Comedy, Saddleback style: the Improv Club
The Improv Club at Saddleback College is turning frowns upside-down in an effort to bring laughter to the college’s students.
This club is new to the Saddleback College club circuit and has only been around for approximately a year.
Team captain and club creator Justin Huft said that he began the club after realizing that the college lacked any comedy team whatsoever. After years of being on Improv teams at schools such as California Poly Pomona, Huft felt it was time to bring the art of improvisation to Saddleback.
Improv is a popular form of theater that entails comedians reacting to random situations and stimuli in an effort to make them humorous. Many times the use of props and spontaneously created, silly mini-skits is the core of Improv.
Students may remember clubs such as ComedySportz from high school, where students from rivaling schools duke it out so see who is the funniest.
The Improv team at Saddleback is fairly similar.
“We don’t compete,” Huft said. “We are more of a ‘Who’s Line is it Anyways’ format where we do our own stuff.”
For those not familiar with “Who’s Line is it Anyways,” it was a television show casted on ABC, in which a group of four comedians created characters, scenes and spontaneous songs in a game-like atmosphere. Except in this game, there were no winners – only humor.
As in “Who’s Line is it Anyways,” some of the co-captains on the team are also stand-up comedians. Students who make the team will be able to work along side these individuals and experience what it’s like to take humor to the big stage.
Huft and his co-captains are already looking into possible venues for the club to perform, among them Saddleback’s McKinney Theater.
Last year the club hosted stand up comedy nights and a few short shows, but they hope this year that the turnout will improve.
“We are hoping that we can do bigger shows and have larger events. We talked about competing with other schools, but last year we had maybe 115 people show up,” Huft said. “So we really need the support to make the shows bigger and better.”
Keep an eye out for upcoming events from the Improv Club this semester by checking the Saddleback College Web site. Shows are free and anyone is welcome to attend.
While anybody can join the club, to be on the team, students must audition. Auditions for the club will begin towards the end of October. For more information about the Improv Club, contact Justin Huft at [email protected].