For anyone who was looking to laugh after the inevitable situationship breakup on Valentine’s Day, Lewis & Clark’s improv group, Serious Club, hosted a show on Feb. 15. Despite the snowstorm earlier in the week, the show was a big hit and the Coop quickly filled up with students with a passion for comedy.
To celebrate the holiday, the show was called “Prov Actually” based on the hit romantic comedy “Love Actually.” All of the performers, or “provers,” — a shortened form of improviser, as they call themselves came dressed as rom-com characters. Co-captain Dylan Hunter’s costume was based on the two main characters of “Brokeback Mountain,” but with a lesbian twist — a fitting take on the classic queer film. The rom-com theme provided the perfect amount of cheesiness to the night with all of the performers getting into the campy “romantic” spirit.
Like other improv shows, the performers played a variety of games together in which they were forced to think quickly on the spot, the activities often requiring audience participation. One game they played was based on the TV show “Whose Line is it Anyway?” and involved audience members writing down lines they wanted to be implemented in a scene. Then, some of the players acted in a hilarious scene of two grandmas playing a ruthless game of pickleball, and occasionally whipped the audience lines out of their pockets and incorporated them into the story. The result was funny and completely unique, drawing laughs and whoops from the audience.
Another game that heavily relied on audience participation was Entrances and Exits, in which the audience helped brainstorm triggers for each of the performers that would cue them to either enter or exit the scene. One of the best parts of the game was the general situation — a family visited Jurassic Park, which, as one might imagine, ended horribly. This entertaining scenario was created by the audience.
“Improv is just as much improvised for the people on the stage as it is for the people off-stage,” Hunter said. “I love it when audiences are like, ‘Do this thing!’ Especially when we’re asking for suggestions and stuff. The fucking crazy ones are the best ones.”
The team closed with a popular and appropriate game, Growing And Shrinking Machine, or “GASM.” The game starts with just one person, but eventually all team members join in, changing the scene each time a new player is added. Despite it being improvised, the performers were able to create a believable and complex plot involving a plane crash, cannibalism and legal drama which sounds like the perfect plot for a TV show, perhaps, and I am just spitballing here, called “Yellowjackets.” Audience members hollered at the absurd situations and well-acted physical comedy and the game proved a great ending to a hilarious Valentine’s Day show.
Part of the excellence of the show came from the team’s hard work to polish their improv skills. They practice twice a week, running through the games they play at shows to make sure they can perform together smoothly. Hunter explained how the team works on general improv skills to make scenes more entertaining.
“(We work on) establishing ‘CROW,’ an acronym used constantly. It’s ‘Character, Relationship, Objective and Where’ and it’s just what makes an improv scene make sense,” Hunter said.
This hard work pays off for provers, Hunter feels, as it creates a place for students to have fun and grow with each other, regardless of whether they plan to pursue performance outside of the team. In order for the team to grow, they need feedback, so they want a large and energized audience. If you have had the misfortune of missing an LC improv show, you are missing out.
“I have not been to an improv show that we put on that was not fun,” Hunter said. “The community of the people in the audience is always really fun as well — they’re all just whispering at each other and we’re making horrible, horrible sex jokes right in front of their eyes. It’s beautiful.”
Fear not, though, for there are more opportunities for you to witness this beauty for yourself. The team plans to have at least one more show this semester, which may be a more long-form show where performers improvise an entire movie, all off the top of their heads. If you are interested in trying out improv for yourself, the team hosts open improv every Sunday in the Platteau at 4 p.m. as a fun, low-stakes way to get involved in the art form. Laughter is the best medicine, and fortunately, it is free of charge with Serious Club.
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