LAKEVIEW EAST — While co-workers have known for several fiscal quarters that Henry Huntington, 25, a Senior Account Executive at a multinational advertising agency downtown, is profoundly incompetent in carrying out the core functions of his job, a recent showcase indicated that his extracurricular venture into improvisational comedy is similarly disastrous.
“The fundamental rule of improvisational comedy is ‘Yes, and,’ which guides a performer to accept their partner’s premise and build upon it with new information,” explained improv instructor John Kowalski, 38, to Genius Herald reporters. “As we saw tonight, Henry has an uncanny ability to instead say ‘No, but’ to his colleagues’ ideas,” Kowalski continued. “For instance, a teammate said to Henry, ‘Wow, this spaceship really is something,’ and he said, ‘This isn’t a spaceship, it is a kitchen, and I am a toaster,’ and launched into an interpretive dance.’”
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“That certainly was something. It was not improv,” Kowalski concluded.
One Genius Herald reporter who witnessed the Wednesday night level two improv showcase confirmed Huntington displayed an “interpretation” of improv fundamentals that made the show feel like a slow-motion car crash with nobody brave enough to hit the brakes. One notable example included a “high energy” confrontation between a barista and patron, both played by Huntington, over whether a coffee shop did indeed serve coffee.
“I was expecting something ... better,” confessed one of Huntington’s co-workers, Emma Rubin, 25, after witnessing Huntington block premise after premise as if he were an in-his-prime Dikembe Mutumbo. “At the same time, Henry has a distinct lack of creativity and poor listening skills in the office. Did he channel those shortcomings tonight? Yes, and I won’t be coming to another show for some time.”
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“It is as if Henry treats a scene the same way he treats a late Friday afternoon meeting – actively blocking any potential for progress or other people’s joy,” quipped Derek Johnson, 27, another one of Huntington’s co-workers. “At least he is consistent. Hopefully this foray into improv is just a phase that’s lasted a couple weeks and ends soon.”
“These years of classes are finally paying dividends,” Huntington declared, glowing, post-performance. “It means the world to connect with an audience. I have found my calling.”
