There’s only a few rules at Green Hope High School’s Improv Club:
- If a seven-year-old won’t get it, don’t make the joke!
- Be a supportive audience.
- And don’t be afraid to fail dramatically!
Improvisational theater is a form of live performance where actors come up with scenes on the spot. Unlike in traditional theater, there is no script or predefined plot, and scenes often incorporate suggestions from the audience.
It’s lunchtime on a Friday at Mr. Boland’s room at Green Hope High School. Two students face each other at the front of the room, and one launches into a rapid monologue and dramatically falls to his knees. A student in the audience shouts “freeze!” and suddenly the scene changes from a crazy fan proposing to his favorite pop artist to a desperately lost tourist begging for directions.
Improv club was created at the beginning of this school year by Preston Hunsucker (‘27), Ben Osborne (‘27), Sarah George (‘26) and Brooks Barbee (‘27). It is open to all students at Green Hope, and meets every Friday during lunch in room 2206. Improv is fast, funny and unpredictable. The club runs through games like Freeze and Park Bench, rotating through members and changing scenes rapidly. Sometimes, members also bring unexpected props like the miniature gong Kenneth Jackson (‘29) brought, inspiring a scene on meditation. At times, a witty ending to an act can be as simple as showing character continuity between scenes. A questionable fortune teller from an earlier scene might end a tragedy with “I saw that this was going to happen!”, a beat late. “There’s a rule in improv where you end the scene at the funniest moment,” said Hunsucker, the president of Improv Club.
Addressing the group, Hunsucker spoke about how the delivery and mood of a scene can have a huge impact on how it’s perceived. For instance, delivering the most lighthearted song in a musical completely seriously, with a full depth of emotion, can make the difference of standing out in an audition, or in this case, being hilarious.
Ben Osborne, vice president of Improv Club, said that the club is a place for people to express their emotions through comedy. He added, “I love that some people even come here just to watch improv, even if they don’t feel experienced enough to actually be a part of the acting.”
Hunsucker emphasized that “everybody who comes really enjoys it, even if they’re not a theater person.”
Barbee said that her favorite part was when they first started Improv Club, and a lot of people came just to have fun.
Improv Club allows students to meet new people and get acquainted with acting in a supportive environment. Though many members are talented theater students with a passion for acting, the group loves to see new members giving their best and adding their own voice to the mix. Improv requires teamwork, active listening and embracing failure, and above all, a love for entertainment.
