Net grabs the best of 'U' Improv

PREVIEW
	Without a Net Tonight at 8:30 U-Club

Do you know what you're doing tonight? Without a Net, a campus improv comedy group, performing at the U-Club in the Michigan Union is an option for the evening's activities. And its members are not exactly sure what they're going to be doing tonight either.

This is Without a Net's sixth year at the University. The independent organization is composed entirely of students and presently has six members, who are chosen from tryouts from the beginning of the semester. It is a smaller, more specialized group that emphasizes improvisational skills, meaning the performers' work is almost completely unrehearsed.

Without a Net presented "Improv Comedy Rampage" in February and "Improv Comedy Crunch" in March.

Tonight, members will present "Comedy Apocalypse," which is directed by LSA senior Gordon Eick, a member of the group for five semesters. The show will be Without a Net's final performance of the year.

"Comedy Apocalypse" will begin with a short skit that the performers in Without a Net wrote together. The skit parodies films and TV shows about the destruction of the Earth by asteroids.

DANA LINNANE/Daily P.J. Jacokes and Erin Galligan do their interpretation of fish for the comedy troupe Without a Net. The Improv group hosts a performance tonight at the U-Club.

For the remainder of the evening, the group will play improvisational games with the audience such as Superhero, Song, Dub-lines, Party Quirks, Lecture, Time Traveler and World's Worst.

In these games, the audience helps set up the scenes, characters and lines. The cast has no idea what kind of situation the audience will choose for the performers. As a result, anything can happen.

"The shows are really a thrill," said Without a Net performer and LSA senior Erin Galligan. "It can be frightening to get up on stage with no script, but the spontaneity is what makes the shows exciting and friendly."

Many of the performers enjoy being a part of the organization because it's a chance for them to show off their colorful and comedic sides, while bringing enjoyment and laughter to the audience and each other.

"Without a Net is the only place where my incoherent nature is accepted and appreciated," said Robbie Simon, the group's producer and an LSA senior.

"The challenge is always to make coherence out of the audience's suggestions, and Robbie is really good at that on stage," LSA junior Mike Stern said.

"The great part is when you make a connection with the audience, and I love to work with these five talented and very enjoyable people to try to do so," Stern said.

Many of the performers in Without a Net say they enjoy being a part of the group because they feel they excel at bringing the audience's ideas together. They compare their type of improv to one great, big puzzle that everyone in the group has to work together to successfully solve.

"The beautiful thing about improv is that there is no wrong. That way I'm always brilliant, even if no one else notices," said P.J. Jacokes, an LSA junior.

Because this is their last show of the year and a number of the members are graduating, some performers from Without a Net are feeling a little nostalgic about leaving the group.

All of the performers have been with the organization during previous semesters, and they have grown close to each other.

"We work well together because we're such an eclectic group, just a bunch of weird people basically," said third-year Art student Kathy Silverstein, who has been with the group for three semesters. She also calls Without a Net a "dynamic comedy troupe."

Without a Net cast members promise that the group's performance will be original and "incredibly hilarious."

The members invite everyone to come and see their final performance.

Tickets for the performance are $3, and are available at the door. The show will begin promptly at 8:30 p.m.

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