Las Vegas Weekly

Monkeying around

New improv show opens with mixed results

Matt Donnelly performs in the Executive Monkeys improv show at The Lounge at the Palms.

Photo: Allison Duck

Taking the power away from obnoxious dudes and putting it in the hands of nerds.

That's how Matt Donnelly explains the concept of the first half of his new weekly improv show, Executive Monkeys, which debuted this week at the Lounge inside the Palms. The comedy show allows the audience to feed suggestions to the performers via their cell phones and Twitter accounts, as opposed to the typical vocal shout-outs. What results are some interesting suggestions, some far more elaborate than typical improv fare. Examples from the debut night included "the thought of naked Oompa-Loompas makes me horny" and "a group of high school kids running a pizza parlor as if it were a Dungeons and Dragons game."

The second half of Monkeys involves a celebrity tarot reading and more improv ̶ Twitter free, this time. The inaugural guest was actress Shannon Elizabeth, whose funniest contribution, sadly, was being made fun of during the (entirely too long) pre-improv, on-stage interview, in which she spoke about her belief in loving all animals and the power of crystals. Comedian Paul Provenza is up next week, with different guests to follow for the remainder of the show's run.

Executive Monkeys is a solid concept, even if the execution was less than stellar during the debut. Comedian Paul Mattingly conceded afterward that many of the Monkeys had met only hours beforehand. Sadly, it showed. The Monkeys are booked for a monthlong residency at the Lounge, though, so improvements are bound to come.

Allison Duck contributed to this story.