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Zach Cherry warns that his Sundays are \u201cpretty boring\u201d \u2014 with the caveat that boring, for him, means a wild, 90-minute improv comedy extravaganza of nerdy jokes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe most fun part is standing there while other people are performing and laughing really hard,\u201d said Mr. Cherry, a 36-year-old actor and comedian who performs most Sunday nights in the fully improvised comedy show \u201cRaaaatscraps<\/a>\u201d at Caveat on the Lower East Side. The show features a rotating cast of performers that also includes Jeff Hiller of the HBO comedy \u201cSomebody Somewhere\u201d and Connor Ratliff from \u201cThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.\u201d<\/p>\n Mr. Cherry is best known for his role as the snarky overachiever Dylan in the dystopian Apple TV+ workplace thriller series \u201cSeverance.\u201d On Thursday, Amazon Prime Video is set to release his latest project, \u201cFallout,\u201d a postapocalyptic series based on the popular role-playing video game franchise. Mr. Cherry, a self-identified gamer, said he has played many of the nine games in the franchise.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I often get kind of overwhelmed and don\u2019t finish them because they\u2019re so gigantic and there\u2019s so much going on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Mr. Cherry, who was born in Trenton, N.J., lives in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn with his wife of almost two years, Anabella Cherry, 30, who teaches English as a second language at Hunter College, and their newly adopted 2-year-old rescue dog, Shrek.<\/p>\n A SUMMONS FROM NARNIA <\/strong>I have the Bedtime function on my iPhone set to wake me up at 7 a.m., but almost every day I click \u201cchange for one day only\u201d and move it later. I actually wake up around 9 a.m. I use the generic \u201cEarly Riser\u201d tone \u2014 I\u2019ve never changed it \u2014 which starts soft then gets gradually louder. It sounds like something you\u2019d wake up to very gently in Narnia.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n WALK IN THE PARK<\/strong> Shrek is quite a scaredy-cat \u2014 we just got her in December \u2014 and she\u2019s still adjusting to city life. We take her out first thing at a park not too far from our apartment. We bring her down in a little carrier bag. When we get to the park, we have to scope it out and see how busy it is, and if she can handle that level of stimulation. We often have to try to calm her down because some noise has put her into a state of high alert.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n FRIENDLY FACE-OFF <\/strong>After we get back from the park, my wife and I play video games or watch TV together. Today we go for Overcooked 2, which is a cooperative cooking simulation game where you\u2019re these little chefs who run a kitchen. But it\u2019s harder than it sounds; your kitchen is also on two separate platforms and a helicopter is moving them away from each other, so you can\u2019t always get to the stove! Another of our favorites is Baldur\u2019s Gate. We also love doing various word games together, like Wordle and Connections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n SHREK SNUGGLES<\/strong> Shrek is very sweet and loves cuddling and being held like a baby. Her favorite way to hang out is to be cradled in one of our arms. We do a family hug pile with her; she loves it. And so do we!<\/p>\n NACHOS AND NOSTALGIA<\/strong> Some of my high school and college buddies are in town, so my wife and I meet them for brunch at Randolph Beer<\/a> on Prospect Street. This is a momentous occasion for us: It\u2019s the first time we\u2019ve left the house together since we got Shrek. Normally we wouldn\u2019t be able to leave her alone, but Anabella\u2019s mom is in town and agreed to watch her. I get the Kitchen Sink Nachos \u2014 sour cream, guacamole, Pepper Jack cheese, black beans and jalape\u00f1os \u2014 and Anabella gets the Big Ass Pretzel, so I have some of that, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n ME, MYSELF AND A MATINEE<\/strong> It\u2019s hard for me to want to leave the house when my first thing of the day isn\u2019t until 7 p.m., so, to get myself out, I often see a movie in the afternoon before performing in my show at Caveat. I\u2019m big on seeing movies by myself in theaters. I take the L and then the M to the Regal Essex Crossing on the Lower East Side, which is walking distance from the theater. I\u2019ll literally see anything; I work backward from how long the movie is and what time I need to be out to get to the improv show on time. Anything that\u2019s playing around 4 p.m. is usually prime viewing for me. Today I\u2019m seeing \u201cDune: Part Two,\u201d and I\u2019m so glad I saw it in a theater. The visuals, the scale, the scope were all so impressive \u2014 it makes me wish I saw the first one in a theater, too.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n QUICK BITE <\/strong>I grab something quick for dinner a few blocks from the theater, often the Dan Dan Noodles with Beyond Meat at Spicy Moon<\/a> or the collard greens sandwich at Superiority Burger<\/a>, when it\u2019s on the menu. I\u2019ve been vegetarian for about four years, since early 2020. Today I get a falafel sandwich from Lava Shawarma.<\/p>\n THE BEST IMPROV SHOW IN THE WORLD <\/strong>The show starts at 7:30, and I try to be at the theater by 7. It\u2019s a bunch of people, many of whom performed in another Sunday night improv show, \u201cAsssscat,\u201d at the Upright Citizens Brigade before it shut down in 2020 during the pandemic. We\u2019ve been doing the show for a little over two years now, and I love it. There are usually about 120 people in the audience.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s a rotating cast of 20 improvisers, with eight to 10 in the show each week. And then we have a special guest monologist \u2014 often an actor or a writer or a comedian \u2014 come and tell stories. They get a suggestion from the audience, and then they riff off that and tell stories from their lives. Then we do a totally improvised show with characters and scenes based on the stories they tell.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Our special guest monologist tonight is Josh Sharp, who co-wrote and starred in \u201cDicks: The Musical<\/a>.\u201d He\u2019s an old friend of mine, and of all of us at the show. It\u2019s always fun when the monologist is someone we know, because they know what we need and we can be a little looser.<\/p>\n