On Sept. 12, the Aragon Improv Team held its annual “Welcome Back” show in the theater.
“The main purpose of the Welcome Back Show was to grab your attention and go, ‘hey, join our improv team,’” said junior and improv treasurer Li Jennings. “It’s to spark interest in improv — not only in coming to the shows, but perhaps performing.”
The team performed a number of short form games, including Town Hall, Pillars, Family Dinner and Character Swap, followed by a montage about cheese. In Family Dinner, the performers acted as an audience member’s family, and the audience member rang a bell when the performers were accurate to their family. There was also a montage on cheese, which included a skit about a kid who wanted to become a cow milker, but had a cheese churner as a dad. The scene ended with the kid bringing a cow in, played by an actor on all fours.
“My favorite part had to be when they imitated someone’s family,” said sophomore Johanna Norman. “That part was really fun to watch, because the person up there just kept ringing the bell. It was scary how accurate they were.”
Even though the show is unscripted, the performers still have to practice twice a week.
“We’re practicing sharing space, building characters [and] building settings,” said senior and improv vice president Samantha Green. “Leading up to a show, we’ll practice specifically the formats we’re doing, [like] the games with suggestions that we give to each other.”
An important skill for the improv team is spontaneity, which they specifically focus on in select activities
“We have a game called three things, where you’re given a category, and you list the first three things that come to your mind,” Jennings said. “It doesn’t matter if they fit or not. It’s generally practicing not being afraid [of saying] something that’ll mess you up and throw you off balance.”
Since seniors graduated and new members are recruited each year, the show’s content and ideas are ever-changing. The team’s final show last year contained more long form scenes, while this year’s “Welcome Back” show contained more short form games that elicited audience participation.
One of the merits of improv is its range.
“You can have incredibly comedic scenes as much as you can have really heartfelt, dramatic scenes,” Green said. “It’s about learning how to give in to your artistic impulses, your creative impulses.”
Even though improv can be nerve-wracking, performers can support each other on stage.
“In improv, there’s a rule called ‘Yes, And’,” Jennings said. “If somebody says something that’s completely out of pocket or weird, it’s up to the other improvisers on stage to embrace that. That’s now part of the scene [and] what we’re doing, because there are no wrong answers.”
The improv team’s next show will be held on Dec. 4 in the theater.
