The Incident, Amuse Bouche and The Whethermen joined forces Friday in Warner Hall for their semesterly tradition — a free, three-group comedy show. Aptly titling the show “Good Things Come in Threes,” the three groups each brought their own unique humor to the performance over a hilarious evening.
The event provided the University community with a taste of each group’s style, catering to comedy lovers as well as anybody considering getting involved in the comedy scene on Grounds this semester. Audiences packed the auditorium, eagerly shouting out suggestions for improv topics to performers throughout the night.
A video featuring members of all three groups, each named Jack, introduced the performance and teased an upcoming contest dubbed a “Jack-off” to warm the audience up for the laughter the rest of the night promised. Then came The Whethermen — the University’s oldest improv group, founded in 1997 — to perform first. Amuse Bouche performed next, showcasing their long-form improv style, and The Incident, the University’s only sketch comedy group, closed out.
Kieran Warner, President of Amuse Bouche and third-year Commerce and College student, explained the coordination behind the show’s composition.
“Me and Julia, Farooq [and] the other presidents planned on a time that worked for everyone, got the space reserved, and then just had to figure out the logistics.” Warner said. “We decided … to film more promotional material, because we wanted to bond more as three groups.”
The Whethermen’s performance stuck to short-form comedy, with numerous improv games each lasting only a few minutes. Each game was organized around a bell that, when rung, compelled those on stage to either switch into each other’s characters, move into new ones or end the game as a whole. One example involved performers suddenly switching roles, forcing each to briefly lay down on the stage floor in rapid succession as audiences roared.
While every performance of theirs is improvised on the spot, Tara Cochrane, Whethermen member and fourth-year College student, explained that behind-the scenes-work helps the group determine the right structure for a hilarious ad-libbed show.
“We’ll practice the games with different people, figure out what’s best for the show,” Cochrane said. “Obviously, because it’s improv, every scene ends up different but we’ll do the format of the games a couple of times a day.”
Amuse Bouche, which was founded in 2007 and specializes in long-form improv comedy, performed second. Staying true to their style, the group only performed one game over their 30-minute runtime, called “As seen on T.V.”
Their act began with two actors working off an audience suggestion, in an effort to create a movie that had “never been made.” Each new scene, improvers would weave their own characters into the greater story. While it seemed chaotic at first, each new scene built off the previous, ramping up the overarching narrative until it culminated in a comedic final scene involving the entire group.
The night ended with The Incident, the University's only sketch comedy group and the only non-improv performance of the night. The group performed a list of their favorite sketches, interspersing ones from their most recent show with older tried and true skits.
A crowd favorite was their final sketch, a spoof on fraternity pledges, involving one character explaining how he is the “bed gremlin pledge.” As the sketch progressed, the scene shifted from a group of college boys talking about their pledging experience to a large group of characters chanting and dancing around the bed gremlin. Having seen this sketch before, Bella Fazio, audience member and third-year College student, said that new iterations of the same funny idea added to her experience.
“It was really fascinating to see different acting choices being made even though the script for the sketches were technically the same,” Fazio said. “It was different than [they] did it last time and [they] just get better and better.”
Actors across groups occasionally repeated too, as some students are members of more than one of the three comedy ensembles. Reese Robers, member of Amuse Bouche and The Incident and fourth-year College student, said that her broad involvement allows her to explore two different sides of comedy.
“It’s really energizing and very fun to be able to perform in two groups that both do comedy, which is my love, but they do it in different ways,” Robers said. “I’m always a little more anxious for Amuse Bouche and waiting to see what’s gonna happen next, and then for The Incident, I’m always excited to see where the laughter hits.”
Laughter and bonding is what energized the night throughout all three performances as the packed crowd eagerly reacted to each comedic choice. With fourth-wall breaks, quick improvised quips and perfectly timed moments in the sketches, the audience was held in a humorous trance. It is this atmosphere that keeps Jillian Reed, comedy enthusiast and third-year College student, coming back to these shows.
“I love these comedy shows, because I feel like the laughter and joy that comes from it, it follows you after the show,” Reed said. “It could be four hours after the show and I’m still in a good mood.”
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