Date Tomato: Your Guide to the Twin Cities Dating Scene

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Where am I?

You're on a blog called Date Tomato, a wonderful and mysterious place filled with inspiring words and other stuff. Good stuff. Date Tomato is taking the place of the date ideas page of Plume Blue. We'll explore all over the Twin Cities for you and come back with some of the coolest, and often lesser-known places to date. You can visit our about page for more information.

What can I do here?

Hopefully, Date Tomato becomes a place you look to when you're fresh out of ideas for dates. You can search by price and location in the search bar to the left. And, as you've noticed, if you're logged into Plume Blue you get this handy toolbar. What you'll also notice is the feather located next to the header of each post. If you like the date idea, you can post it directly to Plume Blue from Date Tomato! Pretty Cool. Enjoy.

 

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Huge Theater

by George on October 18, 2011 in Uncategorized with 2 Comments

HUGE Theater says that improv is “built on conquering fears and working collaboratively in an accepting environment.” Doesn’t that sound a little like a first date?

If the comparison isn’t working for you, imagine the weird situations in improv… sounding more like a first date? I could describe improv in my own words, but this clip from Inception, in which Cobb describes the dream world says it better. Improv actors perceive and create their world simultaneously. Because of this—like in dreams—the audience witnesses crazy universes, hilarious non-sequiturs, and situations your mind would never produce on its own. In improv though, it somehow manages to make sense.

HUGE improv specializes in a rare type of improv called long-form improvisation, and HUGE is the only place in the Twin Cities you can find it. Don’t think Who’s Line Is It Anyway (yes, I’m sure you love Who’s Line); rather think of an extended scene or production sans a script. And if all you’re interested in is Wayne Brady doing hoedowns stop reading here. (That was sarcasm, please read on. Here’s a clip of Wayne Brady to get you through it.)

HUGE has an industrial look and yet personal feel. I walked in (an unassuming Tomato Dater) and received a friendly greeting from Butch Roy who turned out to be the Executive Director. At first I thought they must’ve known I was coming, what with the executive director greeting me and providing a free Vitamin Water. But no, apparently they had never even heard of Date Tomato (What? Have they been living a under a rock!?) and Vitamin Waters are free for anyone who bikes!

The actual theater space is anything but HUGE. The stage is nondescript and small. The seating seems as if it’s been pulled together at the last minute rather than part of a theater approaching its first birthday that sells out many shows. All of this, however, lends to the style and atmosphere of the theater—as if the theater itself is improvised every evening. It’s fun, casual and personal. After the show the cast comes out and mingles in the lobby. From start to finish it feels like every detail was calculated and at the same time those details are entirely spontaneous—as is the point, one would imagine.

HUGE is located on Lyndale and 31st. There’s new stuff going on all the time. Check out their full schedule here. The shows are short and cheap and funny and there’s beer. Really, what more could you want for a first date?

Edit: I guess I can’t say that they’re the only place that does long-form improv in the Twin Cities, because if you try hard, you can find shows scattered around. They’re just the only theater dedicated to it. On the other hand, I can say whatever I want.