I’ve failed to mention what has been over a month-long love affair with Sketch Comedy. When Brad called me up to ask to assist with his thesis, I assumed he just had written some straight man characters and needed me to memorize several variations of the line “Now that’s unreasonable, and I won’t stand for it!”
However, what it has been is a fairly intensive reintroduction to the medium of comedy that led me to my fascination with improv. Brad brought Tim, Sarah, Dennis, Chris and I in to his senior thesis not only to portray characters, but to develop them, and in some cases, completely change their premise for existence.
It’s been enlightening to see just how much overlap there is in the elements that make good sketch, improv, stand-up, and narrative comedy. One can easily get wrapped up in the specifics of any of these forms without remembering that they all come down to the same fundamentals. This experience has made me believe that if you have a proclivity to any of these mediums, there is a definite potential for comedic success in another.
But that might not matter to you. What’s important is that this show is something that I’m proud of. It’s transcended a favor for a friend. Everyone involved has put in hours in a show that I consider - technical theorizing and masturbatory musing aside - funny.
We have two shows tonight. One at 9 and another at 11:15. If you show up, I can assure you that we will make you laugh.
