At a packed boathouse in South Lake Tahoe on a warm summer evening, people of all ages are eagerly waiting for the curtains to open. Emcee and Tahoe Improv Players Co-Founder Gerry Orton soon introduces the improv group, and 5-8 comedians in basketball jerseys fill the stage, dancing to upbeat sports fan music. The show starts and no one knows what’s going to happen next…not even the people onstage. 

For more than 30 years the Tahoe Improv Players have been turning audience suggestions into family-friendly funny live scenes, providing an affordable source of entertainment at the beautiful, 100-year-old Valhalla Tahoe estate. 

Tahoe Improv Players put on Lake Tahoe’s longest-running comedy show, having 3-4 shows at Valhalla every summer season. 

Back in 1992, South Lake Tahoe residents Gerry Orton and Frank Riley met at an improv class taught by Dave Hamilton at Lake Tahoe Community College before starting the ComedySportz Tahoe chapter a year later. However, they never really got audience engagement playing at local bars, so they eventually broke off and formed the Tahoe Improv Players. 

“We closed some of the bars in town,” Riley recalls of those early improv days. “Drunken patrons think they’re funnier than us, or they were mad we droned out the TV,” Riley adds. 

Riley and Orton approached Valhalla about hosting the Improv Tahoe Players right when they opened the boathouse, and the historic estate embraced the idea. 

“Then we got into Valhalla in 1997 and got our feet back,” Riley says. “We did two shows a week, then went to three shows a year and now all of those are sold out or near it. 

“We’d only get 2-3 people in the audience when we were doing the shows several times a week, so that’s why we spread them out. We did a dinner show at a restaurant in Tahoe City for an audience of two people. We offered to give them their money back and treated it as a rehearsal, but they stayed and then hired us a couple of months later to play a party they had at their house,” he remembers. 

“At the boathouse people go to see the show and don’t really know what to expect but want to be entertained, and then they end up entertained,” Riley says. 

“It’s a nice fit,” Riley says. However, one problem with improv is that people often confuse it with standup comedy. 

“Doing improv is both good and bad. On one hand it’s spontaneous and the audience is rooting for us, but the idea of improv doesn’t translate well outside the venue,” Riley explains. “We’ve been to Mars, rode unicorns, and met Frank Sinatra [in a show], but to try to explain that to people…”

He says people first started to get it when improv moved to TV, like in shows such as Whose Line Is It Anyway? 

“That helped people understand what it was. Before people thought what we were doing was standup, and it didn’t help there was a famous comedy club called the Improv,” Riley adds. 

In the beginning, Tahoe Improv Players usually got small audiences when playing at the bars, which was a hard environment when relying on audience suggestions to create skits. 

“People are hesitant to participate unless they’re drunk. One time I asked the audience, ‘Give me a room of a house, and someone yelled out ‘F- you!’ I said, ‘I heard living room’ and went with that,” Riley recalls. 

Fortunately, Valhalla Tahoe provided a more inviting space. 

“We’re not in it for the money– thank God– and it’s quite a high for us, too, when things work out. And we have the most forgiving audience,” Riley says. 

He adds that being a former casino pit boss, improv personally helped divert his attention from the casinos, drugs, and alcohol scene. “The creative high I got from improv was better and much cheaper,” he adds. “When you come up with the right joke or perfect sentence and it hits just right, there’s nothing better than that.” 

Practicing improv in front of a live audience helps people learn confidence and overcome stage fear as well, which can be especially helpful when looking for a new job. 

“One girl in our group said being on stage made it a lot easier to do job interviews. Plus, to have that as a hobby on a resume gives the interviewer something to talk about; it opens the dialogue,” Riley says, giving someone that extra edge. 

When asked if Improv Tahoe rehearses before a show, Riley replies that they only get together occasionally. “People are usually surprised to hear we have rehearsals since it’s improv, but we need an outline at least—lines we give ourselves—to help move the show along,” he says. He insinuates the audience suggestions are predictable, mentioning again the group has been to Mars many times, rode lots of unicorns, and when they ask the audience to yell out an unusual substance, it’s usually JELL-O. 

“To make it more difficult, we’ll sometimes throw in some strychnine or asphalt,” Riley adds. And to keep it a family-friendly show, Riley emphasizes they do not take any off-color suggestions or use off-color language. 

“It’s so easy to curse, and it’s not creative,” Riley adds. They also try to stay away from political stuff as they don’t want to alienate their audience and Improv members fall on both sides of the spectrum. 

“We’ll sneak in Trump or Musk jokes every once in a while, but we find it’s not practical or even fun anymore, and when we start to rely on that, it’s not creative,” Riley observes. 

Tahoe Improv membership varies…there’ve been 100-120 people who’ve been on stage at least once over the years, but its core group is around 5-8 players who are at every show. Travelling groups will also come through, and they’ll do an “improv off.”

When asked if they have an issue retaining members, Riley replies, “One problem we have is a lot of us are getting on in age so we count on the college to help us get recruits. I want to do improv until I’m at least 85, but I think the average age of a player is about 60.”

The best way to learn more or become involved with Tahoe Improv is to check in with Valhalla or go to a show. One member volunteered when she was 14 years old, joined the group a year or two later, then moved to LA to pursue acting. 

“We’re always on the lookout for more players,” Riley says. “We’re an acquired taste, but there’s a lot of undiscovered, unrealized talent at the lake.” 

For more information about Tahoe Improv Players and its upcoming shows, visit https://valhallatahoe.com/.