The Daily Campus

Issue date: 4/28/09 Section: Focus

Media Credit: Ashley Popisil Nick Stevens, a 2nd-semester student, and Ryan Wantroba, a 4th-semester psychology/physiology and neurobiolgy double major, perform as part of an Agents of Improv production Monday night in the Student Union Theater.

A cast of 12 members of the club Agents of Improv took the stage for an audience of about 50 students Monday night in the Student Union Theater. This was the Agents' last performance of the year, and they stuck to their guns, offering their dedicated audience a half-hour of short-form improvised games followed by a half-hour of long-form improv.

The short-form portion of the show consisted of six Agents who played games similar to those that appear on the comedy show "Whose Line is it Anyway?" The crowd response was mixed. The game 'Whose Line,' in which players are forced to insert audience-supplied lines into their scenes, ended with a smattering of applause and more than a few groans. However, the last game of the short-form section, 'Goon River,' was a hit with the crowd. In this game, the Agents told a story in which the characters took turns telling it at random. The Agents were much more in tune with each other than in the previous games, and it showed as they passed the focus of the scene back and forth, building off each other to a hilarious crescendo as they explored the gender of Swiss Miss (the lady who makes the cocoa) in the middle of a fish massacre.

"The crowd was into it," said Scott Colleran, Agents MC and 8th-semester biology major. "Some of the scenes went slow, but we were always able to turn it around."

The second part of the show consisted of a single improvised piece, called the Armando. In this piece, sets of four improvised scenes were broken up by true stories that were shared by the performers, which were in turn inspired by an audience suggestion. These scenes showcased very good improv skills, as the performers were clearly listening to each other and staying on the same page. The long-form scenes were a hit with the audience, as John Turner played a drug dealer who sold Goldfish, the snack that smiles back, and Molly Bahre described her elaborate plans for getting friends by carrying exactly 17 batteries and waiting until somebody's GameBoy or music player ran out of juice. Even the stories, meant to provide inspiration for the rest of the scenes, were very entertaining.

"The long-form went really well. We were on our game tonight," said Bahre, a 4th-semester human development and family studies major.

While this show also marks the last one of the year, it also marks Colleran's last show with the Agents.

"Overall, the Agents will have the same goal." Colleran said. "People will notice some slight changes in the way the club handles itself, but Alfonso [Giansanti, the next president] will be a good leader."

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