{{tncms-asset app=”editorial” id=”67fba002-dd3e-11e6-8129-4f9080985a28″}}

Nuthouse Improv Comedy has brought confidence to its performers. With no script and only a brief idea of what could happen, these performers are forced to become more comfortable with the uncomfortable.

“Improv has helped me be more comfortable with myself,” sophomore vocal music major Clare Sullivan said. “I was able to perform in our ‘skinprov show’ last semester where we all performed in our underwear for charity. It was definitely one of my favorite shows.”

Last semester, a few changes were made to the structure and staffing of the Nuthouse group. After a long-term director left, junior medical science major Spencer Knudson took over to help bring new energy to improv. Senior science major Joseph Olsen has been  part of Nuthouse since 2013 and says having a confident and positive director like Knudson has helped the group’s energy.

“A lot of people come into Nuthouse and they’re shaken and nervous,” Olsen said, “and it’s really good to have someone who’s very welcoming and positive to bring that kind of energy to the room.”

Olsen also believes Nuthouse succeeds more and more each semester because the performers have worked harder on “finding the funny” rather than “making the funny,” an important distinction in improv comedy.

“Last semester, we got back to the basics a little bit,” Olsen said, “Instead of focusing on just the games, we’re working on characters more and building relationships.”

Improv thrives on the players and their abilities to work and listen to each other. Knudson is excited to work with Nuthouse again because of all the new people who are excited and who want to learn more about improv.

“We got a lot of new cast members who are really excited and who want to learn and just come out here and have a good time,” he said. “That puts me at ease as the director and makes me want to come to Nuthouse more.”

This upcoming semester will be full of more Nuthouse shows with new cast members and more working together to create fresher comedy, Knudson said.

Last Saturday was Nuthouse’s first show of the semester, and all of the cast members believe it was a great show. Many of the cast members agreed the relationships they developed and demonstrated gave the show its strength.

“The scenes were wholehearted during this show,” freshman veterinary medicine major Persephone Radelet-Stein said. “Obviously, there were a few just silly ones, but most of the scenes were relationship-driven.”

Another key point to a successful improv show is the energy of the audience. Junior communication major and first-time Nuthouse performer Angela Nhi Nguyen believed this audience helped with the overall success of the group.

“This audience was just great,” Nguyen said, “and I’ve been on the other side where I was in an audience who didn’t care, so a lively audience is incredibly important.”

“We want to work together as a group to be funny, not to stand out to be funny on your own,” Knudson said. “We try to be organically funny instead of forcing it or being crass or lewd just to shock people into laughing.”

Nguyen had never performed in improv before this semester, and she said she was very excited to get to try something new like this.

“I love being immersed in an environment where you have to be creative and quick on your feet,” she said. “You get to break down personal walls and just be weird and funny.”

Nuthouse’s next performance will take place at 8 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 20 in the Wadleigh Theatre in Daggy Hall. Tickets typically cost $5.