Viscosity Theatre

By Stefanie Thompson/This Week in the Flathead

What happens when you combine the local landscape, rising mercury, red, white, blue and just a hint of naughty bad fun?
The new “Wet Hot Amurican Cabaret” by Viscosity Theatre. Obviously.
Beginning Monday, July 6, the cabaret crew is back at the Crush Lounge in Whitefish for a summer run of shows that promise to shed a hilarious and all-original light on the most pressing societal issues of today.

Plus an obscenity. Or two.

“The first set of cabaret shows we did were super raunchy,” said Viscosity Theatre Director and Co-founder Rebecca Schaffer. “But, well no I guess this one is still super raunchy.”
The Wet Hot Amurican Cabaret is the fourth show series of its kind to take the local stage to the next level of hilarity. Viscosity Theatre launched the first installment, “Crushmas Cabaret,” back in December.

Schaffer said it was originally just a way for a group of friends and theater colleagues to get together and kill some time, while sharpening their skills and having fun.

Then the entire first run, including an added night of performances, completely sold out. Something in the live variety sketch comedy show resonated with the community.

Or they just liked seeing Mikey Winn in a dress.

Either way, it was obvious that the cabaret was around to stay. The “Crushentines Cabaret” series in February and “MAYDAY! Cabaret” series this spring also sold out every performance.

“The audiences really responded and connected with what we were doing,” Schaffer said. “They love hearing about the issues and being able to laugh about it.

“The community has responded so well. We are thrilled with [the support].”

VISCOSITY THEATRE, according to its website, is a “theatrical collective of writers, performers and visual artists, dedicated to creating original, dynamic experiences for a new generation of theatre-goers.”
Viscosity was conceptualized in Missoula in 2009 with “Salep and Silk,” an original collaboration between Schaffer and writer Josh Wagner. The theatre company was officially launched in November 2012 by Schaffer, Wagner, Diego Burgos and Daniel Scott Morris.

Since December 2014, the Whitefish comedy cabaret series has featured a rotating cast of professional, local Montana artists. The Wet Hot Amurican Cabaret series company includes Schaffer, Winn, David Blair, Becky Rygg, Don Caverly, Morgan Hart Delaney, Collette Taylor and Adam Pitman.

“This team is exceptional,” Schaffer said. “Working with them has been the coolest thing.

“They are unparalleled in skill and the ability to work together. The talent is amazing.”

THE WET HOT AMURICAN CABARET will take the stage at 9:30 p.m. every Monday from July 6 through Aug. 31 at Crush Lounge, 124 Central Ave. in Whitefish.

“This show has helped me realize that Crush is a dynamic, multifaceted entertainment venue,” said Megan Grunow, owner of Crush, in a press release. “Since the inception of the Viscosity cabaret series, Crush has become synonymous with performances that pique all senses.”

The summer series will add a few new sketches each week, so the audiences at the first and last shows will be seeing different material.
Schaffer said the first show will tackle issues including “small town lovin,’” the summer heat, fireworks and a Glacier parody. But no subject is off-limits or too taboo.

“This experience has given me the perfect opportunity to devise, write, and perform all the raunchy, politically incorrect things that go through my head on a daily basis,” said Blair in a press release. “We’re a like-minded team of sicko artists who want to make people laugh, but also want to bring potentially uncomfortable issues into the light. To deliver an important message cloaked in something delightfully taboo is what we do best.”

Schaffer said the entire cast was excited to begin the new series.
“Everyone loves [to perform], and it’s been cool to bring such a diverse audience together, too,” Schaffer said. “We have such good intentions and love for the community.”

The Wet Hot Amurican Cabaret shows are expected to sell out, so tickets are recommended in advance. The shows are rated R and not appropriate for younger audiences.

Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. For more information or to purchase advance tickets, visit www.viscositytheatre.org or email viscositytheatre@gmail.com. - Daily Interlake

October 07, 2015 3:31 pm

Raunchy, silly Whitefish sketch comedy and satire coming to Missoula

The Flathead Valley's own edgy topical sketch comedy show is bringing its sold-out flavor to the Top Hat Lounge on Tuesday.

Viscosity Theatre, which recently brought its raunchy and excellent original cabaret series to Missoula, is continuing its run in its home base of Whitefish.

"Cabaret Horror Play" will run Sunday, Oct. 11, through Wednesday, Oct. 14 at the Crush Lounge, with each show starting at 8 p.m.

The performances will feature a special guest: Magician Francis Menotti, who recently appeared on Penn and Teller's "Fool Us."

Their show, inspired by the infamous Grand Guignol in Paris, is being produced in conjunction with horror filmmakers Adam Pitman and David Blair.

Viscosity has been regularly producing cabarets for sold-out crowds at Crush since December. After this run closes, they will take a hiatus from writing until February. However, they are looking to expand their audience through private parties, tours and web content.

They recently released “Proud to be Homosexual” on YouTube, in conjunction with Bearhat and Ghost Cat Productions.

Tickets for "Cabaret Horror Play" are $15 in advance, and $20 day of show. For more information or to purchase, go to viscositytheatre.org. - Missoulian

Nothing says patriotism like "Amurica." Eagles and apple pie, fireworks and cheeseburgers, country music and Bud Light, and a big-ass, Jerry Bruckheimer-sized red-white-and-blue flag waving in the wind--all these things are captured in that one, drawling, mispronounced word.

Wet Hot Amurican Cabaret cashes in--emotionally and comically speaking--on the spirit of the term, while also riffing on the cult classic title Wet Hot American Summer, which has now been made into a television series and stars every funny actor possible.

The cabaret show is the fourth in a series of cabarets produced by Viscosity Theatre, which includes A Crushmas Cabaret, Mayday Cabaret, and Big Gay Cabaret. This is a rock-and-roll infused sketch comedy and satire that pokes at the human condition through the lens of the Leader of the Free World.

The show originated in Whitefish where director Rebecca Schaffer has been prodding theatre audiences for a few years now with the winks and nudges of clever entertainment. This past summer, Wet Hot Amurican Cabaret played to weekly sold-out crowds. For some people (i.e. children, the humorless, the fearful, lovers of Fox News) it will be highly inappropriate. But with sketches about climate change, equal pay, technology, STDs, civil rights, Fox News, gluten yoga, sex and customer service, the cabaret will probably find some way to make everyone feel a little bit sheepish and a little bit reaffirmed, while still wanting to sing along. Because making fun of America is the most American thing of all.

-Erika Fredrickson - Missoula Independent