Nothing has the potential to bridge the generational gap between students, alumni, faculty and community members like a good laugh.
On Friday and Saturday of Elon University’s homecoming weekend, the Department of Performing Arts presented its third annual evening of improvisation, titled “Instant Laughter,” in Yeager Recital Hall. The proceeds from the production went to benefit the department’s scholarship fund.
The performance was a traditional series of improvised sketches of the “Whose Line is it Anyway?” variety. This year, “Instant Laughter” sophomore Samuel Rozier played the part of an onstage referee. Rozier monitored the show’s content and issued hilarious penalties.
“We try to keep it something that you could bring your grandma to,” said Fred Rubeck, Department of Performing Arts chair and “Instant Laughter” director.
[quote] Comedy is a way humans in their everyday life deal with struggles or personal problems, and that’s exactly what we, the performers, do, mostly on a heightened, wacky level." - Senior Tyler Alverson, performer in 'Instant Laughter' [/quote]
Performers also incorporated on-the-spot audience suggestions into their skits, as well as suggestions written on slips of paper by audience members prior to show time. At one point, the audience was asked to suggest a trait for a character on stage, and 30 minutes later performers were transforming into Kardashians and falling in love with audience members.
The “Instant Laughter” improv troupe is assembled on a yearly basis after the castings of the fall musical and drama. For several weeks, the troupe rehearses the sketch games, tailoring them to the chemistry of the ensemble.
“It’s really about learning to trust one another and following the rules of improv, like spontaneity, being there for each other and just running with whatever is thrown at you,” Rubeck said.
Some of the cast of “Instant Laughter,” such as junior Sam Jones, have concentrated on sketch comedy in their training and have even studied through such professional enterprises as The Second City in Chicago. Senior acting major, Tyler Alverson, however, decided to audition on a whim.
“I was pleasantly surprised to get an email notifying me that I had been selected to become a member of the team,” Alverson said.
The entire cast was able to incite laughter almost instantly within the first moments of Friday night’s performance and kept the audience in stitches throughout the evening. At last there was an audible sigh from the crowd when it was announced that the show would soon be concluding with the sketch, “Death in a Minute,” as performers attempted to act out convoluted fatal situations in as close to 60 seconds as possible. The couple able to best match this time was crowned “homecoming king and queen” and received a standing ovation from the audience.
“You have people that don’t like coming to see plays, people that don't like coming to see musicals, but with improv you never really know what you're coming to see, and that’s what makes it so intriguing for both audience and performers,” Alverson said. “Comedy is a way humans in their everyday life deal with struggles or personal problems, and that’s exactly what we, the performers, do, mostly on a heightened, wacky level.”