Jana J.'s Murder Mystery Birthday Party

On Saturday, October 10, JB and I attended a surprise birthday party/murder mystery for our sister-in-law Jana J., who hit a milestone birthday on that day. It may not be my place to divulge the exact number, but suffice to say I am one year and one week older than her.

(Incidentally, yes, I had a birthday last week. Didn't need to post about it this year, though JB definitely spoiled me with a trip out for sushi and a few gifts. I spent much of the day and the weekend watching general conference on TV. It was wonderful, as always.)

Jana J.'s daughters, Kylee and McKenna, put everything together for the murder mystery: the invitations, the plot and character assignments, the props, the snacks, etc. We assembled at The Barn, a Jackson family favorite location in Layton, for this special occasion. Most of the invitees were the birthday girl's siblings and spouses, along with her parents and a few close friends.

The theme for this murder mystery was "Murder at the Juice Joint," and it was set at a speakeasy in Chicago in the Prohibition era/1920s. We all dressed up accordingly and tried to act out our characters as well, accents and all.

It had been many years since either JB or I had participated in a murder mystery event, and we were grateful to be included. I was assigned to play private detective P.I. Pinkerton, while JB assumed the role of celebrity filmmaker Harper Hollywood.

The rest of the cast was rounded out by crooked and quirky politicans, officers of the law, employees of the Juice Joint, and of course gangsters, among others.

Kylee and McKenna were pretty clever with the props. For example, this ashtray and cigarettes (when in Rome—or Chicago, I guess?) were actually broken up Oreo cookies and pretzel sticks dipped in vanilla chocolate:

Sadly, the money, used for bribes and such, was also fake.

Toward the end of the evening, the real killer was revealed. We also voted on best actor and favorite costume (Summer), and there was also an award for the person who accumulated the most (fake) cash (our 18-year-old nephew Jackson).

We had wonderful evening together, but most importantly, Jana J. had a great birthday. We'll have to do it again next year, or another time very soon.

Improvables: Seventeenth Anniversary Show

On Friday night, the Improvables carried out our annual reunion/anniversary show at Backstage Performing Arts in Centerville. Former troupe members Ian, Liz Christensen, and Ryan, along with my siblings Biz and Steve, came out of retirement for an evening and joined Parker, Ricky, Scott, and yours truly on stage for this fun-filled event.

We had Scott, as the Karate Kid, teaching Ryan and Parker how to hula in "Party Quirks":

Liz C., Biz, and Steve put on the Shakespearean play "Are You My Mother?" in "Pieces of Shakespeare":

Parker and Steve played conjoined twins in "Meanwhile ... Elsewhere":

And Ricky pulled classic Ricky faces all night:

It was so good to get the old gang back together on stage, and it felt like old times at Rodgers Memorial Theatre, when we first started out in 2008. We are getting old and are getting arthritis and epilepsy and other not-so-fun things, but improv still brings out laughter and brings us together once a year.

Improvables: Spectrum Academy Show

On Thursday, the Improvables were invited to perform an abbreviated show as part of Spectrum Academy's Night of the Arts. This school is located just a stone's throw from our home in North Salt Lake, so how could I not volunteer to be part of it?

All grades at the school (Kindergarten through high school, as far as I know) were invited to participate, so there were a lot of people running around doing a lot of fun things. But amid the organized chaos—this wasn't my first rodeo of this kind—we found a small audience, and we had a lot of fun together with them.

It had been a minute since I had been part of a remote show to get our troupe's name out into the community! I enjoyed it a great deal. Brady, Jamie, Liz M., and Tyler rounded out the cast, and we put on a fun set of games. (It didn't hurt that a large chunk of the audience consisted of Brady's and Liz M.'s kids and other family members.)

Improvables: Seventeenth Annual Halloween Show

After trick-or-treating concluded on Halloween night, I took my TuPac-o costume over to Backstage Performing Arts for that evening's annual Improvables Halloween show. Because of course I was gonna be there after missing last year's performance.

Yes, I'm (or I was for one night) the whitest white guy rapper you know—even more so than the guys who recorded "Mormon Rap." Which is something I happily embraced on stage. I had a few chances to improvise rap songs, so in true white bread fashion, I included lyrics about growing up in the 'hood (Mr. Rogers's, that is), shooting people ... with Nerf guns, and being good, responsible citizens by calling your Congressman to voice your opinion on important social issues.

