memes and the National Theatre of the Deranged, both entertaining in spots around town. 

To improvise is to invent, compose or recite without preparation. The actors come onstage, ask the audience for suggestions – a profession, situation, emotion, conflict – and wing it from there.

On a recent Saturday, 15 people went through the wringer, in teams of two and three. Two women were to concoct a scene involving a stewardess and tennis. They pantomimed, pretending to bang a wall. They talked the dialogue went nowhere.
Susan Healy, today's leader, signaled them to stop and said "You must be pooped with all that swinging. You really hit the ball that often? And where is the scene? Are you playing tennis inside a plane? You've kept the dialog flowing. But it's not witty and it doesn't develop the characters."
Four other Femprov members also critiqued the neophytes. They told them what they did right and where they went wrong. 

Next, six people trotted onstage to do a spontaneous relay narration, an exercise in which one person picks up where another leaves off. Healy cued the speakers like a choir director.
It was a little like playing push-button on the radio, where by random pushing, you accidentally glue together some funny, incongruous lines.
Such as: "President Reagan said the poor and the hungry should try …" "… compulsive eating and discover alternative ways to nurture yourself and take charge of your life…"

The youngest person at the workshop was Rico Ramos, 21, an usher at Cinema 21. "I've been coming since it started," he said. "It's great. I have a captive audience."
Ramos, who came here from the Philippines when he was three, is all showbiz: "I love to entertain." 
Sometimes he entertains during intermissions at Cinema 21. He was with "Teens in Theater" while in high school and in "California, Can you Beat It?," a Mayor's Youth Program musical.

It was raining that Saturday, but Susan Williams and Diana Aragavritz drove up from Santa Cruz to make a noon workshop. "I've been coming for for four weeks," said Williams. "It's a long drive, but I'm hooked."
Maria Kamiya, 27, a San Francisco State University student, comes to the workshop because "it's fun and it helps to build self-confidence."
Arlene Mellon, 40, a freelance writer, agreed: "I was walking by one Saturday and saw the sign. There must have been a full moon that day. I walked in and found a platform to express myself creatively and humorously."

Of the 15 people attending the workshop, only three were men. Besides Ramos, there were Les Cafero and T. C. Nurov who works with the American Cancer Society.
"Men are welcome … we want more men … we're not just for women … tell them our workshop is a great place to meet women," said various Femprov members.

The group got together in December 1979. "We're just starting our third year," said Terry Sand. "We come from different parts of the country, met in a comedy workshop and it was a magic combination."
They have appeared here, in Los Angeles, at Stanford and in Monterey. 

"Improvisational comedy can be learned," Sand said "There are techniques. It's not that spontaneous."
Like jazz, there's a structure. It's how far out you can stretch before snapping. 
Daniels commented that it would take six months to learn how to be comfortable working together.
The others disagree. "There's no time schedule. It's up to the individuals," said Hansen.
But everyone agreed that it's a coordinated, ensemble effort. "You have to work together as a team," Healy said. "You're all in one boat, pulling together."
If one is stuck the others step in "It's like a rodeo. You fall off and a clown waves to keep the bull away," she added.

Improvisational comedy is risky. When you hit, it's hilarious, but it's a pie in the face if you miss. The measure of quality is longevity. "You don't last if the audiences don't respond," she said. Femprov will be playing at the Great American Music Hall and the Holy City Zoo in April.

They're wacky, dynamic and a guaranteed belly laugh. 
They're Femprov, an all-woman improvisational comedy troupe, who will appear Sunday at The Club inMonterey

That's a Laugh
Night Time • Coasting

After Femprov sings their opening number welcoming you to their show, they will catapult themselves into the audience to find ideas. Because it is based on audience participation, the show can never be the same.
The troupe began in December 1979 when Susan Healy, Teresa Roberts (no longer with them) and Terry Sand met in improvisational workshops. They formed Femprov after the Holy City Zoo started Women's Night. Pat Daniels, Carol Roberts and Jeannene Hansen joined the troupe later.
A reviewer for Metro Magazine said: "All of Femprov's material is extremely creative—from their take off on "Beat Poets" in the North Beach scence to interviewing off-the-wall applicants in an unemployment office to their cable TV show of "The Creative Cook" and "Gay Dating Game" not to forget the ingenious "Alien Fashion Show."

It's Your Choice
Charles Davis • Monterey Peninsula Herald Events Column

Femprov, a Bay Area improvisational comedy troupe, will be this Sunday night's comedy offering at The Club, in Monterey.
Founded in 1979 when San Francisco's Holy City Zoo night club began having Women's Night, Femprov is a five-woman teams that holds nothing—including feminism—sacred.
Improv comedy is seldom seen on the Peninsula. Unlike typical standup humor, improv relies on audience participation: Members of the group will call to to the audience for situations, occupations, et. then improvise an entire skit—hoping it is funny.
That's not to say the group doesn't have rehearsed routines, just that they are likely to alter them at whim. For example, S.F. critics have raved about their "Beat Poets" takeoff, as well as their "Alien Fashion Show," and "Dedication," a satirical Sinatra routine.
Femprov performs regularly in the S.F. Bay Area, The Club date will be the group's first Peninsula gig.

…a magic combination of personalities…