UTM’s Improv Alliance proved very funny during two shows on Friday, Nov. 30, in the Vanguard Little Theatre of the Fine Arts Building.
The local group, which has existed since 2015, teamed up with another improvisational comedy troupe from Murfreesboro named M-Prov. The two groups played games with full audiences. Those games were One Word Story, Genre Replay, Irish Wake, New Choice (Say Again) and Spoon River.
The audience I was in had 61 people. The show started with One Word Story, an ABC game. Someone in the audience speaks any letter, and then someone else speaks a word that starts with that letter. For example, one person says H, then another person says Horse, and the show topic is Horse. The show for Horse then lasts two minutes and has two or three comedians doing the show.
It was an amazing show and a lot of fun. The people in the audience really liked that show and laughed a lot.
Any UTM student can join Improv Alliance. This fall, the group members were Eli McCaig, a Communications major; Chloe Sumrock, a Studio Arts major; Jonathan Andrews, a Theatre major; Jared Patel, a Biology major; Jordan Copeland, a Fine and Performing Arts major; Charles Crump, a Communications major; Erin Criswell, a Theatre and Communications major; Kaylin Patel, an Engineering major; and MyKaila Dye, a Social Work major.
Improv Alliance is advised by Kevin Shell, assistant professor of Theatre and director of Vanguard Theatre.
Eli McCaig, a graduating senior in Communications/Broadcasting, said the show was the final performance of the fall semester and also his final show as a UTM student.
“For improv, they play a bunch of games that we practice, but when they actually play the games during the show, we never know what the suggestions are going to be from the audience. This was a culmination of all the practice the improv group did together,” McCaig said.
“We also had alumni Dillon Davis visit with the improv troupe he helped found in Murfreesboro, and they performed as well,” he added.
Admission to Improv Alliance shows is free, but donations are always welcome to help the group.
