Off Center recently celebrated its ten year anniversary of doing shows at Stevens. Their latest show took place Friday the 13th and Valentine’s Day, which brought out interesting crowds. Under the command of Zach Kastner, who played Captain Hook, and the direction of Improv Stool Ethan Crump, the club presented their first improvisational show of the spring semester, “Love, Shaq.” Although you might have seen the flyer with his face on it, there was sadly no guest appearance by Shaquille O’Neal. Among the special guests were Stevens Stand-up Society members, who opened both nights, including club president David Orshan. Saturday was also the debut of Off Beat!, a new subgroup of Off Center, performing musical improvisation headed by Kevin Quigley. Together, they filled Hayden Lounge with laughter.
At the beginning of each show, the three SSS members held the stage with stand-up bits. David Estrada spoke about his confusion as a child when he watched people kill and get killed on WWE, and they were fine the next week. He said he felt that he should call someone and let them know that he would testify as a witness to the crime, a punch line sparking the crowd into laughter. Orshan told a story of two guys trying to pick up girls at Whole Foods, cracking a joke about quinoa that was so original and funny, the crowd instantly warmed up.
On the first night of short form, Off Center asked attendees to submit random one-line statements upon entering the event. These written submissions were then used in “Lines from a Pocket,” a situation when two people are doing a scene and must incorporate the lines as they pull and read from the pieces of paper kept in their pockets. Estrada and Philippe Donaus did a scene in which they were stuck together with glue, but the back of the glue bottle, according to the submitted audience line, was actually poop. This made the scene take an interesting turn.
Comedy Cube was another short form game, in which four people stand in a square, and each of the four combinations of downstage partners had a suggestion for a scene. As another member calls for the cube to rotate directions, the actors revisit and develop scenes in a fast-changing way. During Friday’s show, Elizabeth Lamb ordered twenty eight jars of peanut butter, and within a few rotations, scene partner Chris Fitzgerald had thousands of jars of mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard in stock for her. Ridiculous amount of condiments sent the audience into uncontrollable giggling.
Saturday’s long form started with an interview of an audience member. Crump interviewed Will Wiggins, older brother of member Andy Wiggins. Will spoke about his experiences as a graphic designer working for Spencer’s, his time at the New York toy fair, and a funny misunderstanding insulting an Applebee’s waiter. Will received a box of Valentine chocolates for his contribution, and these ideas served as suggestions for scenes. Notably, Colin Gliech took a role as Applebee’s manager and cracked down on his staff for using cool lingo for entree names. In another, a new line of Star Wars action figures introduced the characters as lawyers. The creativity of Off Center members truly has no limits.
Off Beat! entered the stage to present its first sample of musical improv. They took a suggestion from the audience, “school bus.” Adam Gincel brought his keyboard and served as pianist for the song. The group used a repeated chord progression and made up a melody. Quigley introduced his character as the new kid in town, followed by Kastner as the bus driver, and Robyn Verrill as the teacher. Wiggins joined in for the choruses and the team accomplished a story within the catchy tune. The group’s debut was successful, and they hope to accomplish full-length musicals in the future.
When swiping students into the event, Off Center implored audience members to submit embarrassing stories for the second half of the show. The audience picked from the papers, reading stories like a person stuck naked under their bed with a cat biting their foot, and a girl sick from a parasite after hooking up with a guy because he got her a gift. This inspired Kastner and Orshan to develop a scene in which they hid from their mother underneath their bed and had to ration items. In another, Cian Cavooris offered William Cusick various gaming consoles and other presents so that he would go to prom with him, among other things. Audience members enjoyed seeing their stories acted out.
The two nights totaled about 150 attendees. Crump commented on the location of the event, “It’s a really small space so you can feel the connection and the improv’ers and the audience.” When asked about the name of the show, Crump said that any member can submit suggestions and they vote. At the meeting, somebody made a suggestion, and the writer wrote it on the board as “Love, Shaq.” This clearly highlights the natural wit of Off Center members. This show was a first time for many things, including OffBeat! and embarrassing story submissions. Crump stated,”I’m really proud of everyone who performed and thankful for those who came out to the show.” He reported that Off Center is always trying to implement change and keep material fresh and he encourages members to see more improv shows in New York City. “We’re always welcoming new members and no experience required,” said Crump. If anyone is interested in or intimidated by improv, feel free to contact Crump to learn more about the group.
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