As a warm Friday night embraced Sonoma State students, the lights shined on stage in the Warren Theater at Sonoma State University. Students eagerly chatted as the night went on; the seats filled well across the room, with attendees ready to enjoy a night filled with instantaneous laughter. Captivating the excited bunch from 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 28 until 2 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 29, the campus improv club, The Improvohalics, performed its “PG Improv Comedy Show.”
The Improvoholics is a comedy club on campus that performs comedy sketches at no cost. The themes for these improv shows vary. In the past, there have been shows like decade themed improvs, PG improv shows, or shows aimed at challenging the performers to not swear or make instantaneous “dirty jokes” for one hour straight, and more.
“We are the most incredible group of weirdos that are learning how to create structure out of nothing. It’s like being a kid again, you can create anything with your imagination and have fun,” said club president Aliya Bacal.
The six performers interacted with the audience as laughter and chatter permeated the show’s atmosphere. The student performers on stage asked for suggestions from the audience on certain topics for different games and improvs: all conforming to a basis of “wholesome,” family themed content.
“The theme today (Friday, Feb. 28) is PG and we do this once every two years, but if anyone (within the group of performers) says anything that isn’t PG, they have to put a bag on their head. These improv shows are an outlet for creativity and having a space where we could have fun and be silly,” said club member and Sonoma State Junior, Haley Chimienti.
The improv comedians were certainly challenged as they had to keep their improv styles PG-rated. After all, if they failed to do so, they had to put a bag over their head for the rest of the show. There were multiple scenes, like the “Shadow” scene, where the cast pretended to be asleep and had to create a dream and act it out. A game called “Bigger,” where one of the members is in-charge of dictating the performance to make each entertaining gesture bigger and louder in seconds, was also at the forefront of entertainment.
Yet, the game that got the crowd particularly excited was one called “Chain Murder,” where the audience had a chance to be invoved in the spectacle created on stage by shouting out suggestions to performer approval.
Allowing the audience to be engaged made the atmosphere loud and infectious. Not only was the Warren Theater filled with laughter: there were students that could simply not stay in their seats with how fun and amusing the event quickly became. Considering it was a midnight show, as they all are nevertheless, the crowd was awake and ready for more laughs.
“It was my first time attending an Improv show. I didn’t know what to expect when I got there but the atmosphere was so welcoming. The fun music in the beginning and the amount of laughs I got in one night was incredible. I can’t wait to go and experience different themes of the show,” said Senior Gaby Davila.
The Improvaholics Comedy group hosts its practices in Ives Hall on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and, for future shows, check out the group’s Instagram for updates as well as Seawolf Living.