On Feb. 14, Southwest Minnesota State University’s Improv troupe took the stage of the Black Box Theater, and lifted the spirits of the single people sitting in the audience with their humorous show. As one of those “forever alone” people in the audience, I took great appreciation to the comedic relief the troop gave me on Single Awareness Day.
“The game is afoot.”
One of my favorite games from the show was the murder mystery. Only being able to speak gibberish—no real words—the first player had to explain to the other players who died, the murder weapon, and where they were killed. Hands down, I was in hysterical laughter at poor Cupid’s demise in the men’s bathroom with a pineapple.
With games this good, I interviewed Justin Craigmile and Alec Otto of the improv crew to get the scoop on how they felt about the show.
“My favorite game is probably freeze tag,” said Justin when asked about his favorite improv game in the show. “It’s fun to see what can happen when you get everyone active.” Freeze tag was a game where people could tap in and out of a scene. Having witnessed this game, I can attest that it was quite the amusing game. When asked if being on stage was stressful without a set script to follow, Justin said, “It’s really not stressful. I suppose it was the first time, but ever after its just been fun. You really feel good when you can come up with good stuff.”
“My favorite game would have to be Principal’s Office,” mused Alec. He went on to explain what the improv game entailed. “In the game, one of us is the parent who’s trying to figure out the scenario—given by the audience—and two others are the principal and student who know the scenario. They have to give subtle hints to the parent what the student did. It always turns out hilarious. Probably because weird implications appear when the principal and student are suppose to be very vague with their hints.”
Seeing as this was a Valentine’s Day show, I asked the two men if the improv show had interfered with their Valentine’s Day plans.
“I just invited my date to the show,” said Alec. “Then we made pizza together afterwards.”
“My ‘Valentine’ is involved in the theater, so we were both busy at the improv show,” explained Justin. “As a result, there really wasn’t any conflict. Plus, Theater is worth a little difficulty!”
