A team of eight Off Center members was awarded first place in the Big Apple Regional of the 9th College Improv Tournament (CIT9) sponsored by Chicago Improv Productions. Held at the well-known improv venue The Magnet Theater in New York City, 11 teams competed by performing their own 20-minute sets based on an audience suggestion of their choice. Off Center was invited to compete at the national level on April 23 at the Vittum Theater in Chicago, Illinois.
The competing team included Off Center Improv Captain Philippe Donaus, Off Center President Chris Fitzgerald, Zach Kastner, Ethan Crump, Andy Wiggins, David Orshan, Kevin Quigley, and David Estrada. While some of its opponents were award-winning, audition-only, coached, and touring improv teams, Off Center invited any of their long-form performers who could make it on January 16.
The team ran through an improvised set to prepare for the competition. Off Center performed long form improv following a Harold structure based one-word suggestions. The preliminary match suggestion was “guacamole” and the final match suggestion was “peanut butter.” “A Harold is a way to perform long form with three repeating scenes and two group games,” said President Fitzgerald.
Three industry personnel from The Magnet Theater judged the three preliminary matches. Off Center placed first in their preliminary match, which was against Mission Improv-able of American University, Quipfire Improv Comedy of Princeton University, and Improv Technicians of New Jersey Institute of Technology.
“This was our third year competing in the tournament. The first year we lost to Quipfire in the prelims – they were amazing – and last year we got dead-last,” said former Off Center President Kastner. “But we worked hard to improve and we got first. The judges gave us a lot of notes that were helpful last year to improve.”
The final match was decided by three professional judges from Chicago. The three first-place preliminary teams and one second-place wild card team competed in the final round. This included Danger Box of New York University, Combo Za of Williams College, Off Center of Stevens, and The Exit Players of Yale. “Going up against such good teams, we were not expecting to win. It was a total surprise,” said Fitzgerald.
“I think we were all really surprised. They announced second place was Danger Box, and that felt bad because we didn’t think we were going to place. Then, we came in first and we were really surprised,” said member Quigley. “Overall, I’m really proud and grateful to have been a part of such a rewarding experience and am very excited for nationals.”
This semester, Off Center will perform two sketch shows and two improv shows. “We’re going to practice our improv skills and make sure we’re up to the challenge of nationals,” said President Fitzgerald.
