The “What’s so Funny?” improv group, created by UVU student Reed Parkinson, performed in the Ragan Theater on Feb. 5.
“Where is the worst place to go on a date?” said Parkinson.
To this question someone in the middle of the theater answered loudly, “Here!” The audience offered a complementary laugh to the smart alec’s comment. But once the show began rolling, there was only full-hearted, unstoppable laughter.
“I like comedy and we didn’t have anything like this on campus, so I decided to start this group,” Parkinson said. “And audience participation is big,” Parkinson said.
The group mostly plays different improv games and performs skit acts, and both with a lot of audience participation. Game after game, this small group of crack-ups kept their involved audience highly entertained. A couple of popular games were the dating game and the four-headed speller.
The dating game required its only female member to play the bachelorette and three guys played bachelors. The catch, however, was that the bachelorette didn’t know who the bachelors were, so in order to discover their identities, she asked them several questions.
It turned out her three bachelors, thanks to audience suggestions, were Aqua Man, George W. Bush and Dolly Parton all played very convincingly by men.
One of the exciting elements of the show was the unknown — it is improv after all. The audience didn’t know what would happen next and neither did the players. But with their quick wit and comedic skills they rolled with the punches, or rather odd audience suggestions, and created an exceptionally amusing show.
Where else on campus would you be able to see two grown men act out a scene where they pretend to be driving down the road in a pinto while wearing speedos?
And contrary to the smart alec’s remark at the beginning of the show, this actually is a great place to bring a date. For the low price of $2, you get a really good show.
For those humorists on campus looking for an outlet, there’s an open invite to join the group’s practices which are from 7-9 p.m. every Wednesday night in PS 202.
“What’s so funny” will be putting on a show each month, so come join the fun, whether you’re on stage or in the audience it’s a delightful way to spend an evening.
