Despite small membership, Improv Club has big ambitions

Troy Berg sits behind fellow sophomore Xiola Koile-Paxton and Scott Stallamann and acts as the playwright. Koile-Paxton and Stallamann stand and face the audience, ready to portray the characters and scenes of Berg’s choice.

The two are ready for anything the playwright’s mind can come up with — ranging from outer space adventures to fairytale dramas. It’s all part of improvisational acting.

Although the Improv Club just planted its roots at the University of South Dakota last semester, its seven members said it is on its way to thriving.

At a glance, the club is a group of students who come together with a common goal: to channel their creative energies into improvisational acting.

Berg, Improv Club president, has a history of acting in high school shows and said he wanted to continue that in college.

“The best part of improv for me is that my usual childish and goofy nature is somewhat normal in this setting, and also that I get to see others bring out their own goofy behavior and feel uplifted by it and inspired,” he said.

Berg said the club is important because it lets him get away from all the stresses of college life and allows him to express himself in a way that is less formal and more for the general entertainment of the public.

Improv Club is a place to create and generate new ideas for on-the-spot, no-script entertainment, with the opportunity to bounce them around from member to member and see where things go.

For Stallamann, improv has always been a hobby he enjoys. He said joining the club was a way for him to express himself in a different way.

“It’s really fun to get together with people and just hang out and informally create all of this stuff,” Stallamann said. “It’s really cool.”

Club members hope to bring in more members and eventually put on large-scale shows for the public.

But for now they have weekly meetings each Monday in the Muenster University Center at 5 p.m. where they practice their improvisational skills through various large group exercises which help them channel their creative energies in new and fun ways, Berg said.

Koile-Paxton, who is also one of the club’s leaders, said improv is a type of stress reliever for her.

“It allows me to be so open, and that’s not something you often get during the school week, or at any time,” she said.

She encouraged anyone who is or is not a theater major to give the club a try.

“As I am a music major I don’t have time to participate in the theater as much as I used to, and that’s why Improv Club is such a good alternative,” she said.

[notification type=”grey” title=”Want to join Improv Club?”]For more information and updates on Improv Club, attend one of their weekly meetings or follow them on Twitter @ClubUsd.[/notification]

(Sophomore Jasmine Blue “slaps” fellow sophomore Troy Berg during an improv club meeting Monday evening in the Muenster University Center. Anna Glenski / The Volante)