Last Saturday, as a part of Parents’ Weekend, the improv hip-hop group Freestyle Love Supreme brought their innovative show to Crowell Concert Hall. The group that traveled to Wesleyan consisted of three alumni who performed as the MCs: Anthony “Two Touch” Veneziale ’98, Lin-Manuel “Lin-Man” Miranda ’02, and Andrew “Jelly-Donut” Bancroft ’01, as well as beat boxer Chris “Shockwave” Sullivan and pianist Arthur “The Geniuses” Lewis. The group began while Miranda, who is best known for writing and starring in the Tony award-winning Broadway show In the Heights, was an undergraduate at Wesleyan and then moved to New York, where it grew and evolved into what it is today.

As the lights went down on the packed hall, the sold-out show began with an offstage improv microphone check. The crowd wildly applauded the appearance of the group as the mic check ended with a musical declaration of the group’s name.

The first song of the night was based on a verb chosen from the audience. After a quick joke when one audience member shouted the word “defenestrate,” Freestyle Love Supreme selected the word “blow-dry” and began their first number. Each of the five members had a chance to perform their own take on the word. One of the most memorable was Shockwave’s, who provided an incredibly entertaining beat box routine of getting ready in the morning.

For the next number, Lin-Manuel Miranda performed an entirely improvised rap as words that the audience had written down before the show were called out to him. The song included a shout-out to the infamous “Party on Fountain” Youtube video as well as Neon Deli.

The next song that the group performed was based on a person, thing, and place, which were selected from the audience. “Lin-Man” was given Johnny Depp, “Jelly Donut” was given bed bugs, and “Two Touch” was given the now destroyed MoCon. Each artist performed a verse based on their given word. The next song—perhaps the funniest of the night—was based on an audience member, a young boy named Ezra. The song gave Ezra a “Second Chance” where his most recent mistake (breaking his mother’s vase the day of the concert) could be done over as performed by Freestyle Love Supreme. The comical routine was made up of two different versions of the “second chance,” one of which turned out poorly while the other made the world a better place thanks to Ezra’s decisions.

Freestyle Love Supreme performed next on the subject of parents, with each of the three alumni telling the audience about their actual parents through improvised lyrics. The final number of the night was a day in the life of a random Wesleyan student selected from the audience. After learning about the student’s day, the group performed it through song, with Shockwave as the student’s body and Miranda as the student’s mind. Performing their microphone check and group signature one last time, Freestyle Love Supreme ended their concert.

A group of truly talented musicians and lyricists, Freestyle Love Supreme showed the Wesleyan Community an amazing time. On their website, they claim to be planning to “build a hip-hop community.” If anyone can do it, this seems to be a group that can.