New and Improv’d
This slapstick comedy troupe delivers humor to JMU’s campus
By Megan Williams. contributing writer
Posted on November 6, 2006

“The most gratifying thing about being in New and Improv’d is the groupies,” said sophomore Martin Makris during one of the comedy troupe’s bi-weekly meetings. This kind of response is to be expected from one of the campus’s premier comedy groups. 

Although this may be stretching it, what New and Improv’d is a group of talented and passionate individuals who make it their business to keep their audience laughing. It is due in part to their amazing chemistry that they achieve their goal of making everyone laugh. Everyone in the group has something to offer and they support each other on and off the stage.

“The camaraderie of the group is the most gratifying part of being in New and Imrov’d,” said senior Patrick Shanley.

Makris capitalizes that sentiment.

“I started doing improv when I was in high school, but I didn’t know much about chemistry within a group, and I think that is the best part of improv: knowing, when you look in someone else’s eyes on that stage, what is going on through both your minds and you know exactly what to say because of it,” he said.

Senior Selcuk Koruturk knows that teamwork is the key to success.

“That’s the great thing about improv; you can’t do it alone, and we know if one of us stalls we have this trust built up that we know the people we’re working with will help us,” he said. “I don’t go up there and fear not knowing what to say because I know all the other guys will be there to help me out.”

Some of the members of New and Improv’d have been involved with it for four years, while others maybe only in their second year. It’s always a challenge to include new members each year and help them to build that trust and camaraderie with which the group is reliant. This year, two new members, or “newbies” as they’re called, have been admitted into the group. They are both freshmen and both siad they are excited to be a part of the group.

At the newbie induction show Oct. 20, freshmen Brandon Shockney and Chris “Crispy” Parthemos were involved in all the games and marked their official membership into New and Improv’d.

When asked how they were feeling only two days before the performance, they expressed both their excitement in anticipation and their nervousness.

“I’m not going to say that I don’t have a couple of small, elegant butterflies floating around in my stomach, but as I said, they are very elegant and I’ve grown to love them,” Parthemos said. “I have named them Frank and Mysterious. But that’s really just a fancy and stupid way of saying that I am a little bit ready, but not completely.

“The thing about improv is it’s hard to ever be ready, but it’s a mixture of excitement and being really really nervous,” Shockney said. “But I think it will be a great show; the one show that will really get us integrated with the group and make us like a family, so I’m really looking forward to that.”

While the newbies shared their thoughts about the show, the experienced members of the group reflected on their newbie induction show and how they have grown over the past years.

“I sucked, very bad,” Koruturk said. “I don’t know how I got into the group, to tell you the truth. I would break all the rules of improv, but I definitely feel like I’ve grown, and changed and hopefully improved.”

The important thing is to learn from past experiences and continue to improve, and that means having to relearn the basics constantly and learn more challenging things.

“Well, I’m actually getting worse,” Martin said to loud applause from the rest of the members. “And my hair is much longer.”

The night of the newbie induction performance was met with great anticipation from everyone who turned out to see the entire group, and especially the newbies, perform.

“I haven’t been to a performance before, but I’ve heard they are very funny and a lot of people like coming to see them, so I’m very excited,” says freshman Lindsey Huizenga before the show. 

The members of the group were all dressed up for the special occasion and were met with roaring applause by everyone who had come out to support them as they were introduced. The show was led by Koruturk, and in New and Improv’d fashion, it consisted of a number of improv games where the audience is at liberty to decide what/where/how/with what the games will entail. This proved unbearably funny when group members have to act out being attacked by a rubber duck, beating it with a purple spatula, and then being detained by a group of existentialists.

The only thing different about this performance was that the newbies were included in every game. They did a terrific job and the audience congratulated them with much applause and laughter as well as positive feedback.

“I love the new guys,” said freshman Therese Mayer, a huge fan of New and Improv’d. “I think they did an excellent job. It’s amazing how the rest of the group can teach them so much in so little time, and it’s all spur of the moment. They can practice the games, but they can’t plan it.” After the show, audience members hung around to offer their congratulations and tell the group members how much they enjoyed the show. The newbies were given their official New and Improv’d T-shirts and were able to relax after having put on such an amazing show.

When asked how they were feeling now that their first big show was over, Parthemos said, “I feel good; I feel like we lived up to all the talk and all the hype. We said we were going to do good and I think we did good. There is always room for improvement but I think it went well.”

The other group members offered their support too.

“I’ve learned so much from the newbies; they are freaking hilarious,” said junior Lindsay Long.

When asked how he was feeling after the show, Shockney said, “I’m already pumped for the next show.”

For more information about New and Improv’d, check out its Facebook group, or its Web site at orgs.jmu.edu/improv.