On Friday night, improv troupe No Laugh Track Required proved that it has the talent to back up its name. The nine charismatic students of NLTR entertained a packed audience in Sturges Auditorium for over an hour with their improvisational skills.
NLTR began the evening with an unusual press conference; the speaker, sophomore Audrey Schiffhauer, had to guess what crime she had committed based on the questions of interviewers. Brutus' murder of Caesar hadn't seemed so funny since Gretchen's speech in Mean Girls.
Shortly afterward, four troupe members sang an Irish drinking song that put the audience in high spirits. This was followed by a game called "Pillars" and an "ABCD square."
Several performers took to the stage for a sketch called "The Bean Skit." First, the comedians performed a straight version of the dialogue and then took the audience's suggestions for alternative styles in which they could act out the scene. The most popular version was in the style of a Mexican soap opera, where a classic sí/no dialogue between junior Heather Southern and sophomore George Smith left the audience in hysterics.
Juniors Mike Lanni and Alex Timmis worked well together in the news report scene. As Eminem the weatherman, Lanni perfectly combined weather jokes with "Love the Way You Lie" lyrics. Timmis added just the right amount of bizarre humor with his ubiquitous hair fetish, ultimately resulting in his untimely demise after he got a bit too touchy-feely with Eminem.
Next, seniors Andrew Rudansky and Kirk Stevens dispersed audience-written lines into their scene between a mother who thought her daughter wasn't dressed seductively enough for Halloween. Obviously, hilarity ensued.
Later in the show, the troupe performed a sketch called "No You Didn't!" in which a narrator shouted out that very phrase any time a cast member said something that just wasn't funny enough. When you combine taxidermy with mother/daughter feuds and pseudo-hit men, the comedic possibilities are endless.
The entire group took part in a game called "The Worst" where a profession is named and individuals or pairs step forward to illustrate one of the worst things someone in said profession could do. Highlights included a president whose motto is "No we can't!" and a ventriloquist who engages in a steamy kiss with his dummy.
The night ended with a musical medley where bar patrons sang their woes to the bartender, Stevens, who responded in song to the tune of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons' "December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night)." First, Rudansky went to Stevens asking what he should do about his inability to relieve himself in places other than a paper bag. Sophomore Emily Cirincione wanted to know how she could get over her allergy to other people, and Lanni wanted Stevens to help him learn to do arts and crafts. Sophomore Evan Szakàts provided spontaneous piano accompaniment.
Don't worry if you missed this hilarious show; No Laugh Track Required plans to return to Sturges Auditorium in early December.