ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — Local comedian superstars Cayla Clark and Ryan Gordon will return to headline The Montford Rooftop Bar for an all-crowd work, all-improv show next week.
The Montford will host the show, “On the Fly,” at 9 p.m., Monday, June 23 at their location inside the DoubleTree by Hilton Asheville Downtown, 199 Haywood St.
“We’re doing mainly crowd work and riffing. I guess that’s the hot new thing,” Gordon quipped.
“Crowd work” refers to a comedian directly engaging with the audience, whether by asking them questions, using call-and-response or by making jokes directly about the crowd. Gordon and Clark will be joined by fellow comics Jordan Ballard, Justin Blackburn, Sarah Love and Julia Macias for 10 to 15 minute sets. Each comedian is given free reign to engage with the audience however they want, bringing an array of personality and style to the evening.
Gordon, for instance, has a dry delivery and a sharp wit, while Clark has a knack for harnessing the energy of her audience to great improvisational success: she’s best known in the local comedy circuit for hosting Blind Date Live AVL, a live dating show.
“I’m looking forward to the crowd work show because of the unpredictability of it,” Clark said. “It could be really chaotic, which is exciting to me.”
Gordon has a few more reservations.
“Personally, I’m more of a structured person, myself,” Gordon admitted. “I’m a little nervous.”
The audience participation format is unusual for a comedy show, for both comics and crowd.
“A lot of people are afraid to go to comedy shows because they don’t want to be picked on,” Clark explained.
“At a regular show, there might be times where in the audience, somebody wants to yell something out, they think they’re helping the show, and you gotta tell them, look, dude, you gotta shut the f– up,” Gordon said. “But at this show, you’d just be like, yeah, y’all shout out, go crazy. It’s an encourage.”
To ensure “On the Fly” doesn’t fly off the rails, Clark and Gordon have a few rules of improv etiquette to keep things on track.
“I would say probably wait for the comedians to talk to you,” Clark suggested. “I think that’ll be our formula. We’ll engage in conversation, we’ll pick people out. And, of course, I assume people will want to participate because they’re at a crowd work-only show, but if they’re really uncomfortable answering the question or whatever, we’re not gonna be like ‘no, you have to!'”
Clark affected an evil, raspy voice for emphasis.
“No screaming vulgarities?” Gordon offered. “Act like you’ve got some sense. Act like you’ve been in public before.”
“Tip your bartenders,” Clark finished.
“On the Fly” coincides with The Montford’s Industry Night, which offers special food and drink discounts to service workers, in addition to the conception of the late show on a Monday night, designed to be as accessible to industry employees as possible. Deals include $5 lagers, $11 craft cocktails and $13 “Quarter Pan Nachos.”
Tickets for “On the Fly” can be purchased here.
Clark can be found on Instagram at @blinddateliveavl or at the next Blind Date Live show on June 20 at the Orange Peel.
Gordon can be found on Instagram at @ryangordonlmao or from 8 to 10 p.m., every Friday night, at Haywood Famous for their “Funny or N/A” sober comedy open-mics.