Comedy groups to audition for open spots

Seven campus comedy groups are looking for people to foster their inner comics, and auditions are beginning soon. Dating back to more than a decade, these groups put on free improv, sketch and stand-up comedy shows for students and community members across campus.

Full Frontal Comedy

Now in its 16th year, Full Frontal Comedy is IU’s longest-running comedy group.

“Full Frontal provides the perfect mix of short-form improv, which is similar to what you would see on the TV show ‘Whose Line is it Anyway’, sketch comedy, which is like what you see on ‘Saturday Night Live’ and long form,” sophomore member Danielle Vetter said.

Full Frontal performs every other Friday in the Indiana Memorial Union. This year’s auditions will be Sept. 10 in the Indiana Memorial Union.

“We are in no way looking for someone to be funny,” senior member Milo Ellis said. “We want someone who is comfortable and accepting as an improviser. We want someone who will work well in an ensemble.”

And auditions are fun for everyone, said junior Emily Mange. “The first round of auditions is on a Saturday morning, and we basically just teach improv games and then have the auditionees play them for a while we watch. It’s actually a blast.”

University tWits

The University tWits’ leadership consists of juniors Tim Hickle as Admiral Giggles and Hank Greene as Captain Hilarity, positions both embedded in the tWits’ constitution.

The University tWits have been serving up witty student-written sketch comedy to IU students with monthly IMU performances and video and blog posts on their website, www.twitscomedy.webs.com, between shows.

Auditions will be at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 7 in the IMU’s Redbud Room.

“The audition is three-fold,” Hickle said. “We do some improv to warm up, then we do some extemporaneous character work followed by a mock writing session. Nothing is required to prepare. Just come ready to have fun.”

Midnight Snack

Midnight Snack is IU’s only variety comedy group, dedicated to sketch comedy, stand-up and improv.

Auditions will be at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12 in the Union, and while President Greg Mergruen said the group can accept as many as five new Midnight Snack-ers, it all depends on the turnout.

“The audition is a fun and exciting way for everyone to get to know each other and see how well the auditionees play with each other,” Mergruen said. “We go though warm-ups . . . play some improv games, [and] finally, and this part is optional, people who are auditioning can perform a stand-up routine if they prepared something.”

All Sorts of Trouble for the Boy in the Bubble

For the past decade or so, Boy in the Bubble has been entertaining students with original sketch comedy and is the “kind of comedy group that likes to sit in chairs backwards . . . wear baseball caps backwards and walk backwards,” according to its
website. 

Auditions will take place at 9 p.m. Sept. 13 and 14 in the Union’s State Room East.

“(You do) not need to prepare anything or have any experience whatsoever,” senior member Rosie Cramer said. “It’s nothing to be scared about.”

Stand-Up Comedy Club at IU

New to IU’s comedic line-up, this group was founded during the summer by recent telecommunications graduate Tom Brady and Joshua Murphy, the group’s first chairman.

“Our group is in a peculiar predicament when compared to other comedy groups on campus, as stand-up can only really be judged in front of a live audience,” Murphy said. “Thus, the first show will act as an audition.”

The first audition show will be 8 p.m. Sept. 13 in the Collins Coffeehouse, and all future Dane Cooks and Jerry Seinfelds should come having prepared a three-minute stand-up routine to leave the audience rolling on the floor with laughter.

“I really think if someone is interested in comedy, but not 100 percent certain which specific field they want to be a part of, they should audition for everything they’re interested in,” Brady said.

HoosOnFirst

HoosOnFirst is IU’s only all-short-form improv group, performing shows at 8:30 p.m. every Saturday in the Union.

Although this year’s exact audition date has yet to be determined (expect posters with complete logistics in the coming weeks), it will take place in early September.

The audition will consist of a group warm-up followed by some classic improv games. New to the form? Don’t worry. HoosOnFirst will teach you, and nothing needs to be prepared for the audition, President Max Singer, a junior theater and drama major, said.

“We’re just looking for people who are outgoing and willing to give it a try,” he said.

Awkward Silence Comedy

Awkward Silence Comedy has been around since 2004. Since then, the group has taken its act to places like the 2007 Chicago College Comedy Competition, where it placed second.

Usually, the group can be found performing live long-form improv for free at 9 p.m Thursdays in the Union. 

“We hold auditions once a semester,” President and senior Anthony Smith, who has been an ASC member since 2008, said. Auditions will take place at 8 p.m. Sept. 13 in the IMU.

“(There is) no need to prepare anything for an audition. We will do some improv exercises and scenes,” he said. “The most important thing is to come in and have as much fun as you can.”