Senior Julia Martin performs at a Mama’s Pot Roast show last December. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

Merriam-Webster defines improvisation as “the act of improvising,” which is not very enlightening. Improvising is defined as to “compose, recite, play, or sing extemporaneously,” which is more helpful, if a bit verbose.

For junior Jesse Markowitz of the student improv group Suspicious of Whistlers, the definition boils down to something simpler. Improvisation is everywhere.

“You do improv every day of your life, unless you spend an entire day on stage performing a scripted piece,” Markowitz said.

To Washington University students, improvisation may be a last resort when you are called to comment on that book you haven’t read, but improv is a different beast. Improv refers to those comedy shows in which scenes are made up on the fly, with just a word or phrase from the audience as a starting point. Maybe participants play games or sing songs. The results are often funny and always unexpected.

The three improv groups on campus—Mama’s Pot Roast, Suspicious of Whistlers and KARL—have their own styles, histories, philosophies and flavors. This behind-the-scenes look at Wash. U. improv sheds light on some of the most popular entertainment groups on campus.

Mama’s Pot Roast

Providing 15 years of laughter to campus, Mama’s Pot Roast is the oldest improv group at Wash. U. Mama’s Pot Roast also proudly boasts actor Peter Sarsgaard as a founding member, long before his current fame.

“It was just a group of students who wanted to dabble in improv,” senior Julia Martin said about the group’s inauspicious beginnings.

Pot Roast’s style varies widely, though it can be considered a “short-form” group, performing short, unrelated scenes, typically with underlying rules or gimmicks. When you watch “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?” you’re watching short-form improv.

Mama’s Pot Roast is notable for its variety: games, improvised musicals, sketches, political satire and at least one game show in the repertoire. The key to being successful at such an array, according to members, is to master the basics of improv.

“[You need] to have a good ground of scenework and build from there, because if you can have good scenes, any game or long-form [improv] you do will come together,” junior Barry Bradley said. “It’s just figuring out what the game is and what the gag is.”

Don’t be fooled into thinking being good at improv is simply a matter of being quick on your feet—it takes hard work and a lot of practice. Being a member of an improv group can be very time-consuming.

“We practice improv for six hours a week, [plus] sketch writing for an hour,” junior David Byren said.

Despite the time commitment, the interest in improv at Wash. U. is astounding, and the competition is intense. According to Byren, more than 60 people tried out for the joint improv auditions, and Mama’s Pot Roast only took four new members.

Mama’s Pot Roast’s last show of the year, “Knighta Komedy XXXI: The Sesquicentennial,” will be on Monday at 8 p.m. in Lab Sciences 300.

KARL

While the meaning of the acronym KARL is still a mystery, it is known that Wash. U.’s other short-form troupe was founded in 2003 when a spike of people trying out and not getting callbacks for Mama’s Pot Roast spurred students to create a separate group. While KARL also follows short-form improv, its members have worked hard to establish their own style and reputation.

“We think our flavor and taste is different than [Mama’s] Pot Roast, but it’s something we have trouble verbalizing,” junior Ben Walsh said. “We get along with the people in Pot Roast just fine; in fact some of my best friends are in Pot Roast. But there’s a friendly rivalry, I’d say, between all three groups.”

“Mama’s Pot Roast is like Subway. They have a nice, light, vegetably taste. Then KARL is like Quiznos. It’s much darker and meatier, I think,” said freshman Randy Brachman, who is also a Forum columnist for Student Life. “If you want a music analogy, Pot Roast is the Beatles, and KARL is the Rolling Stones.”

The idea of a comedy competition between Mama’s Pot Roast and KARL has certainly been suggested multiple times over the years, but has yet to occur.

Despite the group’s relative newness and use of short-form improv, KARL members take pride in their scenes and the quality of their performances.

“Short-form improv sometimes gets a bad rap for having maybe less integrity than long-form, more gimmicks and things,” Walsh said. “Short-form is [also] constantly checking in and interacting with the audience. That adds another element, a different feel for the show.”

For Walsh, however, there’s only so much philosophy you can ponder before you have to simply get out on stage and improvise.

“There is such a thing as theorizing and English-majoring improv to death,” Walsh said. “Mostly we’re just having fun on stage. That’s what we’re about really. I’m a huge believer in the fact that if you’re having fun on stage, the audience is having fun.”

KARL’s last show of the year is titled “Comedy Hangover” and will be held on Sunday, April 26 at 8 p.m. in the Gargoyle

Suspicious of Whistlers

Suspicious of Whistlers is Wash. U.’s only long-form improv troupe. Long-form improv differs from short-form in that scenes are connected and started by a suggestion from the audience, which inspires the first scene. Scenes then spin off from the first, each inspired by and related to the one before it. Interwoven plot threads are created and explored, all ideally unified and resolved by the end of the show.

Suspicious started in 2003 when some members of Wash. U.’s  improv were looking for something entirely different.

“There was separate cluster who were reading a book about long-form and wanted to give it a shot,” senior Rick Andrews said. “They held a really small audition. The other original members showed up, they clicked, and they started the group, and it’s been rolling ever since.”

From its own inauspicious beginnings, Suspicious matured into the well-trained group it is today.

“Most of the early members were in fraternities, so you could typify it as mildly sketchy frat humor,” senior Laura Castanon said. “But we had some members go to Chicago to get training, and they brought back from there an amalgamation of styles. Rick and I also brought our own stuff from Improv Boston.”

Without the jokes, games or gimmicks, it would be easy to think long-form would be dull. But creating a story on the spot and feeding off previous jokes and plot devices gives life to the style. According to Andrews, it’s both the absurdity and the honesty that makes long-form work.

“What makes interesting improv and interesting theater is the relationships between the characters on stage,” Andrews said.

Improv is a work of the moment, for the moment. It makes sense, therefore, that most on-campus improv shows are free.

“If you think about it, improv must be some kind of a con if you’re getting people to pay for it,” Castanon said, “because it’s not funny later. It’s only funny right then.”

Suspicious of Whistlers’ last show of the year, titled “The 420 Show,” will take place on Tuesday at 8 p.m. in Lab Sciences 300.

The end-of-the-year comedy shows at Wash. U. promise to be fun experiences for newcomers and old fans alike. No matter which improv style you prefer, you can release some stress with the kinds of jokes and audience dynamic that by default are custom-made and can only happen once.