Got SPIT on at Quantum Cafe!

It was a night of great food and intelligent comedy thanks to SPIT (Silly People's Improv Theater). To give everyone a brief background, SPIT is Manila's premiere improvisational theater troupe, formed in 2002 by actor Gabe Mercado (Da Pulis vocalist, Eto na ang Susunod na Kabanata cast, Yakult's Ok ka ba tyan? among others) and the first Asian group that performed at the Los Angeles Improv Festival in 2004.

SPIT is known for their intelligent, interactive, classy and immersive improv  brand of comedy and have been making people laugh their hearts out with their hilarious jokes, impromptu remarks and witty comments. Forget about the usual comedy bar type of entertainment as SPIT offers so much more as they are known for their creative, unique and entertaining games that lets the crowd participate from their seats. Although SPIT relies mostly on the crowd interaction to be able to pull off a great show, each experience is uniquely different from the rest, and once you've seen them, you'll definitely would want to come back for more (like I do!).

We arrived at Quantum Cafe an hour before the show and was greeted warmly by Ms. Happy Feraren, who calls the place their "extended home". It has a large spacious room filled with long tables, a bar and a big stage, the vibe was very casual and cozy, just like chilling at home or hanging out at a friend's place.

Quantum Cafe is a place where great food marries health and fitness. I originally thought it was a vegetarian restaurant (she said they get that all the time) but realized otherwise as they also serve pork, beef, fish and chicken. MUST try's include their creamy and flavorful Sizzling Bangus Sisig (comes with lettuce leaves so you can enjoy it wrapped), Northern Mix (pizza topped with generous amount of Ilocos Longganisa and kesong puti), FullShrom Pizza (whole wheat thin crusted pizza topped with oyster mushroom and cheese), Hainanese Bangus (boneless bangus belly served Hainanese style) and Quantum burger (garden veggie burger  on a whole wheat bun, the patty is made out of banana blossom). There are also a lot of pasta selection if you're craving for one. 

Hainanese Bangus

A few minutes before the show started, we were approached by Chal (i think she was from the coke commercial "ito ang beat, sabay sabay, ito ang beat, bawal sablay") and handed us a box containing markers, crayons, pieces of paper, a whiteboard, marker and a ping pong ball. She gave us an orientation on what the kit is for and asked us to write a line from a song on a piece of paper. Once done, we gave the paper back to her and she ended our orientation with a reminder "No matter what happens, please don't throw this ping pong ball back at me, and have fun!".

After a few more minutes, the cast went up the stage and oriented the audience on how the show's going to run for the evening. The show consists of several parts, most of it will be impromptu (as we've already been told) with the subjects for each part will come from the audience, which could be anything from places to people to animal, science to fashion, rated G to rated SPG (that random!).

The show stared with the Game of A to Z, we were all asked to finish the Alphabet by naming something we love to do during the rainy season. The audience started really strong, everyone seems to be in the mood. The K-L-M part ended as Kissing, Licking, and M... well, you already know what's next. haha. We were having so much fun with the Alphabet that we didn't notice the cast were already taking note of the things we were saying and the game ended with an Impromptu song from the words we said during the game! I was amazed! It was really hilarious.

The other parts of the show were mostly mini-games as well. There's this "What are you doing?" part wherein they have to come up with an answer based on the letters given by the audience. An example that stuck in my mind was that of  F, U, C and K - they came up with "fornicating underage children in Korea". There's also the impromptu poetry part where they have to compose a poem out of the topic the audience gave, (the controversial Bayo Ad), and then the Beauty pageant (where they used some of the lyrics they asked the audience to write earlier), some skits, and teleserye spoofs (where the other unused lyrics were utilized).

My favorite part of the performance was the "Motivational Speaker" - they act out the part of an inspirational speaker in a conference or symposium. As they deliver their speech, there were random power point images being flashed and they have to relate it to whatever topic they are discussing.

At the last stint of the show, they asked a volunteer from the audience to be the "voice of God". Two actors portraying the dilemma of counting salt (as chosen by the audience) have to ask "God" for "wisdom" and "guidance". The "voice of God" would then randomly read a phrase from the "book of answers" to answer their questions, which then, the actors would have to relate to the story, making sure it is still coherent.

As the night ended, I have nothing but praises for the group. The performers were really smart and perceptive as they were able to immediately come up with ideas and connect things altogether in an instant. Despite the size of their group coupled with their varying personalities, they were able to effectively glue it together to make the audience laugh and appreciate everything that went on with the show. I have seen tons of Stand Up comedy acts in different bars, but for me, SPIT raised the standards of what a good stand up comedy is - making everyone laugh without the expense of belittling or embarrassing anyone. It's a guilt free laugh knowing that you understood what the joke was about (intelligent jokes - makes you feel intelligent as well LOL) and not because somebody is being publicly humiliated (yes, I know one has to be a sport for such acts, but still we know deep inside we don't want to be in that kind of situation). And it is the type of comedy wherein you'll always want to go back for more because you'll never really expect what you're going to see next time.

SPIT performs every Thursday, 8PM at Quantum Cafe, located at 9590 Feron Building, Kamagong Cor Bagtikan St. Makati City, phone number 519-0757.

Quantum Cafe's website: www.quantumcafe.ph, Facebook: www.facebook.com/quantumcafeph
SPIT website: http://spitmanila.com/ Facebook: www.facebook.com/spitmanila