Comedy night brings laughter back to USU
One normally wouldn’t expect Richards Simmons to get killed by a toaster at the Neverland Ranch, Monica Lewinski and a Jedi to attend the same party, or a man to get trampled by a herd of unicorns – all in one night. But it all happened when the comedy improv group Do You Want Fries With That? performed for a crowd of 800 on Saturday night.
The show, held in the TSC Ballroom, was organized to raise money for the
Agriculture Technology Memorial Fund and all proceeds, which totaled $1,480, were donated to the cause.
Founder and leader of the improv troupe Do You Want Fries With That? Ricky Hacking, said he was contacted by ASUSU traditions chair Maren Barnett to do the show. “First we were going to do it for the Katrina victims, but we switched over since then,” Hacking said of the idea to do the show for the Ag Memorial Fund.
Do You Want Fries With That? is affliated with the USU theatre department’s improv comedy group, the Improv-uh-bles. Many of the actors in the “Fries” troupe are also involved in Improv-uh-bles.
Lanny Langston is a member of the Improv-uh-bles and hosted the event, similar to Drew Carey from “Whose Line Is It Anyway?”
“They [the Improv-uh-bles] do shows over in the Fine Arts Building, maybe three or four during the semester,” he said.
Barnett, who “just made sure things went smoothly,” was impressed with the performance of the comedians. “It looked like the audience was laughing a lot. People were happy,” she said.
Audience member Tabbi Perkins, who got to participate in one scene as the victim of a swallowed horseshoe, exclaimed, “Ricky Hacking rocks my face off!”
Hacking started his improv troupe two years ago and has been doing improv acting for three years. “Three long, grueling years,” he jokingly said. “Every night I don’t know what I’m going to do. It’s scary.”
“It’s a lot of practice. We rehearse our lines every night,” Hacking said sarcastically. He retracted that, saying, “No, it’s really all made up on the spot.”
“Fries” member Adam Mansfield met Hacking when he was the waiter at the same restaurant Hacking worked at. “We were just funny at work and he said we should do it together,” he explained.
Mansfield stressed improv comedy is sometimes difficult, pointing to an embarrassing moment during the “infomercial” game as an example. “I totally slaughtered that tonight,” he said while laughing.
Despite the pressure that is sometimes induced by improvisational comedy, both Hacking and Mansfield agreed that they have fun participating in the games.
Mansfield said, “I like games where you have someone who’s making you funny, too, so it’s not as much pressure by yourself.”
Hacking added, “I really like murder mystery. That’s a fun one. Just all the games are a lot of fun to play, to be a part of.”
-cunningham@cc.usu.edu