“SWITCH!” journalism senior Kevin Brozek and sustainability junior Evan Fairbanks yell from the back of a crowded room as two flustered improvisers on stage scramble for a split second of comedic gold.
For students in ASU’s Barren Mind Improv, split-second acting is a lot more than quippy games and SNL-style sketches.
“I love comedy, but being a ‘punk rocker’ at heart, I tend to question every structure that is put up,” said Fairbanks, the club's assistant director. “Eventually, I get so tired of all the structures put up, the same recycled material kills me. Improv is just so different, it transcends all those things.”
ASU Comedy is made up of three branches: Barren Mind Improv, Farce Side Sketch Comedy and Stand Up vs. The World. However, with 75 percent of the comedians in the room auditioning for BMI on Aug. 28, one branch takes on a leadership role.
For years, BMI ranked among the top 12 college improv groups in the nation, practically making it an annual tradition to fly through regionals in California and land themselves a place in the national competition in Chicago.
Brozek, BMI’s director, said it was only in the past year, when they had only two returning members to the group, that they didn’t manage to make it to Chicago. As director, Brozek hopes to reassemble their cast this year and add a layer of business to their comedic games.
“There’s always that ‘if only I had done this’ and it’s really rough to think like that in improv because, you know what? It happened,” Brozek said. “You didn’t say it, you didn’t say that great line you thought of after the show. That’s the beauty of it. It’s so natural and it comes and goes so quickly.”
So it was at auditions that Brozek and Fairbanks went about filtering through a giant room full of comedic talent.
Little preview of my @statepress story: Barren Mind Improv of @asucomedy playing a game called "Beastie Rap" pic.twitter.com/tzdmavhMrv
— Megan Janetsky (@meganjanetsky) August 29, 2015
Brozek and Fairbanks said they rooted out five to six improvisers out of the 30 who did not just go for the cheap joke, but allowed for a push and pull in their comedy and followed the overarching law of improv — ‘yes, and’.
Fairbanks said the key is to not simply strive for the spotlight the entire time, but rather to aid your cast in a way that builds upon the idea that they are developing. He said to just roll with the punches and not be afraid to look like an idiot — hence, the rule of ‘yes, and.’
“It’s competitive in a way that’s like playing a video game with your little brother or sister. You want to beat them, but you also want to give them their time to shine,” Brozek said.
For them, it was not just about the hilarity of the act, but rather a sort of sixth sense about each actor’s skill and the potential they see in being able to mold them into their cast.
However, they understood the pressure of standing on the stage looking out. Marketing and theater sophomore Tony Potts was one of the cluster of comedians aiming to land a spot in BMI.
“It’s exhilarating.” Potts said, “You can’t prepare for these things — it’s just an on-the-spot reaction. You’re free to embrace any thought that pops up in your head and run with it, but more than that, following that ‘yes, and,’ and pushing things forward — that’s an important part of being human.”
Reach the reporter at megan.janetsky@asu.edu or follow @meganjanetsky on Twitter.
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