The student improvisational comedy troupe Currently Known As: performed its show titled “Pope Zero” to an enthusiastic audience in Wadsworth Auditorium room 21 on Nov. 30.
The show's title first came up in rehearsal during a game called “Dubbing.”
“What we do is during a rehearsal period for the show, we run a lot of the games that you see in [the show] and a lot of the games you don't see,” said senior Sam White. “So, sometimes we'll run a game and there'll be a very memorable moment from the game and if that moment is memorable enough we will select that as our show name.”
The hilariously bizarre opening skit set the tone for the rest of the night. It involved junior Marty Rogachefsky arriving late to the show because he stumbled into an underground tunnel filled with a yeti that tried to covert him to Christianity. Rogachefsky, however, was unaware of this. The rest of the members acted out an elaborate game of charades to help the uninformed Rogachefsky figure out the details.
What made the show so entertaining was the mix of random hilarity and the performers' high energy. For the second game, “Ding Switch,” White appeared to have a blast making a “ding” noise that signaled Rogachefsky, senior George Hart and sophomore James Kruegler to change the story of their journey on a deserted island from eating oranges, to bananas, to a barbecued pork tree.
One particularly funny game “Day in the Life” featured an audience member sharing her story about getting kicked in the hand by a cow she was milking so that members of the troupe could reinterpret her story.
During the game “Styles Replay,” the audience gleefully shouted out the strangest genres they could think of for White, senior Ryan Ford and sophomore Danielle Gerbosi to do in a scene. The genres they settled on - a romantic comedy featuring White as the geeky girl caught between two guys, and a Shakespeare tale that turned Ford into a fairy - were incredibly witty and impressive.
Currently Known As: will have its final show, a semester showcase, on Saturday Dec. 8.
“I love the fact that improv is always sort of about life. Improv is chaos and … life is chaos so it's fun to find the humor in that chaos,” said White. “That's what I've always liked about it, finding the humor in everyday situations.”