I think back to my sophomore year of high school. I was in a theatre class (keep in mind: I was the costume designer) and was forced to get on stage to perform improv, a form of theatre in which most, if not all, of the performance is unscripted or unplanned.
The scene that resulted was terrible: I was a deadbeat dad being chewed out by my baby mama.
I laughed the whole time. I probably said a total of five sentences. It’s one of those cringe moments I thought about for months after it occurred.
Thankfully, Blank Slate Improv, Union’s very own improv group, is much more talented than I.
The group was gracious enough to let me sit in on practice and even gave me a standing ovation.
“Our queen,” said Grace Peecher, a freshman psychology major.
When I arrived, the group was deciding which games to include in Friday night’s show. There was much chattering and yelling over one another.
We then moved to a different classroom for warm-ups and the group circled up. They began to hum the “Friends” theme song, complete with claps, and slowly raised their pitch and volume. They came back down to normal pitch and lowered it just as they had raised it; this ended the exercise.
After a couple more warm-ups, the group split in half to give everyone a chance to play in the games.
We then gathered back together before adjourning for the night.
For the third time during the practice, all members began to recite the Lord’s prayer in response to a remark. Co-captain Korey Adams, senior French and Spanish double major, demanded the madness be stopped. The team swarmed around him singing “Happy Birthday” (note: it was not actually his birthday). Co-captain Ben Johnson, junior marketing major, tackled Adams to the ground to conclude the practice.
Hope Campbell, sophomore political science major, commented on her expectations for the team this semester.
“Even though we are picking up momentum from fall semester, it’s kind of a new Blank Slate,” Campbell said.
Though every semester has a different feel and dynamic, this semester specifically will take on a whole new look.
Matthew Van Neste, junior Christian ministry and missions major, is taking the semester off.
“As far as dynamic goes, Matthew was really good at impressions,” Campbell said. “So I’ve been joking around that I’m going to have to get better at that to pick up the slack.”
Campbell sees improving long-form, multiple scenes that branch off of one prompted monologue as one of the team’s biggest goals for the semester.
I got to see some weird but hilarious long-form scenes in practice, so I can tell students are in for a treat this semester.
The team will also be losing three members at the end of the semester: Adams; co-captain Clark Hubbard, senior English and political science double major; and Daniel Ashworth, senior education major.
While there are several changes this semester, there is no doubt the Blank Slate team will continue to provide stress relief and side splitting laughter.
I asked frequent showgoer Lacey Pourchot, sophomore nursing major, what keeps her coming back for more.
“The encouragement and energy that come from those shows lingers for days,” Pourchot said. “I have trouble going to sleep afterward because they bring so much energy and fun!”
She’s definitely right; the energy the group shows transfers to audience members.
Students can expect Union humor, pain from the amount of laughter, good time spent with friends, and, of course, Hope’s Laughter Bingo.
There will be several opportunities to see the Blank Slate Improv team in action this semester. Follow them on Facebook (Blank Slate Improv), Instagram (@BlankSlateImprov) and Twitter (@UUBlankSlate) for announcements about shows.
Blank Slate’s first show is at 8:30 p.m. this Friday in Barefoots Joe. Doors open at 8 p.m. Admission is free, but Scholars of Excellence and hosts of scholars will be let in first.
