You might try to knock Mama out, but you can’t keep her cousins down for long.
After 15 solid years — aside from a pandemic pause — performing their outrageous brand of improvisational comedy at Sleuths Mystery Dinner Shows on International Drive, Mama’s Comedy Show (mamascomedyshow.com) recently found a new home inside Ten10 Brewing Co.’s B-Side event space.
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I attended last Friday’s official launch of their open-ended weekly run, where I talked with company owner Todd Feren and troupe member (aka “cousin”) Jaimz Dillman to learn how this funny family has laughed together for so long.
Feren and Dillman both say they were first bitten by the improvisation bug as high-school students. Feren learned some basic improv exercises during drama class, but found he enjoyed them more offstage. “I had more fun playing [improv] games with my friends because it was just pals messing with each other, trying to crack each other up, and really bonding as a group of friends through laughs.”
Dillman saw a SAK Comedy Lab show and says she was instantly hooked by the performers “making magic on stage, without a script, all off the top of their heads. They were being celebrated for being quick and funny and I had to be a part of it.”
Mama’s Comedy Show has its origins in Doodie Humor, a satirical sketch comedy troupe Feren wrote and directed for at the Orlando Fringe Festival.
“I asked the rest of the group if they wanted to do an improv show — 90 percent of the cast was a hard ‘no’ on unscripted comedy. [Mama’s member] A. Ali Flores was the only ‘Yes,'” recalls Feren, adding, “I actually didn’t really enjoy improv, but I loved the idea of flying by the seat of my pants.”
After “seven years of begging,” the owners of Sleuths gave the troupe a one-month trial, which turned into 15 years.
“We’re not an improv show. We are a comedy show that does improv,” Feren tells new performers, emphasizing that Mama’s shows are more about “building a relationship with the audience and making each show feel more like friends or family putting on a show in the living room.”
Dillman echoes the importance of that “family” dynamic — everyone onstage and in the audience is called “cousin” — saying that she calls their performances her “weekly therapy session with the brothers I never wanted. We don’t single people out and make fun of them. We’re too busy making fun of each other.”
After a decade and a half at Sleuths, new management took over that dinner theater’s daily operations, leading to conflicts over scheduling and policy changes. “Ultimately, it was best to get away from the place we called home for so many years,” says Feren. Though, he admits, “When we announced we were leaving Sleuths, we didn’t have a backup plan.”
Fortunately, the cast quickly connected with the Virginia Drive brewery’s B-Side room through local artist Christian Kelty (Joe’s NYC Bar, Bad Santa and the Angry Elves). “So far, things [at Ten10] have been amazing,” Feren reports. “They have been very supportive of the show, and have really gone out of their way to make us feel at home. The first two shows sold out completely, and future shows are filling up extremely fast.”
Dillman concurs, adding, “The space really works well for our vibe, while also giving us a few new pretty great upgrades” — like improved food and beverage options available before and during the show.
One thing that hasn’t changed is Mama’s modest $15 ticket price for their two-hour shows, nor the generous discounts given to returning patrons bearing punch cards.
“The reason our show has always been so inexpensive is because we want everyone to be able to come,” says Feren. “We were asked to change our price several years ago, and while I agree that we provide a show worth a lot more, it’s more important to us that people don’t feel nickel-and-dimed. People know when they’re being taken advantage of, and that’s not what Mama’s is about.”
Beyond Mama’s adults-only show every Friday night, they also perform weekly family-friendly shows at a local resort in the theme park area. Feren is also hoping to expand later this year by revitalizing “Papa’s Cirque Du So Lame,” a variety show he originally started during the pandemic to “get money to some of my Cirque performer friends who were out of work while our usual variety show was temporarily out of commission. It was a brief but sold-out run, and we learned a lot about what we were capable of.”
Last but not least, pearl-clutchers searching in vain for SAK’s Scum Box should know that Mama’s shows earn their hard R-rating for language and content. (Clean-cut SAK makes anyone using crude material wear a box on their head for a minute.)
“If you’re offended easily, stay home. This is definitely a show for adults to come out and have good adult fun,” says Dillman. “We just want to put on the best show possible. The show Mama would’ve wanted.”
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This article appears in Feb 28 – Mar 5, 2024.