Ever wanted to step outside your comfort zone and attend a random student organization meeting? These students did – and their experiences were hilarious.
Although college is about furthering your education and determining what career field you want to dive into, a large part of it is going outside of your comfort zone, which I haven’t really done much. That is, until I decided to check out a club meeting that I didn’t think I’d ever attend.
The Overreactors is an improvisational group that meets every Tuesday and Thursday at the Booker T. Washington Theatre from 10:30 to 11:30 p.m. Unlike USC’s other improv group, Toast, in which you must be selected to join the group, Overreactors’ meetings are all open practice, meaning everyone is allowed to participate.
The last time I did any type of acting was when I was in my fifth grade play for our rendition of “The Shoemaker and the Elves.” So, when I attended the meeting, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I wasn’t really sure what to expect out of the group. There was also the process of trying something new, which I’ve struggled doing.
As the meeting was beginning, the members were extremely nice and welcoming, but little did I know what I was getting myself into. I learned very quickly that in improv, you have to be able to think fast on your feet.
The first exercise we did was get into a big group circle where the person in front of you gives you a topic, and you have to come up with the first five things that come to mind. After you said your five things, you were able to give a new topic to the person after you.
When it was my turn, I had to come up with five reasons why I like spaghetti, which is a lot harder than it seems when you’re trying to come up with the reasons as quickly as possible. I soon learned that there really weren’t any wrong answers, just as long as you were able to come up with something. The more creative and whacky the answer, the better.
The acting started with the next activity. Participating members were given a word they were required to say during their skit with none of the words having anything to do with one another. The skits really didn’t have much of a plot to them because they were all over the place, but it allowed everyone to get innovative and act out the skit through their own point of view and creativity.
If you’re someone like me who doesn’t necessarily like to do things that aren’t a part of a daily routine but want to get out and meet some fun (and definitely creative) new people, I highly recommend attending an Overreactors meeting.
You can follow Overreactors Improv on Facebook.
