So you think you're funny?

By Allison Silverman

As you probably know by now, the Yale community contains people with all kinds of interests, from singing to non-singing and everything in-between. If you like working with wood, perhaps you should try woodworking. If you like listening to music, perhaps you should try woodworking. If you like football, maybe woodworking would work for you.

But if you love performing, traveling, and spending time with funny--no, hysterical--people, you need to consider one of Yale's four improvisational comedy troupes: Exit Players, Just Add Water, The Purple Crayon, and The Viola Question.

A typical improv show consists of games and scenes based on audience suggestions. One performer in the group asks the audience for anything from an adverb to a physical absurdity (e.g., "You're turning into a bicycle and there's a college dean in your torso," or the family favorite, "Your butt is slowly expanding"). The players then perform several scenes based on your suggestions, which can range from merely acting them out to subtly incorporating them into completely different scenarios. The most popular scene, naturally, is woodworking.

Apart from performing on campus, the groups travel to perform at colleges and high schools. During vacations, they go on national tours. International tours have not yet caught on with the improv troupes, due not to language barriers, but to horrendously ugly passport photos.

You don't have to be an actor to be in improv--improvers come from every discipline. All you need is energy, a feel for comedy, and, of course, flexibility. As Woody Allen wrote, "If it bends, it's funny. If it breaks, it's not funny."

If you're bendable, Yale improv groups would love to see you at shows and auditions. In the meantime, have a wonderful summer, and try to get some good passport photos. Our groups are expanding as fast as our butts.

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