Improv troupe rolls with it and rocks the house.

Byline: Wild Card By Serena Markstrom The Register-Guard

At home in Bellingham, Wash., people treat "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" star Ryan Stiles like a normal citizen. But when he and his three touring co-stars get off the bus in a new town, fans mob them like rock stars.

Stiles said his group is kind of like the Rolling Stones in that the only time the performers see each other these days is when they are on tour.

"Only they take private jets and we take the bus," he said via telephone at the Upfront Theater in Bellingham before leaving on tour. "I don't like to fly, so we rent the big rock 'n' roll bus and play poker all the way there."

The performers are all "Whose Line" veterans, but they have been touring and performing live since before the show stopped taping. They've passed through Eugene a couple of times before.

Stiles also had a role on "The Drew Carey Show" and has a part on "Two and a Half Men"; Greg Proops is the voice of "Bob the Builder" and does interviews for "On the Red Carpet With Joan Rivers"; Chip Esten played Josh Porter on "The Office" and has appeared on "The New Adventures of Old Christine"; and Jeff B. Davis is filming the forthcoming television program "The Madness of Jane."

Stiles said the group made a decision a few years ago to visit smaller markets, which has allowed them to enjoy the show even more. He said small-town fans greet the cast with more enthusiasm and gratitude than in markets such as Seattle and New York, where the entertainment options are almost endless.

The bus isn't the only parallel Stiles sees between what he does on the road and the work of a rock star.

"It's kind of the same in that a band will put together their set list (and) they have songs in certain places and they want to end with something strong, which we do too," Stiles said. "They don't want to put two songs that are similar together. We do the same thing with games.

"There's a lot of similarities, except with a musical group everybody wants to hear their big hits from the past, but no one wants to hear the same joke twice. They want to see new stuff with improv, but they don't want to hear new stuff from a band."

Stiles doesn't have an official Web site or bio from the company producing "A Night of Improv," but the promoter said Stiles appeared for nine years on "The Drew Carey Show" and "Whose Line?" in Britain and the United States. He was a co-executive producer with Carey of the U.S. version of `Line.'

During the interview, Stiles said he doesn't spend time on the computer, and that rumors he is diabetic and hated the "hoedowns" from "Whose Line?" are not true. His teenage daughter also has reported some Ryan Stiles impersonators on MySpace.com.

Stiles said he hadn't heard the rumor that he died in January - an obvious error posted briefly before host site Wikipedia.com took it down.

"Good thing my mom's not on the computer, either," he said.

The after-class clown

Stiles got his start in comedy as a teenager. Several Web sites report that he dropped out of high school at 17 to perform stand-up at comedy clubs near Vancouver, B.C., where he lived.

About 20 years ago, according to www.everything2.com., he joined the Second City comedy troupe, where he met future "Whose Line?" co-star Colin Mochrie.

Stiles said the biggest difference he sees between performing stand-up and improv is audience expectation.

"When you come out on stage as a stand-up, people realize that you've worked on your material," he said. "There's more of an, 'OK make me laugh' attitude. When you come on as a group, improvising, they feel invested in the show because they are suggesting what you're doing and there's a real warm feeling.

`They actually want it to work."

After all these years, each performer has his pre-show rituals. Esten often reads a book up until showtime. You can find Proops, a notorious chatterbox, telling stories to anyone who will listen, and Davis is usually on his cell phone, Stiles said.

"I stretch because I have a bad back. And then I need to be by myself for a while, in a corner," Stiles said. "Or I walk around because the adrenaline is starting to take over."

Although audience cues inform what the content of scenes will be, the cast has a general outline of what games it will play and how much music to include. (Music director Bob Derkach is also an important part of the act.)

"It's kind of to that point where we don't worry about if we're going to do well or bomb or whatever," Stiles said. "Again, it's like music, where I think we just want to have fun with each other. If we have fun, they have fun, too."

There are only two rules of improv, rules which Stiles said many actors don't follow: Listen and add.

"In this group, I just think there is an incredible trust factor," he said. "We've worked together so long and know each other well. And we honestly try to make each other laugh.

`I know if I'm having a hard time in a scene or can't think of something at some moment, someone is behind me who can."

A lot of new groups make this mistake, he said: Someone will try to be the star of the group or get more laughs. That doesn't work, he said, because you're only as good as the other people on stage with you.

"For us, this is most fun because we are not doing what other people tell us to do. We have total control over this."

CONCERT PREVIEW

A Night of Improv

What: Improvised comedy and song with cast members from TV's "Whose Line Is It Anyway?"

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center, Seventh Avenue and Willamette Street

Tickets: $27 to $37, 682-5000