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Why is an improv group that normally riffs on issues of public policy taking up residence in an art museum?

That's the question that led me to pay a visit to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts the other day to meet with Tane Danger, one half of the "

" He and his cohort Brandon Boat have found a new home in the labyrinth of MIA offices sequestered behind the museum gift shop.

Brandon Boat (left) and Tane Danger are the two halves of The Theater of Public Policy

For the past two years Danger and Boat (Tane swears those are their real names) have been putting on shows at 

 that mix local politics with, well, comedy.

While they are enthralled by public policy and political history, Tane says they recognize that they are a bit of a rare breed.

The two improv artists decided to put their comic talents to the test. Could they make public policy more accessible through humor?

Danger says a typical show starts with an interview with someone who's passionate about a particular aspect of public policy. Then in the second half, he and Boat use the interview as the fodder for a round of improv theater.

The show has earned such a reputation for intelligent humor that it's been able to line up some high profile guests. The duo have a show in this year's 

 which will include appearances by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, former gubernatorial candidate Tom Horner and MPR's Chris Farrell, among others.

Brandon Boat brings the painter Rembrandt to life for MIA audiences, and makes his feelings for American still-lifes painfully clear.

Katherine Milton, MIA's Director of Learning & Innovation, saw one of their shows, and was immediately hooked:

And so The Theater of Public Policy's residency was born. Danger and Boat have been working with the staff for two months, and they've managed to insinuate themselves into museum life in some interesting ways.

In conjunction with the museum's high profile Rembrandt exhibition, one of them occasionally dresses up as the 17th century Dutch painter and strolls the halls, chatting with visitors and critiquing work by other artists on view.

They've also taught some improv games to museum docents to use on tours, and injected humor into training sessions by turning them into a sort of murder mystery, giving each docent a role to play.

Danger says public policy and high art are not that dissimilar.

This Thursday The Theater of Public Policy will be sitting down with 

MIA curator Tom Rassieur to talk about Rembrandt. 

But perhaps the harder performance will come that afternoon, when they deliver an abbreviated round of improv for the MIA members' annual meeting.

Arts and Culture

State of the Arts Blog

Marianne Combs

Author

Why is an improv group that riffs on public policy taking up residence in an art museum?

Improv, public policy, and the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

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