ARTS The Michigan Daily Wednesday, November 25, 1992 Page 5 1 - Improv stands up to the test by Jason Carroll Everyone likes a good laugh. Personally, I get bored with stand-up comedy. Since the material is scripted and the comedian performs it night after night, the jokes seem stale and they lack the vitality that one gets with improvisational com- edy. Highly Improvable, consisting of five University seniors, has enough energy and originality to keep even the utmost connoisseur of comedy happy. Highly Improvable's show is completely new and original each week because they devise it right on the spot, with suggestions from the crowd. Although there is a rough outline, the comedians ask for places or personality traits from the audi- ence, and then they act them out without any scenery or props. For the first part of the show they * asked the crowd for a theme and someone shouted out "monopoly." The comedy team, working in pairs, acted out different scenes. Wendy Shanker, acted as the banker and kept accusing the others of stealing money and hiding it under the board. The next part of the show was extremely fast-paced. Two members of the cast were given six different locations and then they acted out scenes in short time spans starting with a 60-second scene, and ending with a one-second scene. The crowd selected New Jersey as the location for one of the one-second scenes, Highly Improvable U-Club November 19, 1992 which the pair on stage reacted to with a blood-curdling scream. In the "gripe orchestra," the cast asked for four different gripes and one was assigned to each member, while the fifth was left to conduct. On cue, the actors complained about never having' clean underwear, people who ash cigarettes on dishes, liberals, and conservatives. Now it was time for their "commercial break" in which a place and object were called out from the audience, and then two cast members would have to devise a commercial. The place was "Land of the Lost" and the object was a salad shooter. Two members of the troupe used their salad shooter to attack a dinosaur. For the second commer- cial, they were trapped in shallow water with an armadillo. They ended with this catchy rhyme, "when you're drowning in a lake, use an armadillo for God's sake!" The best part of the show was the party scene. One of the actors, Wendy Shanker, left the room while the others took on personality quirks that the audience had assigned to them. Then, Shanker had to guess their problems before they would leave her party. Many audience members shouted out weird person- ality traits. One cast member acted like an idolatrous - one who shows excessive devotion - and it took Shanker about ten minutes to guess. Improvisational comedy is very hard, but these five actors made it seem easy. Highly Improvable's 90- minute show goes so fast that when it's over you want more. The cool thing is you can go again next week, and it will be totally different. HIGHLY IMPROVABLE performs at 10 p.m. every Thursday at the U- Club in the Michigan Union. Tickets are $2. Call 996-5979 for info. A perma-grin of Arabian adventures by Camilo Fontecilla Welcome to Agrabah. This myth- ical oasis, located in the midst of an arid desert, becomes the setting for Disney's latest animation extrava- ganza, "Aladdin." Although based on a tale of the same name in the "Thousand and One Arabian Nights," the animators have (as usual) made many changes, borrow- ing from a few of Scheherazade' s other tales in a successful attempt to make the film adaptation more dy- namic. Stretching their creative powers to the limit, the folks at Disney have come up with their most visually exciting production yet. In the fairy tale spirit of "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast," our story trails the mishaps of two young lovers forcibly separated, framed by the beautiful music of composer Alan Menken. While it is Aladdin's love for Princess Jasmine that guides the plot, adventure and humor pre- vail throughout most of the movie. The magic of a lamp and the Ge- nie it contains are the key elements of this story. It is craved by Jafar, Agrabah's Grand Vizier and main counselor to the plump and easily manipulated Sultan. Instead, Aladdin gains control of it, and befriends the Genie that inhabits within. While in the lamp's cave, he also contracts the services of a very timid but friendly flying carpet. Using the Genie's powers to get closer to beautiful Princess Jasmine, Aladdin discovers that Jafar will do anything to wrench the lamp away from him. Fortunately not trying to match the attributes of their previous re- lease, "Beauty and the Beast," Dis- ney has been able to give "Aladdin" a very distinctive style that sets it completely apart from its predeces- sors. Of course magic, the trademark of Disney's greatest achievements, is always present, and here it is taken to fascinating extremes. Using the powers of computer animation to improve speed and fluidity, the ac- tion sequences in "Aladdin" become for A masterful twist on the old riding-into-the-sunset motif - but would John Wayne have done it on a flying carpet? The mind, as they say, reels. an exhilarating roller-coaster ride of images and colors. Controversially, the weight of the film's character relies on the Genie, who utters the words of none other than Robin Williams. Williams was let loose to improv on his dialogue, and he is funny. Exceedingly funny. Probably funnier than anything you've heard this year, or your whole life. He pokes fun at every icon of our popular culture, from Tupperware to Jack Nicholson, from "Jeopardy" to Joan London, and the list could unroll forever. But that brings up a question: will his jokes be able to endure the test of time? And will future audiences enjoy "Al- addin" as much? Only time will tell, but in the meantime its hilariousness is top-notch. Adopting a mixture of Arabian harmonies and '30s big bafid flavor, Aladdin Directed by John Musker & Ron Clements; music by