By Aidan Reo
Contributing Writer
Students, families and fans lined the halls of the MUB basement Thursday night awaiting the newest production by UNH’s Improv Anonymous troupe.
“I expect to laugh a ton,” said freshman Grant Erickson before the event. “My friends and I go to these shows each week and I always leave with my abs sore.”
At 9 p.m. the eager students piled in to the MUB Entertainment Center. With early 2000s hits blasting from the speakers, the last members of the audience took their seats and the members of Improv Anonymous took the stage.
All 13 members, from all walks of life, under one roof, with one goal in mind: to make people laugh.
“There’s nothing better than making people laugh, and we really feel that after the show,” said Kyle Sharpe, a communications major and first year member of the troupe. “A lot of comedians get their start in improv, and pursuing it as a career would be tough but really rewarding.”
Sharpe, a communication major at UNH may be new to the improv life, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t passionate about it. “I think improv is really cool and challenging at the same time,” continued Sharpe. “As a group we all have to listen to and build off each other which is tough.”
Sharpe is just one of 13 members of UNH’s chapter of Improv Anonymous. The director of the troupe, Kayleigh Kane, is no rookie.
“I started performing improv as a hobby like most of the troupe,” said Kane. “I went to a show with some friends my sophomore year who enjoyed attending regularly, and after seeing it for the first time I thought that it looked like a lot of fun, they mentioned at the end of the show that they were holding auditions the following week, so I decided to try out and ended up getting in.”
Be they first year performers or seasoned veterans, once a week these talented comedians meet on stage to provide the UNH student body with laughter. Without any script, they have to remain attentive at all times and pick up on their fellow actors’ cues.
“We’ve been working hard to add new games to the performance,” continued Kane. “After almost five semesters in this troupe I still couldn’t be more thankful to be part of a student org that’s so fun rewarding and supportive.”
Some of these new games include, “freeze”, in which the actors put on a skit and at any point, someone off stage can yell “freeze” to jump in and add to the story.
That’s just one of many new games they’ve added to their repertoire, but to truly appreciate the comedy, you’ll have to watch one of their performances on a Thursday night at 9 p.m.
