As an actor, I believe one great way to entertain people is with improvisation, most commonly referred to as improv. In order to foster that spirit of humor, the Clovis North Educational Center Improv Comedy Team, in conjunction with Blimprov — a local, experienced improv comedy group — performed an improv show on Feb. 26 and will present it again on April 30 at Clovis North.
Since I am a member of my school’s drama class, I thought I would enjoy watching other people do an improv show. I figured it would be a fun way to spend my night and that I could sharpen my own improv skills while learning some new acting games to show my class.
At the performance, student-actors engaged with the experienced Blimprov actors in improv games, basic acting games that require the actors to think quickly and come up with interesting, and often funny, scenarios. Most games find a unique way to get the actors to experience new ways to think creatively and grow in their acting ability. Throughout the show, I wanted to jump in because of actors’ fun and comedic performances.
The improv games resembled those of the TV comedy show Whose Line is it Anyway? but without being scripted, resulting in some awkward moments when the actors did not know what they were doing or how they could continue.
The group performed around 12 different games, each having a unique challenge. All of the games had funny moments that made the whole audience laugh and applaud the actors’ originality and creativity.
The ‘Murdery Mystery’ game
One such game was called “Murder Mystery,” where three members of the improv team were sent outside while the audience had to choose a place where someone was murdered, the occupation of the victim and with what object he or she was murdered with.
Then, one of the actors had to act out those three things to one of the team members from outside without using any words. After the team member thought he knew what they were, he would act out those three things to the next team member who would come in.
This continued until all of the people outside had come inside. At the end, each team member would say what he or she thought the three things were, being either comical or accurate based on the actors’ performances.
For this game, the audience chose a jail, a soup maker and pickle juice for the three respective things to act out with silent clues. This rendition was hilarious, as some people resorted to using grunting noises to get their messages across, which only made the audience laugh harder.
The ‘Questions Only’ game
Another fun game that the improv team played was called “Questions Only.” The team would divide up into two equal lines facing each other, and the first two people would begin a conversation with a specific location, chosen by the audience, in mind. But the catch was that they could only speak in questions.
This game required quick thinking to avoid answering the question with a statement or stalling to think of a question in response. As soon as one of them said a statement, he had to go to the end of his respective line and the next person in line would come in and create a new situation between the two people.
In one round, the team members had to pretend that they were at Chuck E. Cheese. The scenarios involved kids turning in tickets and worried parents searching for their children.
Questions for this scenario added to the comedy of the scene because it was easy for the actors to make mistakes and funny to watch them get flustered. It was equally comical to watch people come up with crazy questions that still keep the conversation going.
Student-actors demonstate potential
Though there were a few members of the Clovis North Improv Comedy Team who throughly entertained the audience — namely, seniors Nick Gardner and Jacob Ellis — the spotlight was stolen by the members of Blimprov: Nick Haas, Marcos Hammer, Magnus Chann and guest Alex Vaux. With their experience and willingness to put their entire body into the performance, they left the audience laughing at the end of every game.
Though the overall performance was enjoyable, there were still a few things that seemed to be lacking. First, a lot of the members of the Clovis North Improv Comedy Team did not seem sufficiently enthusiastic or willing to get involved. A lot of them avoided doing things that might be embarrassing or odd.
In addition, there were several uncomfortable moments during a few games because the students were not willing to be crazy or creative enough to entertain the audience. The students did not know how to act during awkward moments, which prolonged the uncomfortable atmosphere for the audience.
Despite these errors, the Clovis North Improv Comedy Team created interesting scenes with creative props and witty dialogue. The small, classroom-like setting allowed for an intimacy between the audience and the actors, which I enjoyed.
In the end, I left the show with a smile on my face. I know that the students have the potential to polish the few areas they struggle with and give a wonderfully funny and enjoyable show.
The Clovis North Improv Team next will perform at 7:30 p.m. in the Clovis North Drama Room, April 30. Tickets cost $6 online and $7 at the door. For more information on purchasing tickets, visit the Clovis North Drama website.
For more drama reviews, read the March 1 article, ‘The Crucible’ lacks depth, shows potential.
