Team Name: The Supreme Court
Form/Show Name: Judicial Review!
Description of your show (for the judges—what form do you do, what sets you apart from other groups, etc.): Focused on patient, premise-based group scenes, The Supreme Court creates a unique performance like nothing you’ve ever seen (because we don’t allow still or video cameras at our shows). Lasting anywhere from an hour to several days, Judicial Review! relies heavily on audience interaction, question and answer sessions, and over two hundred years of legal precedent. From activists to strict constructionists, our team member’s diverse points of view (and backgrounds) create a show that is lively, intense, and the outcome of which will affect millions of lives for years to come!
Marketing blurb for your show (This is what will appear on our website and schedule. Please keep to fifty words or less. Think about what will get people interested in and excited about your show): Eight judges walk into a bar…exam, that is! The Supreme Court uses the single suggestion of a contested law to weave together an unforgettable and unique improvised performance. It’s an UNPRECEDENTED laugh riot of CONSTITUTIONAL proportions! Bang those gavels, because it’s disorder in the court!
Team Members: Samuel Alito, Jr., Stephen “Stevie” Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan, Anthony Kennedy, John Roberts (Captain), Sonia Sotomayor, and Clarence Thomas. (Note: we need to take a new photo because the current one still has Antonin Scalia in it, who actually died since we took that last pic, but it’s still a pretty good representation of the team and our aesthetic. If you need an updated pic just let us know, but as noted above, we don’t allow photographs to be taken of us (or anyone for that matter) when we’re performing at our home theater, in which case would you accept a drawing from a sketch artist?)
Availability: Okay this can be a little tricky. “Court is in session” (that’s what we call our runs at our home theater) from the first Monday in October until usually late June or early July. That said, those shows begin promptly at 10 a.m. and continue until 3 p.m., with a one-hour lunch recess starting at noon, so we’re free for evening shows (as long as we have advance notice and enough travel time) most nights. Additionally, there are no “public sessions” (shows) on Thursdays or Fridays, which could work out, but Fridays during and preceding show weeks are when we rehearse, and we’re pretty strict about keeping to those, so it sort of depends which week it is. Basically if you tell us when you want to put us we can see if it works with our schedule. I know that’s a headache but the owners of the theater have a really specific schedule that we’re not allowed to deviate from.
Tech needs, if any: We bring our own robes and gavels, but if you could set up a sort of dais thing at the back of the stage facing the audience with eight chairs that would be awesome. We might grab someone from the audience to be the ninth player because we’re so used to that, but if we do we’ll just grab a chair from the wings or something. It’ll probably be a game-time decision.
Social media, website, etc:
Website: http://www.supremecourt.gov/
Twitter: @USSupremeCourt
We also have our own hashtag: #SCOTUS
And, in case you want to check it out, Ruth’s food blog: whatruthate.squarespace.com.
Anything else you want us to know: We do want to mention that, as you can see from our photo, we know we skew older than a lot of the teams that apply to festivals, but we’re not one of those “mid-life crisis” teams of inexperienced improvisers who are just looking for a fun way to spend one evening a week. We are dedicated and highly trained professional performers who have all received multiple degrees from various comedy institutions (iO, UCB, Magnet, The Annoyance, etc.) and we’re serious about our craft. We promise if you accept us we will give you a show worthy of your stage. We’d bet our robes on it.
Thanks so much for the opportunity! We look forward to hearing back from you soon!
