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Shows where you get in on the act

Published: August 5, 2011 2:55 PM
By DANIEL BUBBEO  daniel.bubbeo@newsday.com

Photo credit: Handout | The acting troupe Drop Dead Comedy in costume for "Suzy's Killer Birthday Surprise" to be performed at Sergio's Restaurant in Massapequa on Aug. 26.

Usually you go to a show to be entertained, but at some Long Island spots, you might end up being the entertainment. Whether it's being spellbound by a hypnotist or feeding lines to a comic, audience participation at these three shows is not only encouraged, but required. And don't be afraid to take along the kiddies since these shows are all good, squeaky-clean fun.

'Suzy's Killer Birthday Surprise'

Someone gets murdered, and everyone will die laughing at this interactive mystery dinner theater performed by the Drop Dead Comedy troupe at Sergio's in Massapequa. The plot: It's 5-year-old Suzy's birthday, and everyone in her wacky clan has forgotten. As family members try to pull together a last-minute party, a murder puts a damper on the celebration. Then the detective arrives and the audience becomes part of the comic scene investigation.

"We perform as we mingle through the tables," says Tony Walker, co-director of Drop Dead Comedy. "Even though there's a script, we're constantly going off the script and looking for something the audience can react to. For instance, if somebody's phone rings, we try and answer it and work it into the show."

Crack the case and you might win a cash prize. T-shirts also can be won during some of the creative games interspersed with the homicidal happenings.

"There's one game called Poop the Potato," Walker says. "On one side of the room, people take a tennis ball between their legs and on the other side, there's a bucket where they have to take that tennis ball and put it in there."

INFO Aug. 26 at 7 p.m., Sergio's Restaurant, 5422 Merrick Rd., Massapequa, $49 a person, 516-541-6554, sergiositalianrestaurant.com