Comedy

Improv man Wayne Brady teams with ‘Let’s Make a Deal’ pals at Mirage

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Wayne Brady
Matt Sayles, AP
Jason Harris

Three and a half stars

Wayne Brady February 27, Mirage.

It’s no small feat filling a 1,500-seat theater with an improv show. Improv, by nature, is intimate. Long-form improv, the kind that is all the rage at places like Upright Citizens Brigade, is served better in smaller spaces where the entire “game” is building the scene.

Wayne Brady’s style is more accessible. He specializes in short-form, with the scene often being a game or leading to one big joke. All of his skills were on display Friday night at the Mirage, reminding us why he’s been the breakout star of the American version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? and why he draws large crowds.

While Brady is the star of the show, he has two able supporting players, Jonathan Mangum and Cat Gray, also Brady’s costars on Let’s Make a Deal. Here, Mangum acted as both cohost and costar, sharing with and sometimes stealing scenes from Brady. Gray was the musical director, ready with any kind of song at a moment’s notice.

After Mangum took difficult words from the audience, Brady freestyle-rapped using the suggested words to finish verses. The hard part really isn’t rhyming things with big words (focus on the last syllable), but creating a cohesive and funny song, which Brady smashed. Crowd members joined onstage for Whose Line favorite Sound Effects, for which they had to make all the appropriate noises for Brady’s and Mangum’s actions.

Things were flying until Brady answered written questions from the audience about halfway through. Going from high-octane laughs to hearing about how his proudest career moment was his Grammy nomination did Brady no favors. Even the next game, Styles, which featured Brady and Mangum acting out a scene in different movie and book styles, was hampered by the Q&A. Mangum, who wasn’t familiar with all the styles, made an Improv 101 error in one scene style. Instead of just going with it, he often repeated what Brady said or asked him questions in return. Without the imperative “yes and ...” the game stalled.

Brady closed strong with his take on American Idol, singing as everyone from Adam Levine to Mike Tyson. His Prince is so good and always welcome, and that’s an apt way to sum up the man who once had a Las Vegas residency with “Making It Up.” Anytime the “so good” Brady wants to fill theaters here again, he’s welcome.

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