Dan Ryder, right, lists the items inside the Christmas tree piñata to his left before he gets ready to hold an auction for the piñata on Friday, Dec 9. The winning bid was $700. Brian Ponce/Franklin Jounral
FARMINGTON — On Friday, Dec. 9, the North Church in Farmington hosted the improv group Teacher’s Lounge Mafia [TLM] of Jay. Their performance, titled “Stale Milk and Sour Cookies: The Return” was performed to a packed room. The evening was filled with laughter, pie, and an auction for a piñata Christmas tree filled with an assortment of gifts.
This set, performed annually until 2020, was shelved for two years because of COVID-19. This year is the first time they have performed their annual Christmas performance since 2019.
Originally starting in 2008, TLM has been building a name for themselves in the improv community for over 10 years.
“One night, my one and only effort at trying standup comedy failed miserably,” Dan Ryder stated. “I bombed so hard. I literally went to my sister’s apartment and cried. And then I had a former improv student of mine audition for an improv group and went back to her apartment and cried. And we messaged each other on Facebook or something and said, ‘Well, let’s start an improv group.’”
Originally called Broken Donut, the name of the group was one of the first changes made. “I want us to be called Broken Donut,” Ryder commented. “It was mercilessly vetoed.”
“We did a benefit show for the theatre that Kyla [Wheeler] and I were involved in at the time, and it was actually Sandy River Players. And we had such a good time. Then we just kept going and we just stayed together as a group and started doing gigs. And that was in 2008.”
Since then, TLM has performed at improv festivals, charity events and even schools. “We did a fundraiser for a school,” Philip Hobby commented. “I think there were three-, four- or five-year-olds there. And it was the most G rated thing we’ve ever done.”
According to their website, TLM performs interactive games similar to those made popular on Whose Line Is It, Anyway? as well as original formats and scenes in the traditions of Second City, Groundlings, Upright Citizens Brigade, and Improv Olympic.
When asked about the origin of the name, Ryder elaborated that all but one of them were teachers, “or Education majors.”
“And we used to practice all the time at the teachers’ lounge at Mt. Blue,” Natalie Simmons added.
Jeff Bailey shared a story of an interaction with a student that helped support the name, “He was like, ‘Oh, there is probably like a mafia back there. Like a teacher’s lounge mafia.’ There totally isn’t, but I pretended like there was, like I kept telling them there is a casino behind the drink machine, you know.”
The evening celebrated 14 years as an improv group.
After a 15-minute intermission, an auction was held for a Christmas tree piñata that was filled with an assortment of items including:
- Lottery tickets
- A miniature piñata
- Gourmet homemade hot chocolate bombs
- Ten movie tickets w/popcorn and soda
- Meg’s Sweets gift card
- Main Street Nutrition gift card
- Family games and games for youth
- Young child blanket
- Walmart, Hannaford, and Subway gift cards.
- Nips
- Six gingerbread building kits
- Bird lovers’ box
- United Way swag
- Animated Christmas toys
- Lots of candy
Matt McCarthy, right, stands with his wife Ashley McCarthy, left, in front of the Christmas tree piñata he won on Friday, Dec. 9. The piñata contains an assortment of items from games to gift cards to candy. Brian Ponce/Franklin Jounral
The winning bid was for $700, and it went to Matt McCarthy of Farmington. The proceeds of the evening went to benefit United Way of the Tri-Valley Area.
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