Inoperable Humor Shows Off Santa Clara’s Funny Side
Improv troupe lets loose in comic debut
Riley O'ConnellTHE SANTA CLARAOctober 15, 2015
[dropcap]T[/dropcap]he name of Santa Clara’s improv troupe, Inoperable Humor, was at first just a “stand-in joke name” created by the founders. But it stuck, because the first rule of improv is to accept all offers.
On Oct. 9, the troupe moved seamlessly between laughs in their first show of the quarter, creating sketches from scrath using only their imagination and audience suggestions.
They covered topics ranging from a nuclear meltdown caused by a runaway cow to the Knitting Championships of 1943 to a long-form monologue about — among other things — a farmer incarcerated for breeding the first-ever green-feathered chicken. Keeping both each other and the audience on their toes for over an hour, there was never a dull moment.
Kennedy Commons, the show’s venue, could hardly accommodate the entire audience of over 100 students.
“[Friday night] was definitely one of our best shows to date,” said sophomore improviser Emile Antone.
The night’s activities began with a game titled “Town Hall,” in which Antone, deemed Mayor, left the building while we townspeople brainstormed a crisis, a ridiculously unrelated consequence, and how we expected Mayor Antone to remedy the impending disaster.
Over the course of about eight minutes, Antone fielded questions and concerns from citizens until he finally reached the conclusion that — of course — the people of Legoland, maimed and mortified by the nuclear meltdown brought about by a herd of runaway cows, must replace their milk intake with duct tape.
Mayor Antone’s strong leadership in our time of crisis may have led freshman Salem Adisu to claim this act as her favorite of the night, but more likely it was because the audience could participate in the show.
“I liked that [they] gave us a chance to contribute,” Adisu said. “They weren’t just performing for us — they were performing with us.”
Despite the hilarity of “Town Hall” and the subsequent four games, for one of which I was chosen to stand up and participate, the overwhelming crowd favorite was the show’s finale: the Long-form Monologue. Senior Aaron Burns stole the show with his line greeting Clucky, the infamous green-chicken farmer: “Hi, I’m Sam. In fact, Sam I am.”
The guy sitting next to me actually cried.
While this connection to the Dr. Seuss book “Green Eggs and Ham” was the biggest laugh of the night — Andres Maldonado-Liu urges hopeful auditionees not to stress over one-liners: “Don’t try to be funny. Just try to make good scenes.”
Between shows, the troupe holds practice for two hours twice a week, consisting of games, scenes and chemistry building.
To learn more, stop by Audition Info Night on Friday, Oct. 16, at 4pm in Kennedy Commons, and check out their Facebook page.
Contact Riley O’Connell at roconnell@scu.edu