Improv, comedy and musicals are spontaneously brought to life every week on BYUtv's "Show Offs." A troupe of six actors create a whole play or musical on the spot with the help of the audience and prompts from the host. And it's free for anyone to watch on BYUtv.org.

While “Show Offs” uses elements familiar from other television shows, “it’s unlike anything you’ve seen before,” says Maclain Nelson, a regular cast member and executive producer.

Here are a few reasons you and your family will love this fun escape from reality.

The whole family will have fun

Nelson says he has made about 30 movies that have seen varying degrees of interest from his friends and family but “Show Offs” is different.

“I can watch an episode of ‘Show Offs’ with my family and everyone’s engaged,” he says. “Little kids connect to it; my nieces and nephews want to sing along and play along. They play ‘Show Offs’ at home after this by making up stories.”

Since the show is a BYUtv original, you can rest assured your family will enjoy the wholesome content and clean language.

It’s interactive

As just noted, viewers will find themselves feeling creative after watching all the ideas flow on “Show Offs.”

The studio audience decides what genre of musical or play the actors will create on any given episode. Audience members have devices that allow them to narrow down the choices from six options to three. The actors then give the audience a little sample of the three genres voted upon.

After pairs of actors present their three very different samples, the audience again gets to decide which of those three will become the full show for the night. Not only that, but the host asks audience members to come up with names of titles and items that will be parts of the show.

Music and dance are integral

As talented as the six players are, they could only venture so far into musical territory without proper accompaniment. So naturally, “Show Offs” features a live band ready to set the mood for any scene. The musicians compose lyrics and melodies on the spot in any prompted style, such as jazz, rap or rock opera.

After the music is in full swing, the cast works together to create showstopping numbers where the on-the-spot-choreography is mostly in sync.

Celebrity guests make appearances

Four cast members make up the core of the “Show Offs”: Nelson, Jake Van Wagoner, Lisa Valentine Clark and Hailey Smith. They welcome two guests every week — often a celebrity. So far, those better-known actors have included “High School Musical’s” Corbin Bleu and Lucas Grabeel, John Rhys-Davies, Joey Fatone, and Will Forte of “Saturday Night Live."

Costumes and sound effects complete each impromptu play

After the audience chooses a genre for the evening, actors run backstage to get in costume to make the show even more cohesive.

A talented team prepares costumes for each cast member for each of the potential six genres of the evening. That's a minimum of 24 costumes for each show. Over the course of the season, the costume team is preparing hundreds of potential costumes.

Each show is polished with sound-effects to bring the improvisation to a whole new level. Comedian Casey Jost, hosts the show, helping guide the action and taking suggestions from the audience.

All the ingredients come together to make magic

The cast, the crew and the audience all create something special, and unique, every episode.

“We’ve worked to surround the cast with a production crew that predicts within the tropes of each genre what just might happen,” according to executive producer Adam Anderegg.

“It’s exhilarating to work with such a wonderful cast who really do create the comedy and story in every episode. The really wonderful thing that happens often with this group is catching comedy lightning in a bottle. It’s magical!”

Watching this alchemy happen, it’s clear every person on the set is having fun. It’s almost impossible for that not to rub off on viewers at home. “It’s totally unscripted and it’s better than reality,” Nelson says. “We go all-out; we transform. You have to see it to believe it, really.”

Watch "Show Offs" on BYUtv or on their website. You can also catch up on previously aired episodes — all for free.

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