Anyhow, the rest of the show was a blast. Poor, exasperated Parker struggled in vain to describe the murder weapon in "Mumbling Movie Murder Mystery," which was something from the movie Hocus Pocus ... a movie I haven't seen in far too long.

In other words, I didn't guess that part correctly. But I did get the other two things correct.

We also played "Campfire Tale," "Nightmare," "Tombstone," and other Halloween favorites.

The cast was rounded out by new Improvable Chris as a UTA bus driver (which also happens to be his day job), Claire as a Middle Ages peasant who definitely did not have the plague, Ian as a character from the TV show "Peaky Blinders," Keenan as Dad Peter Parker from Across the Spider-Verse, and Parker as Noir Spider-Man from the same film.

Liz M., as Dipper from "Gravity Falls," was MC, while Kyra, who ran tech, portrayed ... someone whose name/description now eldue me. Incidentally, Kyra added to the decor by carving this phenomenal jack-o'-lantern featuring the troupe logo:

And so ended another unforgettable Improvables Halloween show. If you weren't there, then you were likely doing something else.

Improvables: Moving Day

As of the first Friday in June, the Improvables have moved our home base once again!

BDAC had been a wonderful host and stage for us for more than six years (give or take a year or so, due to a pandemic). However, we were informed earlier this year by the top brass there that they were going to start scheduling other events on Friday nights, as these events tended to bring in more money. This change would require us to either have no show on those Fridays or to find another stage on which to perform. We began looking around locally, and Backstage Performing Arts, a children's/youth theater on the west side of Centerville, agreed to let us do a few trial run shows there.

The results were good, and Backstage was pleased with our being there. As it turns out, a family-friendly improv troupe fits in well with a youth theater, and thus the decision to move was made.

As of this writing, I have performed on the Backstage stage four times. The stage size is good for our type of show, and there is stadium seating, like we used to have at CenterPoint and Rodgers. The acoustics and sound are good. Best of all, many of our audience members have followed us there, and kids who have performed in some of the Backstage shows have also stayed to watch a couple of our performances now.

For those of you keeping track at home, the following have been Improvables hosts since our inception in 2008:

Rodgers Memorial Theatre, Centerville (2008-2010)

CenterPoint Legacy Theater, Centerville (2011-2018)

Playbills Theatre, Clearfield (2013)

Clearfield Community Arts Center, Clearfield (2013-2017)

Bountiful Davis Arts Center, Bountiful (2019-2025)

Backstage Performing Arts, Centerville (2025-present)

We've been all over Davis County these past 17+ years, and fortunately we've developed a fanbase wherever we have gone. Such appears to be the case now after two-plus months into our time at Backstage.

Improvables: Sixteenth Anniversary Show

The Improvables' annual reunion show was held on Friday, March 7, 2025, at Bountiful Davis Art Center. Formerly regular troupe members Biz, Brianne, Bryan, and Steve joined Keenan, Parker, Richard, Scott, and myself on stage for another fantastic show, filled with many chortles and giggles. Keenan, Parker, and I shared MC duties throughout the night.

Among the highlights were Biz spit-cleaning Parker's glasses and Bryan's hair in "Advice Panel," featuring the return of Janice, one of my favorite characters:

... Biz, Bryan, Keenan, and Scott in an ice cream store-based scene of "Director":

... Biz roaming the aisles, talking to random people and objects, while Steve gave a "Press Conference":

... old coot humor and puns in "Back in My Day":

... and an old skool game of "Don't Make Me Heckle" to conclude the evening:

The rest of our game list was rounded out with "Top That," "Novelist," "Mumbling Movie Murder Mystery," "Pieces of Shakespeare," and "Dueling Plays."

It's always good to take the stage with these guys—and it doesn't hurt that two of them are my siblings. It blows my mind that we're now in our 17th year overall of performing for Davis County audiences.

One of these days, they're going to find out that I have absolutely no idea what I am doing.