Alan Menken; lyrics by Howard Ashman & Tim Rice Menken's music complements How- ard Ashman and Tim Rice's lyrics to perfection. From the exotic "Arabian Nights" to the duet "A Whole New World," the music is enthralling, but unfortunately doesn't quite seem to equal the standards set by "The Little Mermaid" and "Beauty and the Beast." Nevertheless, the sound- track keeps its own ground and is far from mediocre. I wouldn't be sur- prised if it became a multiple Oscar nominee again this year. The success of "Beauty and the Beast" put the pressure on Disney for an even more impressive follow- up. And did they achieve it? Yes and no. While "Aladdin" kicks off to a great start, toward the end the energy seems to drain out, with a final con- frontation that could have been spec- tacular but that turns out to be rather contrived and unconvincing. Maybe the groundbreaking animation and the unsurpassable humor can cover this up for you, but it couldn't me. This blunder aside, "Aladdin" is a work of art and introduces some of the most eccentric and amiable char- acters seen yet in a Disney film. If you try to forget that Aladdin's face was based on Tom Cruise's, you will be thrown into a fantasy from which you will emerge with- a perma-grin smacked on your face. Now get down on your knees and praise Allah for granting us with such a beautiful tale of Arabian en- chantment. ALADDIN is playing at Showcase. Ministry: by Kim Yaged Under the guidance of Craz new management firm), post-L from their first ever stint in Eu rently touring the States in sup "Psalm 69: The Way To Succ Suck Eggs." "Psalm 69" is the a the cryptic grouping of symbols ing. Core band member Paul Ba elusive in confirming the transla track record, it's difficult to beli the thought that they're once a over on us. However, Barker did readil) the music industry in the mann self to be manipulated. "Who most? ... People who are into th recognize that they are in comply and changes and the nature of liv larly evasive tone, Barker asser gensen, the other core band mer ing themselves on the album, bi facet." Perhaps one could infer fro "facets" of Barker and Jourgens side projects, such as the Revol plained how they make the distir "We feel that we want Minis focus of a particular style of mt an ideal, and if the music doesu belong there. We recognize that are as people and what we have don't feel like playing Ministry psahuists or egg suckers? Obviously, it's a very large chunk of our reality, but it's ed Management (their not the only thing. Nobody's that one-dimensional. ollapalooza, and fresh That's why there's all this latent (stuff), like priests grope, Ministry is cur- fucking boys and girls. They're not that one-dimen- port of their latest LP, sional. They're not that pure, as much as they wanna be, eed And The Way To as much as they try to be." lleged meaning behind In the spectrum of their work, "Psalm 69" was per- that lines the CD bind- haps the most problematic endeavor on Ministry's part irker bordered on semi- to date. With recurring delayed release dates and a ation. Considering their general sentiment of dissatisfaction, it seemed as though eve anything other than the album would never come out. "It took a heavy toll gain trying to put one on us, physically and emotionally," Barker said. "We avowed never to work like that again." But do they like y affirm that he works the results? "Does the end justify the means? Who can er in which it allows it- say? You can't divorce one from the other. I guess, su- do we wanna piss off perficially, yes, but like I said, we don't want to work e status quo and do not that way anymore." ete control of their lives Described as "bombastic" and "cataclysmic," sport- ving," he said. In a simi- ing samplings of George Bush on "N.W.O." and arriv- ts that he and Al Jour- ing in the aftermath of the Gulf War, "Psalm 69," an mber, are definitely be- audio incarnation of Armageddon, seems to wear its in- ut he said "it's just one fluences on its sleeve. "Yeah," Barker said, "(The Gulf War) had an influence on us ... Our government was m this that alternative telling the people ... one thing when in fact it was en are revealed in their clearly something else - trying to fool all the people ting Cocks. Barker ex- all the time kind of thing ... We don't want to tell peo- action. ple what to do. We don't have solutions. We want peo- ;try to be a very narrow ple to act and realize that everybody has equal oppor- usic," Barker said. "It's tunity to shoot the President." Watchyour Mouth Mouth is big. Really really big. Like a pissed off King Kong, Mouth stomps the crap out of the current glut of Northwestern grunge wannabes with a decidedly Motor City attitude. What emanates from this huge Mouth is one bottom heavy, gonzo guitar-driven, skull-crushing, four on the floor metallic TKO. This LA- based band sounds like they've broken bricks with Big Chief and climbed to the mountaintop with Soundgarden, but still managed to forge their own identity. And they're not even on Sub Pop. Dig that. "Insomnia," the first track their EP, "Foreword," is a gloryhalastoopid motorbooty affair, while "Die" is a slower-than-low grinder. They speed it back up on the neck snappin' butt-shaker "Wheel," and then manage to throw a curve ball on the lasttrack, "Strange." This one opens with a blissful, moody guitar thang that revs up hellaciously without losing that melodic edge. Open wide, kids. Mouth plays with Big Chief and Rollinghead at the State Theater in Detroit tonight. Tickets are $5.50 (p.e.s.c.) and all ages are welcome. - Scott Sterling n't fit it, then it doesn't it's all a part of who we to say as artists ... We music 365 days a year. MINISTRY bare their brass with HELMET and SEPULTURA at the State Fair Coliseum Saturdqy. Showtime is 7:30 p.m. For ticket info call 645-6666. A Special Supplement to The Michigan Daily A A featuring 1992-1993 U-M Faculty-Staff Sal ry List Swill be on sale AFRICAN-AMERICANS CAN'T FFERENCFE R YOU?