With the school year already a month old and teachers beginning to dole out tougher assignments in increasing amounts Pepperdine students have been looking for relief from the grind of work. On Saturday Sept. 26 the Pepperdine Improv Troupe (PIT) was able to provide just that. A select group of Pepperdine’s finest comedic minds gathered on stage in the HAWC to bring a few hours of joy to students. Through wacky improvisational games a la “Whose Line is it Anyway?” PIT brings the art of improv comedy to the Malibu campus. Junior David McKee a new member of the PIT crew describes improv as “a great way to release any inhibitions that make us ‘proper adults’ and gives us a chance to act like kids again.”
A PIT show is a Pepperdine experience unlike any other. For this show eight of the members divided into two teams of four (self-christened “Pit of Fire” and “The Italianos Quartet”) and competed for the most laughs and points. This is where audience participation comes into play; at the end of every skit PIT director Tracy Burns asked the audience for their opinion of the sketch. By round of applause audience members cast their vote on a scale of one (“it was a skit and nothing more”) to five (“the funniest stuff you’ve ever seen”). Two examples of sketches receiving fives this time around were The Italianos Quartet performing the game “Gritty Brit-y and Pit of Fire in a game called Song Cue.” “Gritty Brit-y” required the cast to start the sketch normally and at the sound of a bell become increasingly “more British.” The scene began with the group at a drive-thru window and ended at teatime with each player sporting heavy Cockney accents. “Song Cue” required Pit of Fire to perform a scene and when cued burst into song based on the line of dialogue just spoken. In both games laughs were not in short supply. Quipped one audience member “My stomach is definitely getting a workout.”
Although PIT often makes it look effortless improv takes skill and an innate sense of comedic timing. Members have to react to each others’ humor spontaneously to keep the scene flowing making a mixed cast of rookies and old pros essential for both freshness and stability.
“It was an exhilarating experience. Luckily I was able to improv with some of the best said first-time player junior Jeff Loveness. I suppose I just threw my hat in the ring and saw what I could do.”
Senior Allegra Edwards a four-year veteran of PIT described a certain level of comfort in her new role as an on-stage leader.
“I no longer have to feel any anxiety before a show said Edwards. Now it’s more fun to help out the new guys because I figure there aren’t any new ways for me to get up there and embarrass myself.”
To get a feel for each others’ senses of humor the performers attend a weekly three-hour practice.
“We do lots of warm-up exercises group building games personal performance exercises and the improv games that we perform at the shows McKee said. Practicing the games with each other helps us get a feel for the format and gives us a sense of how certain things will work in some games but not in others.”
All that hard work clearly pays off according to first-time audience member senior Allison McCarty.
“It was fabulous and I want to come to all of them now junior Lea Westman said after the show.
Even PIT devotees such as junior Lea Westman were impressed with the new cast.
They lost some key seniors but they have so much potential to be great Westman said. This was definitely a solid first show.”
Junior Hayley Johnson another lover of PIT is glad to get her improv fix in after a year without it while she was studying overseas.
“No matter what I know that if I go to a PIT show it is going to be a hysterical Johnson said. I know I will always end up with tears of laughter at some point in the show.”
While the PIT crew usually performs once a month this month they will be making a double appearance bringing in the laughs during Family Weekend on Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. in Elkins Auditorium with another show the following week Oct. 24 in the HAWC.
