Credit: AJC/HYOSUB SHIN
Credit: AJC/HYOSUB SHIN
Audience members take part in each game by shouting out ideas for the topic or setting of the sketch. Few needed to be persuaded on Friday.
The crowd, which was a decent mix of newcomers and devoted fans, was shouting out words to sing-along customs and shouting recommendations.
Credit: AJC/HYOSUB SHIN
Credit: AJC/HYOSUB SHIN
Having hosted the TheatreSports format for thirty years from its inception, Dad’s Garage has gained recognition for it. In 1995, a group of undergraduate friends from Florida State University started the garage.
The theater, which was rented for $2,500 a month and had couches from thrift stores, was located in a run-down warehouse in Inman Park back then. The accommodation lacked air conditioning, had a tin roof that made it difficult to hear rain, and had frequently broken restrooms.
With many stages to accommodate cabaret acts downstairs and full-production shows upstairs, Dad’s has advanced to a two-story repurposed Old Fourth Ward church.
According to Katie Pelkey, managing director of Dad’s Garage, “I think it’s just such a big deal that we’ve made it to 30 years because a lot of arts institutions, especially in the arts and culture climate right now, do not make it this far.”
The fact that the Dad’s community as a whole continues to turn up in spite of the 95-degree heat in this sweltering auditorium is a credit to both the business’s and the community’s overall tenacity.
Credit: AJC/HYOSUB SHIN
Credit: AJC/HYOSUB SHIN
Dad’s Garage brought back artists from all eras to compete in Friday night’s events. Players from the company’s first five years, the 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s, as well as certain ensemble cast members, formed four teams to compete.
Sydney Ellis sat down at her electric keyboard, ready to add sound effects to the evening’s performance. The Games were moderated by Jon Carr, the theater company’s current co-artistic director and emcee of the evening’s performance.
Credit: AJC/HYOSUB SHIN
Credit: AJC/HYOSUB SHIN
With judicial robes and fake serious frowns, a panel of judges comprising four (later five) of Dad’s Garage’s original founders filed onto the stage. They held scorecards with numbers 1–5 to rank the performers and brandished shiny, squeaking bike horns that they could use to end a comedy sketch if it became too dull.
Carr introduced the new and former members of the squad. Amber Nash, who gained notoriety as the voice of Pam Poovey on FX’s Archer, was a notable performer on stage. She met her husband, Kevin Gillese, at Dad’s Garage and mostly began her career there. From 2010 until 2019, Gillese was the theater’s artistic director for over ten years.
Credit: AJC/HYOSUB SHIN
Credit: AJC/HYOSUB SHIN
The cast and founders traveled far and wide to celebrate. Based in Sarasota, Florida, founder Sean Daniels is making his West End debut with his autobiographical recovery comedy, The White Chip.
Another founder, Jed Broitman, drove up from Orlando with his wife and daughter. Broitman’s daughter Ola recalls driving up to Atlanta twice a year to see the play, even though his family had already returned to Florida by the time she was born. But she had never seen her dad perform live before Friday.
“I’ve never seen him participate with the theater before,” she stated on Friday. It feels very much like a family that both of my parents truly fostered, even though I was never actively involved in it. It’s amazing to come here and see that it’s still going strong after 30 years.
One of the improvisers performing on stage Friday, Maged Roushdi, was overjoyed to meet the founders.
Roushdi, who has been attending the theater since 2008, started as a rookie performer in 2016, and joined the ensemble cast in 2019, said it was incredible to witness the founders and people from various ages play.
It’s strange that after spending so much time somewhere, I still feel like a different person. That is somewhat unique for any business, but I believe it is even more unique for a theater company that has a long history and a tradition of preserving the art form.
Another TheaterSports competitor, Ed Morgan, began attending classes at Dad’s Garage in 2005, joined the organization in 2007, and has remained there ever since. The birthday celebration, he continued, was a great opportunity to think.
He remarked that it’s simple to forget about the time that has gone by and everything we have accomplished. The fact that there is nothing to show for improv after the event is particularly noteworthy. It simply simply vanishes. We typically never have time to think because we are in such a hurry to do tasks and go on to the next. Having a weekend when we can honor all of the work we’ve done over the past 30 years is truly incredible.
Following the performance, the audience, founders, and artists assembled on the first floor to celebrate thirty years of fun and camaraderie, eat cupcakes, and sip celebratory beverages.
