EMU improv back in action

Photo by Jon Styer

Colt Nutter, Tim Koehn and Dana Gamber practice improv.

After a year's hiatus, a student-initiated improv group has started up again at EMU. Seniors Rachel Swartzendruber and Dana Gamber held auditions last Tuesday. About 13 people showed up for the auditions, and eight of them, along with Gamber and Swartzendruber, will make up the group.

Swartzendruber and Gamber have been doing improv together since they were freshmen, and both girls enjoy it immensely.

"It relieves stress for me," said Swartzendruber. "I just feel like if I can get up and make an idiot out of myself in front of a whole bunch of people, then other things just don't matter so much."

"It's a great excuse to just act crazy; you're encouraged to let loose and not care what other people are going to think about you. The point is to make them laugh!" said Gamber.

The group has been student-led since the girls' freshman year, when the group was started by two juniors. Gamber recalls how she became interested in the group: "Some friends of mine told me they thought I'd be good at improv, so I decided I would audition. I made it, and I loved it, so I've been involved with it ever since."

Last year, after the group took a break, both Gamber and Swartzendruber considered starting it up again, and after discussing it over the summer, they decided that they would hold auditions, although neither really likes the idea of auditioning for an improv group. "It's supposed to be spontaneous, so we didn't really like having a structured audition," said Swartzendruber, "but we had to have something to base the entrances on."

At this point, they haven't settled on a name for the group, although Gamber is confident they will have one before their first performance. "We just want to wait and see what kind of inside jokes come out of our practices and then we'll pick a name for the group."

They are tentatively planning a performance sometime before Christmas break, possibly around finals week, although if the plans fall through they will be scheduling several performances for next semester.

"We just want it to be a fun, laid-back experience," said Gamber, "We're there to have a good time, and we just want other people to come in, forget about their homework for a while, and relax and enjoy the show."