A troupe of improv comedians called Improvabilities performed weekly shows at the Egyptian Theatre last year.

Unfortunately, the task of making sure enough people were on hand to do these shows proved to be difficult and the group disbanded.

Three of those actors — Jack Diamond, Amber Hansen and Nate Sears — continued performing individually in other improvisational productions.

A few months ago, the three hooked up with husband and wife Tom Shannon and Nicole Marcks, and decided to start up another troupe called Hot Toddy Improv.

Unlike Improvabilities, Hot Toddy will not perform weekly shows, but zero in on performing seasonal shows and other special events.

That’s why Hot Toddy, which also includes Lisa Anderson and Bill Avis, will perform a Halloween-themed show at the Egyptian Theatre on Friday, Oct. 25.

The Park Record caught up with Jack Diamond, who said he is looking forward to performing with the new group.

“Nicole and Tom are from California and have been doing improv for the past 15 years or so,” Diamond said. “They brought a bunch of experience from some highly reputable improv sources such as Second City Los Angeles and Totally Looped.

“So we all got together to have some fun and wound up reimagining a new show that focused on long-form improvisation, rather than short form,” Diamond said. “That’s how Hot Toddy came about.”

The difference between short-form and long-form improvisation is, obviously, the time taken to work with an idea, Diamond said.

“For example, short-form improv features two- to four-minute games that are set up by asking the audience for ideas and the actors go back and forth with short, skits that adhere to those suggestions,” Diamond said. “Long-form tells more of a narrative and a story. The humor comes from situational-character choices.”

The way Hot Toddy will work with the Halloween theme is simple.

“We’ll get ideas pertaining to this theme from the audience at the beginning of the night and we will make up monologues on the spot,” Diamond explained. “Then we’ll take what we said in the monologues and use that material for the longer scenes we will act out.”

In between those long-form scenes, the actors will do some quick, short-form improv, as well.

“But our goal is to show Park City how we could do long-form,” Diamond said. “That’s also one of the reasons why Bill is with us.”

Avis will perform the piano during the show, he said.

“One of the pieces we will do will be a fully improvised musical comprised of songs that are made up on the spot,” Diamond said. “Bill will make the music up as it goes and we’re looking at maybe going for 20 to 25 minutes.”

Diamond wanted to work with another improv group after Improvabilities folded because he loves the genre.

“The first thing I was exposed to in entertainment was improvisation,” he said. “I started out in improv, even though, now, I make my living with film and theater.”

The reason Diamond likes improv is because it’s the foundation of all the other performing arts.

“Improv is the rawest form of creativity,” he said. “When you are creating something or trying to make something work, you’re improvising.”

Diamond can tell when he’s working on set with someone who has improv background.

“I can see just by looking to see how comfortable they are and how they are acting,” he said.

Still, improv isn’t just about making up jokes in the moment, he said.

“It provides actors tools they can utilize in their auditions and cold readings,” Diamond said. “I don’t get nervous during auditions, because whatever role or situation they give me, I can channel them through an improvised character.”

The show at the Egyptian Theatre will be appropriate for ages 16 and older, Diamond said.

“Our general operating modality is PG-13,” he said. “I mean, you can certainly take younger kids to it, because we’re not going to the throwing a lot of profanity around, but the audience will need to pay attention to what we’re doing to understand what is going on.”

The Egyptian Theatre, 328 Main St., will present Hot Toddy Improv, which will perform Halloween-inspired long-form and short-form sketches on Friday, Oct. 25, at 8 p.m. The show is appropriate for ages 16 and older. Tickets range from $10 to $20 and are available by visiting www.parkcityshows.com.