Under the Bed, the well-known theatrical improvisation group on campus, stayed up late on Saturday night. The troupe performed an evening show at 9:30 p.m, which is unusual. As the group’s name implies, the improv shows can lean towards the scandalous, and Saturday’s performance was no disappointment here; it included its share of prostitutes alongside tamer characters, such as wizards straight out of Lord of the Rings and two nose-blowing champions. Regardless of the tiny space, completely-filled seating and unbearable heat of the congested theater classroom, Under the Bed left almost no one disappointed. Group member Mike MacKay ’11 described being on stage during an improv show: “You have no knowledge of what’s going on… things [just] flow. You react to the actions, but you react without using any filter. You’re not mentally there, but you are in the scene. It’s really a weird state.” Alec Weiss ’11, Eli Grober ’09 and Kate Chaviano ’12 opened the night with a clever role-play routine, “No You Didn’t.” In this act, Chaviano and Grober were a master and servant—they improvised one humorous line after another, but Weiss had the right to say “no, you didn’t” after any line he wished. The two then quickly had to create another funny line to fit the plot. As Grober questioned Chaviano’s right to force him to work, she immediately replied, “Because I am your master.” Weiss interrupted with “no, you didn’t,” and Chaviano had to change her line over and over, until she said, “Because I’m God.” For the next game, the audience provided actors with three phrases—Pokémon, Lord of the Rings and the moon—for the “Slideshow” game, starring Andrew Schlager ’12. Just seconds after the plot was given, Schlager created his character: a loquacious woman who worshipped Saruman and other evils from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. The rest of the actors reenacted Pokémon scenes and became other objects on the moon while Schlager instinctively fired off jokes. Audience member Andrew Ang ’09 said, “Andrew Schlager was especially funny. The ‘slideshow act’ was for me, the highlight of the show.” Another successful act was “Party Host,” in which the audience could select one noun and adjective to describe characters the actors then had to portray. Patrick Brady ’11 was chosen to be Sean Connery with an obnoxious twitch and Chaviano was chosen to be a virgin prostitute impregnated with a daughter soon to be diagnosed with cancer. The spontaneity and blatant randomness had the audience cracking up. “World Champs” was also a hit. The audience chose Dan Larson ’11 and Schlager to compete in viciously blowing their noses, sometimes attacking their opponents. Watching the actors crazily blow their noses with profound energy and zeal was a completely unusual sight. Frankly, it made this show exceptional. Weiss said after the show, “The audience of the room and energy from the crowd was really easy to feed off of. It gave us something to work with, which was awesome.” Melina Prentakis ’11, an audience member, commented, “I like how the audience can take part in it. It was one of the best shows I had been to.” Saturday night’s performance received extremely positive feedback from the audience. It looks like this improvisational group’s phenomenal talent is no secret – it’s out from under the bed.
