Under the Bed began its two shows last Saturday with an improvised poetry reading that kicked off a night of laughs. One of the poems titled “Miley” was inspired by the audience’s choice of two words: “Transformers” and “Miley Cyrus.” Sara Alban ’10 created a comical slam poem that combined the lyrics from Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA” with Megan Fox in “Transformers.” The audience roared at Alban’s creativity. Patrick Brady ’11 performed a second poem, titled “Mohawk Odyssey,” which was inspired by a wild hair style and the Homer’s The Odyssey. Brady’s ability to rhyme and recall facts from the Odyssey on the spot impressed the audience. UTB then played a game known as “Genre-Switch,” in which the actors improvised a scene based on a theme chosen by the audience. They then periodically switched to random new themes the audience called out. The scene began with B.J. Garry ’10 and Andrew Schlager ’12 acting out the theme of “father and son.” UTB became wildly creative when the audience suggested the subject “Korean soap opera.” Garry and Schlager continued to silently act out the original scene while the rest of UTB voiced the dialogue, giving the illusion of a scene dubbed in English. The technique proved to be extremely effective in eliciting laughs and sparking the audience’s creativity in their suggestions of other themes such as “romantic comedy.” The show proceeded with a game named “Helping Hands” in which one actor became the hands of another actor, and the pair tried to perform a skit together. The game took an entertaining twist when the audience decided that the paired actors were formerly conjoined twins, leading to many opportunities for creative jokes from the UTB. Though inventive, the game was not among the most popular of the night. Nora Princiotti ’12 said, “[‘Helping Hands’] was an admirable attempt at creativity. However, it just didn’t measure up to the ingenuity of the other skits.” The final game of the night, newly developed by UTB, called for a suggestion of a historical time period. At first audience members suggested the period of Jesus’s life, but UTB denied this theme to avoid controversy, choosing the Roman Empire in its place. The skit featured Michael MacKay ’11 as Julius Caesar and Brady as Brutus. Though one of the longest scenes of the night, it gave UTB the opportunity to experiment with improvisational singing and interpreting history for a source of entertainment. After the show, Schlager surveyed viewers about their opinions on this new game. Because of the game’s popularity, UTB will likely incorporate it in future shows. Overall, the show proved to exceed comical expectations and make the audience yearn for more. Sofia Duque ’11 said, “It was so funny [that] I’m staying for the second show.”
