Seated in folding chairs, swilling whiskey and “mystery beer,” the audience that crowded into Old Town/Chinatown’s Siren Theater for J Names Improv’s April show was a reactive one, occasionally punctuated by recognizable performers from across Portland’s improv and sketch comedy communities.
There’s a good reason for this: The troupe’s conceit—that all of their names start with J—is about as sophisticated as rounding up kindergartners by their birthdays, which makes it all the more striking that it works.
And it does.
The subjects that come up in the course of an improv show don’t always translate to print. Do you care about Jed Arkley’s masterful wistful face, or the fact that there was an ode to outgoing performer Jake “Golden-Haired Beauty” Michels?