Mini-Improvathon Showcases Students’ Spontaneity

Photo by Kimberly Sleeper.

by Jayme Lowe

The Concordia IMPROVables performed their Mini-Improvathon on Oct. 7 in Janzow Top.

The improv theater group does shows throughout the year to demonstrate their talents, and the three hour Mini-Improvathon is their second-longest. It functions as a preview to their main event—the 24-Hour Improvathon in April, but has some unique features.

“All the improv members participate in the first two hours of the show,” junior Taylor Rankel said. “But then hour three usually turns into a free-for-all, with audience participation included.”

Improv, short for improvisation, is a form of theater or comedy where the actors perform without a script. Instead, they must create a setting, characters or a scene based on a prompt. All of the actors work together, feeding off of what the others have said and done to advance the scene, and oftentimes they end up with funny or ridiculous scenarios.

At IMPROVables shows, certain games are chosen, like “Chain Death Murder” or “Sounds like a Song.” Members are assigned or volunteer to act in that scene and prompts are taken from the audience.

As the show goes on, the prompts get stranger, the scenes get wilder and sometimes audience members will brave the stage and join a game.

One favorite game for audience participation is “Serenade.” An audience member volunteers and then two improv members ask them personal questions, after which the members improvise a song on the spot for the volunteer.

A notable feature of IMPROVables shows is that they are live-streamed on YouTube. Fans who can’t make it to a show can watch the antics in real time or watch past recorded shows on their channel.

The group also accepts requests and scene suggestions via Twitter, @CUNEimprov, where they tweet out reminders about their upcoming performances, highlights from shows and sometimes live-tweet events.

“Everyone there is amazingly supportive, and we all work together to help each other improve,” sophomore Bekah Rusert said. “When I first joined, I thought it would be the end of the world if I couldn’t produce a quality scene. Now, I just go for it because I know that they’ll still support me and help me to grow, even if I mess up. In short, it gives me a fun and relaxing break from homework while also helping me to grow as an actor and as a human being.”

The IMPROVables meet Monday and Thursday nights at 9:30 p.m. in the Black Box theatre, and everyone is welcome to come and participate.

The next IMPROVables show will be at the Olde Glory Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 15.