A night at the improv
A Taco Bell employee told Macomb senior Dave Seger there was nothing at the restaurant that would not make his bowels explode.
Fortunately, this was just a scene from “Who’s Line: A Night of Improv” Thursday night in Moore Hall’s Townsend Kiva.
While many scenarios elicited laughs, “Who’s Line” also earned money for the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life.
The cast of Brooklyn senior Beth Schwab, West Olive graduate student Dan Empson, Muskegon senior Tony Kauffman, Plymouth senior Dan Nikolits, and Seger were all able to create comic material immediately upon receiving a prompt.
Scenarios given to the actors took them to locations ranging from a roller skating rink, to a porn shop, to a proctologist’s office.
Impersonations were common in “Who’s Line,” as Richard Simmons, Will Ferrell, David Hasselhoff, Paris Hilton and even Adolf Hitler were mocked.
Quite possibly the night’s funniest sketch, “Party Quirks,” also involved impersonations.
Schwab played a woman throwing a party, who finds Quentin Tarantino (Seger), Bill Cosby (Kauffman) and the Little Mermaid (Sterling) showing up at her doorstep.
Seger drew laughs imitating Tarantino’s infectious enthusiasm but Kauffman stole the scene by perfectly replicating Cosby’s speech patterns and his fondness for Jell-O. Of course, he was referring to shots, rather than pudding.
Another very funny scene involving sportscasters providing a running commentary on an eyebrow plucking competition.
“I’m getting reports we have deep roots,” Nikolits said, acting as a sportscaster. “What that means for this competition is you’re probably going to see some kicking and definitely some screaming.”
Audience members often yelled out suggestions for characters the actors should play or settings where the scene could take place.
“My favorite part was the ones where the audience got to participate because it really was improv and they worked with the audience and it was hilarious,” said Grand Rapids senior Amanda Hagy.
Northville senior Sarah Bowles said she was impressed with the speed at which the actors came up with comic situations.
“Some of the stuff they come up with off the top their head, I’d never think of that,” she said. “It was hilarious, and it was even better because it was for a good cause.”
