By Madison Bonner, Writer
Photography by Madison Bonner
Are you interested in acting but may not want to perform in plays? If so, there’s a new opportunity on campus–Improv Club! Improv is a form of acting that is completely unscripted and created on the spot by actors. Acting without a script challenges you to think on your feet and adapt to different circumstances. This builds confidence and communication skills that can be applied outside of acting. The club provides a laid-back atmosphere where the members can learn while having fun and building relationships on campus.
McKendree’s Improv Club was founded by its current president, Dow White. Dow is a sophomore majoring in communication and minoring in political science. On campus he is involved as a chaplain intern for Campus Ministries and a Resident Assistant (RA) for Walton Hall.
When he came to McKendree, Dow was interested in theater and acting, but the only option on campus was performing in plays. Rather than memorizing and reciting lines, Dow preferred the more free-form nature of improv. With that idea in mind, he decided to create his own organization midway through his first year. The director of McKendree Theatre, Michelle Magnussen, worked with him through the creation process as the club advisor, though she allows the students to run the club and meetings how they like. After registering the Improv Club as an organization, Dow began leading meetings alongside his vice president, Carter Rojek. Other officers include treasurer Lea Hoock and secretary Coleman Cummins. Though it took a little while to get off the ground, there are now about 10 to 15 members at every meeting.
Before beginning the club at McKendree, Dow had four years of prior experience with improv, as he began performing in his freshman year of high school. When he moved to Carbondale, he joined the Terriers Live! Improv Troupe, which performed shows at local theaters and within their own auditorium. Joining this group allowed Dow to not only improve his improv skills but also meet new people and have fun in the process. He now uses this experience in improv to plan the meetings and exercises.
Improv practice usually begins with a light and quick game or exercise as a warm-up. A couple of examples are “Questions Only” and “Park Bench.”
As the title suggests, “Questions Only” is a game where players can only speak and respond to one another in questions. This forces your brain to think outside of the box and communicate in a different way than you’re used to. The game begins with a pair of two players. When one player is stumped or responds with a statement rather than a question, someone else takes their place, and the game continues.
“Park Bench” is another classic game with two players that cycle in and out. One player sits on the “bench,” and another player enters the scene, attempting to make them laugh or leave the bench to take their place. Typically players will create a character or scenario to achieve this. If they succeed, the first player leaves, and another player arrives.
After everyone is warmed up, they move on to games with smaller focus groups. Each game will typically include around two to four people. This includes games such as “Freeze Tag,” “Remote Control” and “Four Square.”
During a game of Freeze Tag, Landon jumped in and took Lea’s place, spinning the scene into something new.
“Freeze Tag” may share its name with a classic playground game, but they’re very different. In this version, two players act out a scene until someone calls out, “FREEZE!” The players must then freeze in whatever position they are currently in. A member of the audience runs in and “tags” the player they want to replace, mimicking their pose and continuing the scene from there. The new player can either completely change the scene or take the previous scene in a different direction.
The game “Remote Control” involves two to three players and one person who acts as the “remote control,” controlling the players’ actions. This person can do anything a TV remote can do: They can pause, fast-forward, rewind, switch languages, change the volume or even change the channel (for example, switching the entire scene from an infomercial to a history documentary).
Another example of a small group game is “Four Square,” which is Dow’s personal favorite. For this game, four players stand in the corners of a square with a director instructing them where to go. When directed to move left or right, the players in the square rotate in that direction, and with each rotation there is a different prompt. The two characters in the front will perform their respective prompt until directed to move, which switches the scene to a different prompt. When it switches back to a previous prompt, the players continue the scene where they left off.
The next type of game is intended to include everyone in the club.
An example of this would be the game “Slideshow,” in which two friends are looking back on their vacation photos. These two “friends” have their own actors that pretend to be them in each “photo.” Everyone else can jump in and pretend to be different people in the background. This gets the whole club involved, as the members pose in various ways for each photo. When everyone is ready, the original two friends turn around and describe what they think is happening within the photo.
After a game like this, the practice usually continues with a couple more small group games before ending with another game that includes everyone. Dow explained that this approach to practice allows everyone the chance to participate and keeps their spirits high.
For the third practice of the semester, though, he switched things up. The club focused on characterization through the use of cold reads of scenes. Club members were paired up and given scripts to act out, which they were allowed to read through for a minute or two before performing. The audience members then gave feedback in the form of compliments and constructive criticism. This exercise allowed members to work on characterization since they already had lines to work with–they just had to decide how to deliver them.
The club is currently looking into hosting improv shows around campus, potentially at 1828 Café or the Lair. There is also the possibility of a show at the Hett, which would be further in the future.
Dow’s favorite part of Improv Club is not only the acting aspect but also that it provides a great way to learn the trade and build community. He enjoys watching the members’ self-confidence grow over time and “seeing people get more and more involved across practices.”
Dow described the club as a safe environment for anyone, especially beginners: “We’re trying to make it very beginner-friendly, so that anyone, even if they haven’t done acting before, is welcome to just jump in, bring friends along, see if they like it. If they don’t, no pressure.” He encourages anyone who might be interested to try it out. There’s no pressure to do anything you’re not ready for, so feel free to watch until you’re comfortable participating!
If you’re interested in joining the Improv Club, meetings are held in Eisenmayer every Friday from 4-5 p.m. For more information, please contact Dow White (dow.white22@mckendree.edu).
