
As mayoral contenders tried to answer a question about how they would address the Minnesota Orchestra lockout, the moderator of a campaign forum this week reminded them, "This is not 'I'm going to give everybody two minutes and go down the line.'"
When everyone burst into laughter, Jackie Cherryhomes told the crowd, "We're used to someone with a buzzer that says stop! Stop now!"
"You're throwing us off our game here," chimed in Council Member Betsy Hodges.
The event was hosted by the Theater of Public Policy, a group that performs improv comedy about political issues and spurred candidates on Wednesday evening to break a little more out of the talking points they have already recited at dozens of forums this year.
Tane Danger moderated the forum with six candidates at Bryant Lake Bowl, leading on-stage discussions with the aspiring mayors that offered rich material for the improv cast to parody. The actors poked fun at how Cherryhomes' husband had skipped the forum to go to the Timberwolves game while Hodges proudly pointed out her husband was sitting in the audience, and lampooned a statement by Cam Winton, who deals with wind turbine maintenance, that in his field if you over-promise and under-deliver people can see it from miles away. Several sketches mocked Kmart's blockage of Nicollet Avenue.
The highlight of the evening came when candidates were asked about the form of transportation they used to get to Bryant Lake Bowl. Minneapolis Park Commissioner Bob Fine stripped down to a Superman costume on stage, provoking roars of laughter while Hodges, sitting next to him, looked on in horror.
"He is the commissioner!" said Danger. "He is the commissioner!"
When the reaction subsided, Fine took a serious turn, saying, "I certainly didn't come here by streetcar, because we can't afford it." He was referring to a matter that has become a staple of candidate discussions: whether to back the proposed Nicollet-Central streetcar.