LOL WITH IT: ComedySportz freestyle raps for Fringe

Adapted from its original iteration in Chicago, Beatbox Philly features five of ComedySportz's fastest-rhyming improvisers.

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LOL WITH IT: ComedySportz freestyle raps for Fringe

POSTED: Friday, September 7, 2012, 12:00 PM

Filed Under: Arts | Comedy | On the Fringe LOL With It

IT'S A RAP: Top row, L-R, Darryl Charles, Sue Taney, Matt Lally, Mark Leopold and Kevin Lopez; bottom row, Alli Soowal. Photo by (Kevin Regan)

Beatbox Philly is a ComedySportz Fringe offering that blends improv storytelling with freestyle rap. Adapted from its original iteration in Chicago, Beatbox Philly features five of ComedySportz's fastest-rhyming improvisers, performing Fri., Sept. 13 and Sat., Sept. 14 at 10 p.m. at the Adrienne (2030 Sansom St.).

Sue Taney, Kevin Lopez, Mark Leopold, Bobbie Block and Darryl Charles will perform a long-form scene based on an audience suggestion, stopping frequently to engage each other in impromptu rap battles. The improvisers will be accompanied by guest beat-boxers, including DJ Footie Pajamas (aka Matt Lally of local sketch duo Animosity Pierre).

Says Lally, "Beatbox is ... a show format I've never seen anyone perform before — and it's terribly impressive. Not only are these performers improvising scenes on the spot, they're turning those scenes into one cohesive story arc. On top of that they're freestyle-rapping most of the time."

Helium emcee and multi-faceted comedian Darryl Charles has been with ComedySportz since last June, and has appeared in Fringe shows with his improv troupe Rookie Card. The 30-year-old Philly's Phunniest finalist says about freestyle rapping, "I've been a rap fan for years, but I've never done freestyle rap before getting involved this show. It's daunting at first, but it's really become fun. We work as hard as we can at becoming proficient at it because it really is improv at the fastest level."

Despite his continually growing notoriety as one of Philadelphia's next big names in comedy, Charles actually stands in awe of his co-stars. "One of the great things about performing with ComedySportz is that I often find myself in the position of being the least funny person on stage."

For tickets ($15), go to livearts-fringe.org, and for info on other ComedySportz shows, visit comedysportzphilly.com.

(ryan.carey@citypaper.net) (@slackerdiytoday)

Check out the rest of our Live Arts/Fringe coverage:

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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