Student Life

Issue date: 9/26/05 Section: Scene

Media Credit: Kristin McGrath The improv group Mama´s Pot Roast plays a game called "Freeze" at a recent practice.

Stepping into the Gargoyle at 10 p.m. on a Wednesday evening, a visitor feels transported into another world. I had the unique opportunity to spend time with Mama's Pot Roast, the longest running improvisational comedy troupe on campus, and find out what really happens at their rehearsals. After 12 years of comedy, the Pot Roasters have gotten practice time down to a science.

After a quick stretch warm-up ending with an enthusiastic yell of "HUMP!" the group immediately launches into a game of "Freeze." In this game, a few people create a situation and are frequently interrupted when other group members yell, "Freeze," take someone's position and start a new dialogue. The game flows smoothly, with members frequently adopting diverse accents and exaggerated maneuvers to broadcast their characters.

According to senior Robby Boyer, the Pot Roaster who organizes practices, games like "Freeze" project the true feeling of the group.

"Fundamentally, improv is the rawest form of expression," Boyer said. "It's right there for you and it's right what the audience wants: pure expression without restrictions."

But improv is not a one-man show. Improv is more than just being comedic; it's about learning how to sculpt that humor in a form that works with one's co-performers' styles.

"You can be the funniest person in the world and get on stage and fail because you don't know how to work with someone else," Boyer said. "Improv is in every way a team sport. You have to trust and be trusted."

In order to earn this trust, the team practices together two nights a week in an intense blend of practicing the rules of the game and giving feedback to each other. The group tries out all different combinations of team members for each game to see who works best together.

"We practice to get the rules of the game," said Pot Roast President Rob McLemore, a junior. "It's more than just getting up on stage and doing stuff, because there's a lot more to what makes the games work."

The team continues practice with a round of different improv games. In the first, titled "Fast Forward," two members must present a unique relationship to the audience, like ship captain and first mate. Another Pot Roaster will periodically scream directions to "fast forward" or "rewind" to a particular point in the relationship, taking cues from the dialogue onstage.

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools

Click play to hear the song of the day:

Artist:	The Cure
Track:	Close to Me
Album:	Head on the Door