Laughs Take the Stage

Improvisation team to compete for regional titleSamantha NitzTHE SANTA CLARAJanuary 23, 2014Santa Clara is a place where every interest group can find their niche. One of the most unique activities that students enjoy is the improv team. Inoperable Humor is a highly competitive organization that only allows the best into its group. Each year the team holds auditions during the fall quarter. Any student can test their ability to perform on demand. The chosen members are then thrust into a world of spotlight and performance. Improvisational theatre, also known as improv, is an entertaining type of performance that relies on actors reacting in the moment while still managing to be a cohesive, unshaken unit.Inoperable Humor does much more than delight the students at Santa Clara. The team, which practices most weekends, also participates in local tournaments. One of the competitions is taking place this coming weekend, the renowned College Improv Tournament Golden Gate Regional. Teams from all over the area are gathering in San Francisco to truly find out which team and which school can improvise the best and take home the title. Eight teams will be competing to be crowned the winner of the CIT Regional. Very accomplished and well-known teams will be in attendance including four from University of California, Berkeley. In the first round, Santa Clara will be taking on the California Institute of the Arts team, quirkily named “Tall, Grande, Venti.” Much of the judging will center on a group’s ability to maintain composure in unusual situations, to act in tandem and to create an amusing scene.  There are two styles of improv at a competition: short form and long form. Short form often revolves around scenes created from suggestions from the audience or games decided by judges. Long form is much more reliant on the unity of a group. In long form, a company of actors must tie together scenes, characters and themes without questioning one another. In some situations, actors must adapt to situations without any background information. Santa Clara is unique in that it has only one competitive improv team. Though relatively new, it has truly left its mark on the Santa Clara community. This weekend, Inoperable Humor will need to perform to their best ability. Though many of their fans here will be missing the show, students can look forward to seeing their performances here on campus throughout the quarter. Contact Samantha Nitz at snitz@scu.edu