Blacktop Circus prompts belly laughs

Blacktop has been a mainstay at Atlanta's Uptown Comedy Club for years.

"For Aurora it brings in all kinds of new people," says marketing director Al Stilo. "There is an entire segment of comedy [fans] that is not necessarily going to drive to Uptown."

In September, Aurora gave its Discovery Point Studio space cocktail tables and a brick wall backdrop for Blacktop Circus performances. For the finale the improv group moves to the theater's larger Strickland Family Stage.

They've spiced things up for the occasion, according to performer Anthony Rice, known by audience members as Swift.

"We're on the main stage," he says. "We've got new games to show the crowd."

THE SHOW

• Family friendly improv games along the lines of "Whose Line is it Anyway" are played during the first hour of the set. Audience members may be asked about pet peeves or the first thing they do when they wake up. Using their responses, Blacktop shifts into fast-paced improvisational skits, songs and poems.

The second hour of the set turns more adult when the comics perform individual stand-up routines.

"We give the audience a disclaimer before we start the stand-up," Rice says. "We say, 'We have fulfilled our obligation. For those of you who have come for a clean show, that money has expired.' "

MORE ON BLACKTOP CIRCUS

• The 10-member group started in 1997 and they periodically teach comedy. They are currently holding a monthlong workshop with high school students in the Communities in Schools program. The students will perform in a special show with The Blacktop Circus on June 24 at Uptown Comedy Club.

The comedy troupe has also gained the attention of television producers.

This week Blacktop Circus drove to a second audition in Nashville for a CBS reality show by "Survivor" creator Mark Burnett. The show is to be based on contestant groups that create commercial jingles for products. Blacktop's task was to perform a jingle for a fictitious airline.

"We had a great audition. We haven't heard anything back yet but we did everything exactly the way we wanted to do it," Rice says. "Our job now is the business at hand, which is making sure we have a successful season finale at Aurora Theatre."

THE AURORA THEATRE/UPTOWN COMEDY CLUB CONNECTION

• Anthony Rodriguez, Aurora' artistic director and Gary Abdo, who co-owns Uptown, are old buddies. In 1985 they performed summer theater together in Harrisburg, Ky.

SHOW DETAILS

• Blacktop Circus performs improv and stand-up at 7:30 p.m. at Aurora Theatre. $15. 128 Pike St., Lawrenceville. 678-226-6222, www.auroratheatre.com. Also 8:30 p.m. Tuesday (and bi-weekly) at Uptown Comedy Club. $10. 800 Marietta St., N.W. 404-881-0200, www.uptowncomedy.net