Improv Underground

Whatever image is conjured up when you hear the phrase “basement dwellers,” odds are it’s at the very least bound to give you a chuckle. That’s perhaps part of the charm of one of Sioux Falls’ very own improv comedy troupes that happens to go by the same moniker.

Basement Dwellers Improv Comedy is a local crew comprised of performers with varying backgrounds in the local and out-of-state comedy scenes. What began as Blank Slate Improv, the result of some like-minded actors performing in a production of Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding at the Ramada in Sioux Falls in 2001, this current iteration begun three years ago includes some of those long-time members, as well as some new and returning faces.

“The personnel kept shifting,” said current troupe member Maggie Berndt-Dreyer, a Minnesota-based pastor who joined just before its current iteration, “and once it was rebranded as ‘Basement Dwellers,’ we started to see a more regular group.”

One returning player was Thomas Kamnikar, a project manager for a local marketing agency by day, who performed with group founder Toby Kane in Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding and in Blank Slate before taking time off when having children.

“I’ve always loved making people laugh,” Kamnikar said. “This is kind of the best of both worlds. On stage, I’m never afraid. If I bomb, I bomb. It’s liberating in a way. You get up there and play and kind of go back to being a kid—playing pretend, you get to be whatever you want.”

And that nostalgia for play and silliness is at the heart of everything Basement Dwellers does with its improv. It’s apparent even in the group’s name itself.

“We wanted a name that described us in some way, and we practiced in a basement,” Berndt-Dreyer said. “Plus ‘basement dwellers’ sort of has its own connotations to it, so it’s hopefully clear that we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”

Basement Dwellers’ style is rooted in game-based improv, with plenty of interaction, according to Berndt-Dreyer. “Every scene we do comes from a suggestion someone yells out,” she said. “The more enthusiastic the audience, the more ideas we get.”

The group primarily performs at Monk’s House of Ale Repute, traditionally on the third Thursday of the month, for a nominal cover. They’ve additionally begun performing at Obscure Brewing Company on the first Thursday of the month, cover-free.

The format could be compared to what you’ve seen on Whose Line is it Anyway? Three- to seven-minute sketches are paired with brief five- to 10-minute games. “Everything is inspired by feedback from the audience,” Kamnikar said.

Despite the inherent fear that can come from performing in front of an audience, particularly improvising material on the spot, it’s part of what makes the art form so appealing, according to Berndt-Deyer.

“It’s like an adrenaline activity, but a safe one,” she said. “It’s not jumping out of an airplane, but it feels similar. You have to force yourself to face your fear. The scariness—that’s appealing.”

But an improv show is often made or broken by an audience willing to get lost in the sometimes absurd narrative.

“It takes an audience that’s willing to come with us on that journey through our imaginations,” Berndt-Dreyer said. “We’re making up this reality together, and they have to be ready to come along with us.”

“It’s kind of like theatrical jazz,” Kamnikar said. “You’re just riffing off each other. There are moments that are just so awesome when you’re creating this really great story.”

And with several years under their belts with many of its current roster of performers, Basement Dwellers is starting to find a real groove in its performance abilities.

“I think we’re feeling comfort now,” Berndt-Dreyer said. “The better you get along outside of performing, the better the scenes. You know each other—you can give each other suggestions you know are in someone’s comfort zone.”

Nothing is a better demonstration of that connection than the way the group typically ends one of its sets—a mash-up of callbacks to previous scenes to send the audience home in stitches.

“For me, the moments when our mash-up works perfectly are the best,” Kamnikar said. “You leave on such a high.”

“That connects not only with each other, but also with the audience,” Berndt-Dreyer said. “In the 60 to 90 minutes, we’ve created inside jokes with each other.”

With no stopping in sight, Basement Dwellers is excited for what’s to come—hoping to incorporate educational elements into its mission.

“One of the dreams is to get into teaching improv classes,” Kamnikar said. “Corporate events where we teach people improv. It’s an amazing life skill to have—it teaches you to think on your feet. And to not only listen, but to accept.”

“To let go of what you had planned,” Berndt-Dreyer added.