Easy Baked Improv wows audiences

Improv comedic troupe teams students, friends

Ian Alexander and Jacob Kozenlicki rushed frantically on the stage repeating their previously one-minute scene now condensed to a mere three seconds.

Laughter erupted from the audience as gibberish instead of dialog came from the actors' mouths, all while they crashed into a table instead of rolling off of it.

“Half-life” is the name of the game and it starts out with audience suggestions, or “ask fors,” for what a pair of Easy Baked Improv actors should accomplish in one minute. The scene is then condensed down by half until reaching one second creating frantic actors and belly laughing audience members.

Pure improv
Games like this can all be accredited to Easy Baked Improv, a student organization that entertains based on pure improvisation.

“We’re making up everything until we leave, entertaining and interacting the whole time,” said Keith Brooks, member of Easy Baked Improv. “It’s like we invited you into our living room.”

Though the shows are not in anyone’s living room, the free and creative environment allows the audience to gain humor by becoming part of the scenes.

“They never disappoint me in the level of entertainment, it’s a very informal atmosphere, to me, drama is so formal and improv is informal, we’re friends and we’re just hanging out” said Natalie Bundschu, a regular audience participant.

Following a theme
The basic show focuses on a theme, using games that address a particular idea. However, the rest is up to the audience and the pure improvisation of the troupe.

The shows may involve the same games but each show is about creating new lines for the same ideas, it’s a form of creative advancement according to Brooks.

Regular attendance allows audience members something to look forward to and skits that they know they will enjoy.

A favorite of both Bundschu and Elisabeth Beatty, another improv attendee, is a game called four corners. This involves four actors, which pair up, with each pair doing a different scene based on suggestions given by the audience.

“You’ve got four different scenes going on and it can just get really crazy, they have to remember where they left off from last time” said Beatty.

Though the shows are led by the members of the troupe, audience participation and reaction are equally important.

“When they laugh, it allows us to go further. Reaction and energy allows us to go forward. It’s like a game of tennis because we’re both invested in it and the ball keeps going back and forth” said Brooks.

The energy that the crowd brings is what provokes the Easy Baked troupe to give off more of themselves to the audience.

“It’s 99 percent of what we do, the general or average idea is to get them to laugh, but if you can do a scene that evokes real emotion, then we’ve gotten just as good as a reaction than if the house were on the floor laughing” said Samantha Hiner, Easy Baked member.

Easy Baked has become a way of life for not only the troupe, but the audience members as well.
“It’s so great to have a day during the week where you can go be with your friends, de-stress and laugh your ass off. It’s something to look forward to” said Beatty.

The Beginning
According to Brooks, Easy Baked started back in 2003 after an improv class inspired the students to keep on performing.

The following fall the students began performing on the Memorial Library steps and soon moved to the theater.

Now, four years later, the troupe has eight members and evening performances every other Tuesday night.

The Easy Baked troupe holds auditions for new members at the beginning of every school year.

“It’s open to the entire campus and if you don’t make it the first time, come and try out again” said Hiner.

Wanna see easy baked?
Though there is only one more show for this semester, the Easy Baked Improv schedule is packed with events for Spring 2008, including their big event, the 24-hour Improvathon.

The Improvathon lasts from 8 p.m. until 8 a.m., Jan. 25-26 and cost $5 for come and go as you please entry.

The Easy Baked Improv troupe is all about making a good time for the audience members and each other.

“I get to feel closer to the people I am performing with, accomplishing something with the audience and get the audience taken, even if it is just for one scene, away from the stress” said Hiner.

Members of Easy Baked Improv have mastered an art form and gained audience support.

“It’s something I could never do. They put themselves on the spot and it amazes me that they can do what they do, so when I go to a show I already have a lot of respect for them. They are a real close knit group and you can tell they love what they do,” said Beatty.

{R. J. R.}