Harry Kahane ’20, pictured, is the Head of Under the Bed (UTB) this year. The show, which featured a variety of improv games, included the five new members of UTB.
U.T.B. member Myra Bhathena ’22 said, “I walked onto the stage and then looked around and literally, it seemed like there were a thousand heads there. It was insane. It was crazy. I didn’t know [Susie’s] could be filled that much. Everyone was really enthusiastic and would laugh at literally anything. It was super great to be watched by all of these great people,” said Bhathena.
The group, comprised of 11 members, performed six improv games during the show. According to U.T.B. Head Harry Kahane ’20, there were more students in Susie’s to watch the show than he had ever seen before.
“[The show] was great. It was definitely a little more sexual than we would have hoped, but I think that was just a byproduct of how excited everyone was, all the adrenaline that was going went we walked in here in [Susie’s]. We had more people in here than I had ever seen before, and I think our new members especially did a great job.”
This year’s new members are Bhathena, Ariana White ’22, Nash Johnson ’20, Tucker Nee ’23, and Matthew Veneri ’21.
“It’s always tough when we start over every year, because we always lose a lot of great Seniors that we really love. We have to examine the student body and find people that we think are the funniest, and that’s exactly what [the new members] bring to the group,” said Kahane.
Former head of U.T.B. Nick Demetroulakos ’19 returned to campus and watched the show. He said that returning U.T.B. members have continued to grow as performers during their time in the group.
“I just wanted to support my people. They all mean a lot to me and I just wanted to support them… I think it’s really hard to compare year to year because there are new members, and it’s just a different group, but I think that everyone from last year did really well and they have all matured as improvisors and comedians… I think they did wonderfully. It’s really scary getting up there, especially this first show,” said Demetroulakos.
The games the group played included Bell Curve, Half Life, Party Quirks, Expert Challenge, Freeze, and Montage. According to Bhathena, the games were all selected based on the group’s comfort level and the potential for the most humor.
Bhathena said, “We all decided which games we felt the strongest and most comfortable in and then the returning seniors chose the groupings… [My favorite game was] definitely ‘Freeze’ because it had the greatest potential for complete absurdity and hilarious short improv scenes.”
After the last improv game on U.T.B.’s program, “Freeze,” the group gave an encore with one final game called Montage.
Kahane said, “We thought that they might want to do an encore. We saw how hyped this crowd was and we knew that they were here to see us. We weren’t necessarily prepared, but we rolled with it as we are, we improvised.”
Editor’s Note: Nash Johnson is a Copy Editor for The Phillipian.
