By Sydney Schabacker

Staff Writer 

Fast-paced and action-packed, there is never a dull moment with the CSUSM Improv Team.

What is improv, you may ask? Improvisation is anything made-up on the spot. The Improv Team specializes in concocting characters, scenes, dramas and laughs in seconds based on audience suggestions. The club team was started in 2010 by Nicole Hernandez, Aaron Chase, Molina Milbourne and Lorenzo Taylor. Originally, Improv was offered as a class, but then these three students took the idea and formed the club.

I joined this past semester, and I am 100 percent biased in its favor.  To get on the club team, auditions are held once a semester for anyone interested. Senior Player Ryan Downs, who joined Fall semester of 2010, has some insider advice:

“The auditions are to see if you can act on a stage, in a team as a team player. The only problem is if you’re trying to be too funny,” Downs says.  “Just be yourself, and we’ll worry about [being funny] later.”

There are a few rules in keeping with classic improv, but it’s mostly just one game after another. One of my favorites is “Zip-Zap-Zop,” when the players have to point at someone else in the circle, yelling one of the words, and you’ve got to keep track at high speed which word is being zoomed at you. While surprisingly difficult, messing up can be fun. This kind of stimulating fun for the brain is addictive.

Despite improv exercises being made up of games, improv has many important uses in real life. In all of the games, players have seconds to come up with a character with reactions and feelings.

“You learn to think on your feet,” Downs said. “[Which is] very important in other things.”

Just consider public speaking or class participation for that matter. It can’t hurt socially either. The confidence this builds with practice can easily be transferred to everyday experience.

I’ve only been on the Improv Team for about a month now, meeting once a week on Monday nights. Every practice is different, and even the basic games vary from practice to practice and get energized with laughter and good company. If you aspire to always be on your toes and ready to react to what happens next when surprises are part of the game, please come audition for the Improv Team next semester.