This past Monday night, a group of 11 students stood in a circle, clapping with their hands to keep a beat. One student, a tall, lanky boy, states his name loudly on the beat, followed by the pose of an elephant. With one arm extending from his nose, he moves his arm up and down, playfully mimicking an elephant’s trunk. Right after, he mimics another animal–a monkey, through scratching his underarms and jumping up and down.
Across from the circle, a girl’s face lights up. She smiles at the boy, and mimics the monkey as well. Then, she mimics yet another animal, prompting another student in the circle to continue the game. The game continues for a couple of minutes, until one girl in the circle hesitates to mimic an animal. Her brows furrow, and a pondering look crosses her face, as she racks her brain for an animal to mimic. This hesitation causes the group of 11 to burst into laughter, and the troupe comes together talking animatedly.
This rambunctious group, known as Laser Squad Bravo, or LSB for short, utilizes this acting game of “Zoo” to improve their quick thinking skills and express their playful passion for drama. A premiere student-run improv comedy troupe, the eleven members of LSB come together every Monday night at 10p.m. to work on their improv skills, but these troupe meetings clearly look nothing like “work.”
The game “Zoo” is just one of numerous games that LSB opens their meetings with, followed by improv drills that work on character building, quick thinking, comedy, and more. Two days before this weekly Monday meeting, LSB President Ellen Hauxhurst sits across from me at The Den coffee shop with another LSB member, sophomore Karenina Osuna. Clad in funky jewelry and a colorful tshirt, Hauxhurst’s face lights up discussing her passion for improv.
“I was in improv in highschool, and it was not cool at all,” Hauxhurst said. “Like it was super lame. I remember I got invited to a formal my sophomore year [of college], but I couldn’t go because I had an improv show, and my date was like ‘…What??’” Hauxhurst laughs fondly at the memory.
While Hauxhurst has been involved in improv comedy since highschool, Osuna’s experience only started this past year. “I remember being invited by my friends to see the improv show, and I was like ‘Oh, sounds fun,’” Osuna said. “I went, and I was like ‘Oh man, they’re funny, and I’m annoyed by that, because I want to be in that.’ The next show I went to, I remember that I impulsively went alone. At the end of the show they said they had auditions.”
While LSB meetings appear fun and playful with an intimate 11 participants, LSB auditions display the true reach that improv comedy has. With around 40 students auditioning each year, passion for acting and comedy shows through the energy of auditions. Hauxhurst led LSB
auditions this year, and the passion for comedy is even contagious through her animated gestures when describing the audition process.
“We split them into groups and we see them playing typical improv games like Freeze Tag and Pan Left, those are like the classics,” Hauxhurst said with a grin. “Then we have callbacks, which don’t start until around midnight because the auditions don’t start until 10. It’s a late night, but it’s a lot of fun.”
Along with auditions, LSB performs only two shows per year–one in March and one at the end of the semester. Each LSB meeting works to improve members’ skills in improv and character building through funny and energetic acting games, preparing them for a public showing of their skills. LSB shows are where members showcase their improv talents on the spot.
“The shows are my favorite, because they are just the scariest thing of all time,” Osuna said. “You are in front of a mixture of a bunch of people you know and a bunch of people you don’t know. So you’re either going to embarrass yourself in front of everyone you know, or make the worst first impression on the people you don’t know.”
Hauxhurst laughs loudly at Osuna’s nerve wracking statement. “Or there’s the opportunity to just make people laugh, and that is the best feeling ever,” Hauxhurst said. “That’s what’s so exciting about it. It’s completely made up on the spot, which is what makes it so sick but also so terrifying.”
Hauxhurst and Osuna both laugh at this, sharing a look between them of understanding. With such a small group, this seemingly exciting yet terrifying passion clearly creates an intimate bond between them and the other members. “That’s one thing we try to work on too, trusting one another,” Hauxhurst said. “Knowing that no matter what, I have your back. If the scene fails, the scene fails, and that’s okay because it’s not something we could rehearse or not something that we practiced.”