By Marilyn Lester***What kind of mind does Jason Kravits have, anyway? His popular improv show, Off the Top! readily reveals the answer to this burning question. Kravits has a quick mind—on steroids. It’s probably some sort of super power. Improv specialists are noted for their ability to conjure up instant “reality,” but the ease and facility with which Kravits does it is a wonder to behold. And he’s funny—really, really funny.
At this latest outing of the show (he’s been doing Off the Top! for several years now) at Birdland Theater, Kravits was aided and abetted by actor-writer Tarik Davis, who, initially taking the stage, asked audience members for a middle name, a street name and a place of birth. Thus, with the appearance of Kravits, was spun the life story of Dylan Maplecrest of Dover. Dipping into a fishbowl filled with cards previously filled out by audience members, with questions “An Adjective,” “A Place,” “A Thing,” “A Short Phrase,” “Words to Live By” and “The Last Text Message You Sent or Received,” a hilarious narrative followed, dotted with parody songs with lyrics provided by Kravits “off the top” of his head. Who’ll ever forget such classics as “Turn Off the Stove,” “Don’t Be a Jackass” or a lampoon of “Let’s Hear It for the Boy” erroneously and on purpose attributed to Jason Robert Brown, transformed into a song about a dog named Roy.
Kravits is chock-full of schtick—perfect old-school schtick—the kind you’d hear comedians perform in the Catskills years ago. And it works. This style of comedy is classic. It never gets old and in the hands of a master, such as Kravits, belly laughs are assured. What’s also remarkable is th
e facility of his band: Phil Orr on piano, Michael O’Brien on upright bass and Sean Dixon on drums, to go with the musical flow of the Kravits improv. They could also be seen cracking up at the jokes under their face masks!
Kravits is no stranger to improv. His “day job” as an actor on stage and in television has had him constantly working for over 25 years, but while a student at the University of Maryland/College Park, he founded the school’s first improv theater group, Erasable Inc. His resume also includes a gig as a counselor at Green Acres Camp in Rockville, Maryland, where he played guitar and performed skits for campers. Thus, he has a rich personal history to draw on, and it shows up in Off the Top with cultural references that add comic punch to the already funny goings on. The Soprano Family would surely appreciate “Fuggedaboutit,” and a superbly on-point Stephen Sondheim parody, “My Cat Has Cancer,” purportedly from a lead sheet thrown out a Sondheim window and recovered by Kravits, was side-splitting.
Later on in Off the Top! Davis returned to add to the comic mix. The duo riffed on their cop show, “Tomahawk and Concrete,” complete with theme song. Davis is himself no stranger to improvisational theater. He’s a writer and comedian, h
aving performed on television, stage and screen, including with Chicago’s famed comedy and improv troupe, The Second City. He made his Broadway debut in 2019 with Freestyle Love Supreme.
The truth about improv, including Off the Top!, is that it does sit on a template of sorts. Skilled performers, such as Kravits, build on that, and the more they do it, the more facile they become at turning out a seamless show. Add to that intellectual curiosity and study, pursuits in Kravitis’ tool kit. It all adds up to a well-spent evening of comic genius. What a great way to leave troubles behind, be they cosmic or existential (i.e. a pandemic) or personal. Bravo Jason Kravits.
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