The Lobby is an improvisational comedy group based in Southern California. Unlike many improv groups, which are composed of many members who perform on a rotating basis, The Lobby is a small, close-knit group. The audience gets to know each of the players and feel they are part of the group. The Lobby also irregularly puts up a podcast, which further allows their audience to connect with the players.
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History
The Lobby was formed by Josh Nicols, Matt Thomas, and Chase Hooper in the lobby of the Haugh Performing Arts Center while rehearsing for an adult Christmas show. However, the name, "The Lobby," comes from the 1950s advertisement jingle played in movie theaters, "Let's All Go to the Lobby."
The Lobby first performed on December 23, 2005 at the Renaissance Theatre in Glendora, California. After the Renaissance Theatre closed at the end of 2007, The Lobby moved to The Fontana Community Players' Theatre in Fontana, California and STAGEStheatre in Fullerton, California, where they currently remain.
On April 8, 2009, MyFOX Los Angeles announced that The Lobby was voted "Best Improv Comedy Group" in Orange County for 2009. The Lobby won again in 2010.
The Lobby started the Orange County Improv Cup, an improv tournament with randomly assigned teams of improvisers from all over Southern California, to raise money for the Hole in the Wall Camps. The team of Tony Rey, Staci Pratt, Kristin Sanchez, and Jill Tsai won the first ever Improv Cup title.
Format
The Lobby usually performs shortform improv, very similar to the styles of Whose Line is it Anyway? and ComedySportz. A normal show consists of 10 to 12 short improv games that are each based on a suggestion from the audience.
Every shortform show contains a game in which The Lobby's host, Josh Nicols, interviews an audience member and then the game is played based on that interview. An example of an interview game is Eulogy, in which the players act out the audience member's funeral. The Lobby has also invented several games, such as CSI: Punnsylvania, which is based on the television show CSI: Miami. CSI: Punnsylvania was featured in William Hall's book, The Playbook, Improv Games for Performers.
Occasionally, The Lobby has performed a longform show. The format of the longform show is based on a genre of movie (such as a romantic comedy or comic book movie). The host gets a handful of suggestions from the audience, and then the players act out a twenty-minute movie based on those suggestions.