By KATIE KLIMACEK
Staff Writer
The last thing we as young adults want to hear is rules—what we can and can’t do.
Now that we are in college, the expectation to follow those boring, bland, old rules is always being enforced. It would be great, though, to have a place to go, after all of the rules of ordinary classrooms and structured essays, and not have to worry about the rules, not one bit.
The week of March 10 will be the week that this mythological place of no rules will exist. Crate of Apes will be St. Rose’s new improv comedy club, started by graduate student Mike Eisenstein.
The acting form of improv is like no other. It is the one and only form that requires no script, no costumes or sets, and no lighting— just the spontaneity of the actors and audience participation. Improv, short for improvisation, is 100 percent made up on the spot.
The actors don’t know what they are going to say, what suggestions the audience is going to give, or how exactly their co-stars will respond. The first rule of improv is there are no rules. It is, like I said, that one thing where you can do anything, say anything, and be anything you want.
Kat Koppett, a cast member and co-director of the popular improv group Mop & Bucket Company in Schenectady, has been doing improv for the past 25 years. “You don’t have to be the right person for the character,” said Koppett. “You could be an 80-year-old man or a little girl.” What makes improv so different from traditional acting is that as an actor, you don’t have to be held back by your height, size, or looks. You get to go up on stage and be just about anyone, taking on his or her personality and mannerisms.
One of the most liberating things about doing improv is that it doesn’t have to be you. You go up on stage and become whoever and do what they would do. That is one of the reasons why Mike Eisenstein wanted to start Crate of Apes.
“I think that there are a lot of people who just wish that they could do stupid and fun things but are afraid that people will judge them for pretending and making things up, and a club of people such as ours will allow people to act out and not be embarrassed by what they are doing,” Eisenstein said.
Eisenstein has been doing improv since his freshman year of college at SUNY Brockport in 2008. While studying abroad in London, he was a part of a well-known improv club called The Comedy Store. Improv, and the laughing it entails, has helped Eisenstein with stress, and hopes that by starting the club it will give fellow students an outlet to come to, relax, and laugh with friends and fellow improv-ers.
Improv is a way for even the shyest of kids to break out into a shining star. You never know what you are capable of on stage, until you try it out. Eisenstein is familiar with what it was like to be the shy kid. “I was an incredibly shy person… I loved improv ever since I was a kid and I grew up watching Who’s Line is it Anyway? I remember thinking as a kid that I would never be able to do something like that, but loving every minute of watching it,” he said.
When you perform with an improv company, you really get a chance to see within yourself. You get that time to reflect on what you are capable of, and when you see yourself reach that monument, it is truly one of satisfaction. Crate of Apes is not just a club to witness self-growth, but also a club to meet new people that you would not have been able to meet before.
Just like any other club or intramural activity, you get to meet people that share the same interests as you do— a fun and relaxed environment where everyone is always welcome.
“I loved when the new members do their first show with us and having strangers and non-club members laughing and clapping at their jokes and scenes. The fact that with improv you can let those things that you can’t do in ‘real life’ come out and be an incredible scene,” said Eisenstein, when asked about his favorite part about improv.
The thought of getting up in front of an audience that you don’t know can be daunting, but the pay out at the end is so rewarding. “Just do it. Improv is life. You have to be willing to fail in order to do well as an improviser,” said Koppett.
Crate of Apes will hold its first interest meeting the week of March 10. While final dates and schedules are being worked out, please stay in touch on Twitter: @StRoseComedy or on Facebook: St. Rose Crate of Apes. If you have any questions about Crate of Apes, you can contact Mike Eisenstein at eisensteinm235@strose.edu
