The Improv Club has been utilizing online video meetings to engage club participants and students in an opportunity for creativity while following social distancing safety protocols.
Improv club is open to students of all majors and experience levels.
Melissa Ford, history professor and faculty advisor for Improv club, is an improv performer herself. According to Ford, improv is a great way to unwind.
“You can do anything your imagination wants,” Ford said. “You can also pretend to be someone different from you, which can be very fun sometimes.”
Students can “unwind” by having fun and letting loose with other members. Improv depends upon respect and positivity from other participants, which can often be rewarding for members of improv club.
“At the end of the day, we’re improving just about anything,” Ford said.
This freedom of creativity is another great way for students to destress and express themselves through improv.
The focus of Improv Club at Slippery Rock is comedic improv.
At an Improv meeting, members often play comedic improv games, which are all still able to be conducted through Zoom. Many of these games involve multiple participants creating unique and interesting characters and reacting to a given location and object. The real comedy is brought out when multiple participants interact with each other mid game, which often causes funny dialogue or interesting situations.
For example, one participant might create a character who has a heavy Russian accent and could have a fear of bubbles while another participant might create a character who has a southern accent and can be trying to sell bubbles. The real magic of improv is that the audience and even the participants have no idea where an idea can go.
Additionally, some members of the Improv Club participate in improv performance for live audiences. This past spring, members of the club traveled to Carnegie Mellon University to perform improv and to even compete.
The Improv club meets every week for different games and to practice improv. Any experience levels are encouraged to join for a fun and easy way to destress!
