Eric Scott and a Wig Stool

An improv team in New York City consisting of Eric Scott and a stool with a wig on it.

History

Debut performance at DCM 2008.

Structure

It's only happened once. Eric put a wig on a stool and improvised a scene with it on the mainstage of UCBT the night before the official start of the Del Close Marathon for 2008.

Trivia

• The chant 'BLUVBAND-WIGSTOOL' started after the second Eric Scott / Wig Stool set. Dave Bluvband has not yet (to date) done a show with the wig stool, but we've asked him to.

Significance

What words could properly capture the impact of this improvisation, both a milestone of what had come before and also seminal to the inevitable movement of man-wig improv? It's not unlike trying to describe the impact of Beatles on popular music, or of Issac Newton on physics -- for Eric Scott and a Wig Stool did not merely affect improv as create the framework within which the rest of improv has since been measured.

From the very first initiation, to the final callback -- with many points of organic discovery in between, somehow both surprising yet falling into instantly recognizable patterns, Eric Scott and Wig Stool neatly twinned improv into a before and after. Those who claim to have been there easily exceed the possible physical capacity of the UCB Theatre -- but that is the effect of a myth. We revise our memories to connect ourselves with it. We change the narrative of our lives to include this show, which we realize is not just a show but Jungian archetype that resonates with us each in a primal and necessary way.

The author of this article did not see the set.