Improvables: Goodbye, Willis

Our resident musician Willis, a big part of the heart and soul of the Improvables since nearly the very beginning, is moving on to new opportunities on the other side of the country (Boston). At Friday night's performance, we had one last hurrah with him in the form of a farewell show.

Naturally, music was and has been a large part of every show we've done with him over the past 15+ years. This show featured favorites "Musical Fairy Tale," "Oscar-Winning Moment," "Predictive Text Song," and "Sing It!" Willis accompanied each singer on piano, guitar, and melodica.

Chance, Keenan, Parker, Richard, Scott, Tanner, and yours truly as MC rounded out the cast across games of "Late for Work," "Back in My Day," "Lie Detector," "Nine out of Ten," and "Director."

The troupe directors created this keepsake a token of our appreciation for the countless hours and performances Willis has given us over the years.

We wrapped up the show with a final "Greatest Hits of Willis," in which Willis himself was the interviewee and focus of our songs. Randy Newman showed up by popular demand (composer of the "Monk" theme song and songs from the Toy Story films, among many other works, whom I have portrayed frequently over time).

As always with improv, you had to be there. Fortunately, I got to be there on stage with Willis (and these other guys) countless times over the years, each performance a memory I will treasure. We can't really replace someone like Willis, because his skillset is unique. We will continue to have music, however.

Improvables: Fifteenth Anniversary Show

Biz, Brianne, Ian, Ryan, and Steve returned to the stage Friday night for the annual Improvables reunion show. Crazy to think that we started this thing almost 16 years ago. Keenan, Parker, and I joined them for this performance, along with MC Scott and Willis on keys.

Among the many games we played were "Late for Work," "Town Hall," "Film Noir," "World's Worst," "Story Genres," "Novelist," "Musical Understudy," and "Don't Make Me Heckle." We also included another favorite of mine, "Marshmallows," which we played on this night as "Peeps" (with Valentine's Day candy clearance providing the marshmallows).

I am kind of fond of these people—and not just the two I am related to. Together, we have undertaken the greatest creative experience of my life, through hundreds of shows over the years. I couldn't have asked for a better group of people to work with.

Santa Parade 2023

A new Christmas season has brought with it a new Santa parade, this year being our ward's fourth annual event. By popular demand, JB and I were asked to reprise our roles as Mrs. and Santa Claus, respectively. With wonderful memories of last year's parade still at the forefront in our minds, we eagerly accepted the opportunity and considered it a great privilege.

Last year, breathing through the fake beard caused my glasses to fog up frequently, making it difficult for me to see people up close for a majority of our time on the float. Hence, I prepared this year's parade by growing out my beard following Halloween. JB then helped me out earlier on this evening by applying costume paint before the parade, giving me a bona fide white Santa beard.

It was another very cold December night, but at least we had chairs next to each other this time and could snuggle up together for some warmth.

Once again, this experience was not unlike being treated like a celebrity. Not only did several ward members come out of their homes to wave at us, but also several others not of our ward—people who happened to be driving by—pulled over and took their kids over to our float to take pictures with us. Three very anxious kids even hand-delivered letters to Santa ... which we will answer in the next few days.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Improvables: Fifteenth Annual Halloween Show

On the heels of the Trunk-or-Treat (later that same night) was my troupe's annual Halloween show at Bountiful Davis Art Center. This always brings out the dedicated fans as well as all of the weirdos, but I can't tell those two groups apart. And that's exactly how we love it to be.

I remained dressed up as Thor and MC'd the show. I was joined on stage by Brady (Waldo), Erica (Oogie Boogie from The Nightmare before Christmas), JoJo (wolfman), Keenan (one of the Peter Parkers from the Spider-verse), Matt (the Bride from Kill Bill), Parker (some Nordic warrior video game character whose name I kept forgetting), Tanner (peanut butter sandwich), and Tyler (Moon Knight), with Willis (some kind of demon) on the piano.

We had a ball, but that's how improv always is. The night's game list included "Advice Panel," "Dueling Plays," "Film Noir," "Mumbling Movie Murder Mystery," "Predictive Text Song," "Replay at Bernie's," "Tombstone," and other favorites.

I think the headline "Improv Show Enjoyed by All" speaks for itself. Come and check out a show for yourself if you haven't done so before now!