Acting is something that takes years to perfect, while participating in improv is all about thinking on your toes.
This Just In is UW’s own improv troupe and is welcoming UW students to come have fun and test their wit and improvisational abilities in their weekly improv club meetings.
This Just In is preparing to showcase their improv skills in the performing arts building in Crane Studio this Friday from 8:30 to 10:00 p.m.
The troupe operates like a student club, but is technically not considered an RSO. Instead, under the Associated Students of the Performing Arts (ASOPA), which is an RSO at UW that is the driving force behind plays and performances on campus.
“We are a sort of a branch of ASOPA,” This Just In Co-Director and UW Sophomore Samantha Biggs said. “The improv club on Thursday nights is like a division of This Just In, so there is the actual team, and then there is the club where we have open nights for people to come try it out.”
Biggs started doing improv since around 7th grade and joined her high school team back in St. Louis, Missouri. She joined the troupe in her Freshman year and has been a member for three semesters. She encourages students to join the troupe’s club and make friends.
“I love it, the team is like a second family to me on campus, they are just really cool, fun people,” Biggs said. “When we get to do club on Thursday nights with strangers, it is really cool to meet people and get to know them through improv.”
This Just In hosts the open nights to have fun and teach new members how the process of improv is done and does a series of games and exercises to develop their skills. The troupe will then select members from the open nights to join the troupe if they show promise.
“There is an audition process and we select people to be on the team,” Biggs said. “When you’re on the team you focus a lot more on skill building than the technical side of improv, where improv club night on Thursdays are more focused on the fun of it.”
During the Thursday meetings, the club plays games and do other activities that are supposed to improve the skills an improver needs. They combine the games with people with improv experience to help guide new members
“During club nights we’ll play games and give the newcomers specific pointers, like, ‘hey, you should try doing this instead of this,’” Biggs said. “A lot of the time we’ll throw them into scenes with people who are on the team and have experience, so to help bring people up to speed a bit.”
In addition to the Thursday meetings, Biggs hosts an improv practice session for the community every Monday from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. at the Laramie Plains Civic Center.
The troupe has a total of five shows coming up this semester, including the show this Friday and one after spring break.
However, the troupe does not always perform in the same spot. They occasionally like to perform in locations outside of campus.
“We do our shows in a bunch of different places. Half of our shows are at Crane Studio where we do our club meetings, it is in the performing arts building,” Biggs said. “Our other shows we typically do in outside locations like 8 Bytes, which is downtown, and we are also doing a show this semester in the union.”
Biggs also said she would like for the group to be able to travel and do shows sometime in the future.
“The team is sort of on the rise, we are slowly building up and doing more shows, we are just trying to make ourselves more official,” Biggs said. “We definitely want to travel to other places, it is in the plans for either later this semester or early next semester.”
Those who want to catch This Just In perform in the future can check out their Facebook profile where they have posted their upcoming shows this semester.
