By: Matthew Seeger, Talon Staff
A good rule of thumb is to agree to, and then build upon, whatever chaos your partner has sparked. That’s a philosophy that actor, director and comedian Tina Fey swears by. No, she’s not talking about the antics of two pyromaniacs breaking into fireworks shop, she’s talking about one of the basic tenets of improv.
Both involve wacky, unexpected scenarios that go boom, and anyone who’s into that may want to visit Tallahassee Community College’s Turner Auditorium to see TCC Adjunct Instructor Chris Tittel’s improv team take the stage on Tuesday, April 23 at 2:00 pm.
The team includes students on many different college paths, not all of which involve performing arts. TCC sophomore Garrett Brantley, who previously starred as “Tom” in the Theater TCC production of Schoolhouse Rock Live, is on equal footing with TCC sophomore Jeremiah Christiano, who says hasn’t had much experience in the performing arts.
“A couple months ago, I had a part in a musical,” Christiano said. “That’s like the most serious (role) I can remember. I’ve done choir before, but not any theater.”
Another sophomore, Hannah Argersinger, is an English major who has a much more concrete background in theater. She says she’s always been intrigued by improv, because it allows her to cut loose and say all the funny little things that come to mind during normal conversation, but which she often wouldn’t dream of saying out loud.
“Yeah, it’s kind of scary, but it is really freeing” Argersinger said. “That’s why I like this form of acting, because you don’t have a script that necessarily binds you to any particular character or voice, so you’re just kind of doing whatever comes into your head.”
There are a number of brilliant exercises which the team will demonstrate, and if you’re a fan of the show “Whose Line is it, Anyway,” you may recognize a few of these.
“Arms,” for example, involves one actor with their arms locked who provides the narrative, while an actor behind them becomes their arms. Both actors work off of each other, building off each other’s cues and decisions and acting accordingly. If the hands do something Actor A. didn’t expect, or vice-versa, it’s time to switch gears!
It’s wild, unpredictable, and according to Instructor Tittel, it’ll be the first time the improv team will be performing live on stage. The first performance starts Tuesday, April 23 at 2:00 PM on stage in the Turner Auditorium, and then again on Thursday, April 26 at 2:00 PM in FPAC room 125.
