After Currently Known As president James Macaluso promised a “wild, sexy time” that would be “sensual, saucy and maybe a little outrageous,” the audience was treated to a hilarious show full of cigarette smoking clowns, bad jugglers and a rabid cat named Felix.
Improv troupe Currently Known As held a “Rom-Com Spectacular” performance on Friday Feb. 22 in Wadsworth 21. The goal of the improv game was for two characters to end up together based on the audience’s choice.
Macaluso asked the audience for awkward real-life romantic experiences and settings to drive the improv troupe’s plot. Once suggestions were made, CKA began the scene with their choices: a circus setting and flirting by giving potential suitors professional business cards.
CKA partook in a three-act improv show. After the first act, the audience members decided who they wanted to end up together and after the second act, the improv team figured out how the show would end in secret.
Even though the show was improv, the team still did some planning and practice, according to CKA member senior Annie Renaud.
“The format is that we’re establishing relationships at the beginning, trying to flirt with one another, everyone kind of flirts with one another and then the person who’s not watching will choose who will fall in love, and then you kind of just build a scene off of that,” Renaud said. “We’re always trying to learn different strategies, different romantic comedy tropes to include in there…so it’s a lot of just practicing different types of scenes, seeing what relationships work well together.”
The plot of the show involved competing mediocre circus acts. CKA member first-year Jada Atwood and Renaud played headlining cigarette smoking clowns, Barbara and Deborah. CKA member junior Trevor Greco played Steve, an animal tamer attached to his cat, Felix, that he got from his family. Steve ends up leaving the main rinky-dink circus with Fred, played by CKA first-year Miles O’Brien, at the end of the first act.
Due to the chemistry between Fred and Steve, the audience chose the two characters as their romantic pairing. The second and third act saw some heavy competition between the two circuses as CKA member junior Elizabeth Ramsay played Stacey, a new juggler with asthma who is caught between both circus acts.
Each quip from the group garnered a lot of laughs, while they were able to intertwine elements and running jokes throughout the entire show. The performance also involved funny “cut to” moments where they would make up flashbacks for things they would mention about their characters.
Creative writing major senior Isabel Keane found the show to be highly amusing.
“I thought it was a fantastic display of student creativity,” Keane said. “My favorite part was the crazy storylines.”
Another audience member, communication major senior Annalee Bainnson, echoed the same sentiment.
“This group is genuinely funny,” Bainnson said. “They span from quick-witted and nuanced jokes to outright stupid humor, and I’m entertained the whole time whenever I see them.”
CKA welcomes everyone who wants to join, with meetings on Mondays at 7 p.m. and Fridays at 6 p.m. in Wadsworth 21.
“Everyone is so welcoming and supportive of you because we want to see you succeed, and nobody’s good when they start out, so it’s a learning process and it’s just such a great organization to be a part of,” Renaud said.