The Buzz Intro Interview | The Naughty Rigatonis

Responder: Sarah Sutherland (on behalf of all the Rigatonis), Ensemble performer
Name of Company: The Naughty Rigatonis
Name of Show: The Naughty Rigatonis: Summer Vacation

“Summer is synonymous with fun, laughter, and a devil-may-care ‘tude, and that is what we’re interested in bringing to audiences.”

Why should people see your show?

You are guaranteed to have an amazing time! Live improv is so much fun because everything happens right there, in the moment, and is entirely made up on the spot. We’re doing 3 performances, which means even if you come multiple times, you’ll get a new and different show each time.

What about festivals intrigues you? And why the Atlanta Fringe?

As a performer, festivals are fantastic because not only do you get to showcase your own work, you also get to meet so many other talented artists and watch their work. Atlanta has a vibrant theater and arts community, and we’re so excited to see such a variety of talented performers and shows from the Atlanta area and beyond.

What inspired you to create this?

With the timing of the Fringe Festival in June, we were inspired to create a summer show that focuses on nostalgia and summer memories. As kids, summer vacation is an alluring time – it’s the ultimate golden ticket because anything is possible. In the realm of improv, Summer Vacation evokes fun characters and personalities (some of whom may or may not make an appearance in our shows), like the blissful honeymooners, a booze cruise captain enjoying the open sea, the annoyed tween too cool for her parents, the eccentric babysitter left alone to corral a rambunctious kiddo, the overly friendly lifeguard who is more concerned with visiting the snack bar than with maintaining his post. But most of all, summer is synonymous with fun, laughter, and a devil-may-care ‘tude, and that is what we’re interested in bringing to audiences.

Life has been weird the last few years, to say the least. How has the “real world” affected the art you’re creating?

We’re all still emerging from a very traumatic time. Now, more than ever, it’s so important to see live art together, to laugh with the people you love, to watch and perform material that inspires you.

What have you learned from working on your show so far?

There is no end to what can be learned from the talented performers in the Atlanta community. We have been so fortunate to have received feedback that pushes us outside our comfort zone and drives us to take that next step on our improv journey.

There’s a mysterious stranger in the back row of your show, wearing a big ol’ N95 mask and a baseball cap and there’s something weirdly familiar about them, and then they come up afterwards to tell you they loved your show. In your WILDEST DREAMS, who is this mysterious stranger? (Bonus points if your mysterious stranger is an Atlanta celeb.)

Atlanta comedian and filmmaker Mark Kendall, whose civil engagement work and ability to address serious issues through comedy is truly inspiring.

[Ooooh, you mean the host of Five/5ths of Ghostbusters at the 2023 Atlanta Fringe Festival?? Yeah that dude rules!]

Fringes are the place to really push the boundaries so we gotta ask: are you inviting your family to this show are “Hey, maybe sit this one out you guys…”

Yes, I’m inviting my parents to the show; however, if you recall, we are the NAUGHTY Rigatonis, meaning our show is pretty much guaranteed to get naughty. I will therefore have to insist that they close their eyes and ears when there is any scandalous content. That holds true particularly when we play our naughtiest game called “sex with me,” which is when we ask the audience for a suggestion of an object, and each person relates it to what having sex with them is like. For instance “sex with me is like a fringe festival, it comes quickly and there are a lot of people involved.”

Will your show change the world?

Don’t tell me you can’t see a performance from a group called The Naughty Rigatonis and NOT be forever changed.

(That’s a lot of double negatives, but you get the idea.)

All kidding aside, all of us Naughties love doing improv together because we’ve seen first-hand how powerful laughter is. It has this palpable ability to bring people together and to fill the world with lightness and joy. We often find ourselves in discussions with one another and with the improv community at large about how improv has forever changed our lives – we are better listeners, more creative, more present, and more joyful. All of that love and delight gets pumped in our performances, and straight into the hearts of audiences.