Improv-uh-bles troope set to perform last show of season
Imagine the TV comedy show Whose Line Is It Anyway? right here at Utah State University.
“It’s exactly like [Whose Line], only funnier,” Brooke Pulver, a senior majoring in theater, said.
Brian Bahr, a junior in the theater department, said, “We’re honestly funny. We’re not just saying that; we are really funny.”
Pulver said, “[It’s] a release. It’s just a night of laughing – and who doesn’t want a night of laughing?”
The group has been on campus for several years.
Andy Leukhardt, a senior majoring in business, said Improv-uh-bles was established in the fall of 1999, but it didn’t become official until the spring of 2000.
“My brother actually started it – he’s a graduate now,” he said.
The cast stars six students from the university. Leukhardt, Bahr and Michael Flood, a senior majoring in theater, are all original members of the group. Amanda Rockne, a senior majoring in theater, is also a member. This year, when auditions were held, Pulver and Katie Ackerma, a junior studying theater, were added to the line-up, he said.
The group was named Improv-uh-bles, because people thought it was improbable, Leukhardt said. Also, when actors improvise, sometimes they get stuck and mutter “uh” he said.
Ackerman said, “It gives [us] the option to think on [our] feet. The No. 1 rule of improv is you can’t say no, you can’t reject anything the other person says. So it makes you listen to what they’re saying and incorporate that in your performance, which is a really valuable skill if you’re acting.”
Bahr said, “As actors it prepares us for the improv situations we might have to do in theater or in plays.”
Ackerman said, “I do it because it’s fun.”
Pulver said the members of Improv-uh-bles warm up for about one and one-half hours before a show and just play improv games. The warm up determines which games they will do for the show.
But it is the audience that basically runs the show, Ackerman said.
“If you don’t have an audience, you don’t have a show,” she said.
Pulver said Improv-uh-bles is a fund raiser with the proceeds going to the theater department for theater students representing USU at competitions and conferences.
“It’s [donating] all of our good will and time,” she said.
Leukhardt said, “We have great support from parents – like Brian’s parents, who are original fans.”
Pulver jokingly said, “[Original fans] of an original member.”
Bahr said, “They come every single time.”
Leukhardt said this Saturday will be the last show of the year. The show starts at 8 p.m. in FAC, Room 224, and costs $2.
Ackerman and Pulver said they would love to have a full house.
Leukhardt said auditions will be held in the fall for anyone who would like to audition. Theater majors are not required. Any questions can be sent to Leukhardt at ankle@cc.usu.edu.