Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Your School. Your Paper. Since 1936.

The Suffolk Journal

Suffolk Eats Improv

What was supposed to be a fun-filled night of laughter and off-the-cuff joking turned into a predominately silent experience with awkward glances and smug faces.

At some points, you could have heard crickets in the background.

“It really wasn’t that funny,” commented freshman Emily Brady referring to Saturday’s 9th annual “Eat My Improv” show at the Modern Theatre.

Improv Groups from Boston University, Emerson College, Brandeis University, and Suffolk’s own “Seriously Bent” performed comical skits off the tops of their heads.

Each group started their performance by asking the audience to scream out random words, later using them as the basis of the skits.

Despite the stagnant feeling in the theatre, a few voices could be heard projecting their approval for a select few skits.

Liquid Fun, from BU, performed comical situations “on the T” that local commuters found to be hilarious.

“The things you see on the T are so strange that the BU skit was almost accurate,” commented Susanna Paige. “I really wasn’t impressed with Emerson. I couldn’t hear like 80 percent of the act. In traditional improv you’re supposed to face the audience, but if you do move around at least don’t mumble.”

These short form sketches were between five to eight minutes and each group performed around four each.

“I think you need a specific kind of humor to appreciate improv. My friends enjoy it, but it’s not something I am crazy about,” commented James Borchers, a guest from the University of Miami. “If I had to chose a group from the show, I would have to say Brandeis University was the best.”

The Swollen Monkeys (SWOMO) group from Emerson got cheap laughs out of the audience using suggestive vocabulary.

The predominantly Suffolk dominated audience was the most enthusiastic about Seriously Bent. They worked their skit off of “shake weights” and moved on to ghosts, interventions, and malaria infected animals.

“I went the the Improv Asylum in the North End during freshman orientation and really enjoyed it, so I figured I would check out the show on campus,” commented freshman Gabrielle Bardfield. “Out of all the groups Brandeis was definitely the most impressive. I couldn’t really understand what was going on in the Seriously Bent skits; none of the sketches really fit together.”

At the end of the show all four improv groups joined to create skits together. This was the most exciting part of the night.

“It was a really fun event! Some of the groups were better than others, but it was really neat to see them all work together at the end,” commented sophomore Kyle Arruda. “It was almost as if they had all hung out in the past and were totally comfortable with each other.”

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  • AnonymousFeb 17, 2011 at 3:32 am

    Well, “anonymous”, I’m going to go ahead and agree with “Anonymous”. If this person doesn’t have the basic knowledge of improv to know that most of the groups that night were performing long form and not short form, then they probably shouldn’t be commenting on how they found the structure and performance subpar. That would be like someone deciding a particular type of red wine was bad after they chugged it right out of the bottle without letting it breathe. Improv can take a while to get going, and sometimes it may not completely hit the mark, but a laugh is a laugh. This article is not only insulting to the performers of the evening, but also to the audience for being critiqued at what they laughed and didn’t laugh at. Bottom line, maybe a person who understands improv comedy, or at least lives improv, should review the improv shows. Is that crazy?

    Reply
  • AnonymousFeb 12, 2011 at 11:59 pm

    I went to the show with a relaxed attitude and I did agree that there were crickets in the crowd during the first two groups. The first two groups spent more of their time trying to figure out what one another was doing to come up with a proper storyline and gag. The last two groups, including the Suffolk’s Seriously Bent, were by far better then the first two. Seriously Bent allowed the performance to go on rather then end it too soon or say no to what a person was trying to improvise. There were no awkward silences and if so were filled with “Chocolate covered in Gold” and other running jokes. Maybe the “Journal Staff” got the groups mixed up but Suffolk was the most professional one up there and I sat in the rear of the theater. “Pot of Gold” was priceless. The creepy pet shop skit was another high note. I can’t even remember what the other groups did because they were forgettable.

    I loved how the groups came together at the end also but felt like demanding more of Suffolk’s players. I would like to note I go to Umass Boston so I have no pity preference to any of the schools listed above nor was I friends with anyone onstage. This was an assignment by a teacher to attend this show. The “Journal Staff” should maybe post their true identities and majors so they can show how inexperienced, uptight, and uneducated they really are. Also don’t fall asleep through the first few groups and make a false review about your own school’s group. It makes your school look like pretentious jerks bringing down their own school for the sake of a “controversial” review.

    The Journal Staff of Suffolk: Improv your next review, see how well it goes.

    Reply
    • A

      anonymousFeb 14, 2011 at 11:28 am

      It’s no lie that Seriously Bent is a great team. Just because they get one mildly negative review doesn’t mean that you have to go shit all over the writer. Maybe “anonymous” should remember that this is a student newspaper, meant to help students learn. Thanks to you, maybe a freshman writer is now discouraged from learning anymore, thinking that they “suck” but in truth they’re just going to learn from their mistakes just like I’m sure you have in the past. Also, I don’t see how any part of this article shows a writer being uptight and uneducated. Maybe you’re just an asshole.

      Reply
  • A

    AnonymousFeb 10, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    Yet again the Suffolk Journal is so poorly informed and writing about things they’ve clearly never researched. Do your homework Journal. It would take less than a minute to Google ‘improv’ and learn about the proper terminology for improvisation structures.

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