As the members of Gag Reflex took the stage on Saturday evening, it was evident that they were not just another comedy act. Entering to wild cheers from the capacity crowd at Memorial Chapel, past and present members of Gag Reflex came together to commemorate the group’s 15th Anniversary.
“The crowd was larger and more enthusiastic than I had expected,” said Adam Read-Brown ’07, a senior member of Gag Reflex. There was a reason, too.
Will Cushing ’03, Isaac Eddy ’01, Naomi Ekperigin ’05, Chris Kaminstein ’04, Lauren Kirchner ’03, Sarah Morrison ’03, Matt Roberts ’95, Seth Samuels ’06, and Jesse Young ’06 returned to the University to flex some comedic muscles with the improv troupe’s eight current members.
“We just sent out some e-mails and tried to get the word out,” said Corey Harrower ’07, who helped contact alumni to organize the reunion. “We got as direct as possible, but it was mainly about getting the word out and then [seeing] who respond[ed].”
“They all got in on Friday night and then Saturday was devoted entirely to rehearsing and playing,” Read-Brown said. “They were all so enthusiastic to be here.”
According to Harrower, the nine veterans spent the day with the current members doing workshops and playing improv games.
“You cannot prepare for the show, but you can rehearse the format. We did a couple of ‘Armandos,’” Harrower added.
An “Armando” is a long-form improv that is initiated by a word called out at random from the audience. One member begins by creating an impromptu monologue about the word. Then, once the stage is set, it is up to each person in the team to keep the act going by tying together a nonstop series of improvised sketches.
“There is a technique to improv,” said Gag Reflex member Larissa Slovin ’08. “You try to build up a momentum for the show and then let it fit into the flow.”
To manage a group of seventeen, the show was divided into three “Armandos”: two small ones with half of the assembled cast in each, and the third, in which both joined together for the huge seventeen-person finale. By that time the stage was a little crowded, which kept it interesting.
“One thing that can be improved is that I think because there were so many people, there was a lot going on,” said Aliza Simons ’09, who enjoyed the show overall.
That reality was not lost on the performers themselves.
“We felt the show would have moved along faster with smaller groups because they tend to hang on tighter,” said Read-Brown. The idea behind the fun, though, was to have all the participants, old and new, perform together. So, after much deliberation, the last Armando with the entire cast was approved.
“We prefer the smaller ones, but we wanted to get everybody,” said Zach LeClair ’10, Gag Reflex’s newest member.
Slovin, one of the three monologists in the last show, explained that while the monologues are triggered by words the audience brings up, they have to be true to life.
“Plus, you have to relay the story with enough detail that the group can make scenes out of it,” she said.
And surely, they were detailed enough to tickle the funny bone.
“I thought the monologues were great,” said Cara Sternberg ’10. “They were awkward and I find great humor in that.”
Every scene in an Armando has a game.
“You want to ‘clap in’ to exploit the game and keep heightening it until you reach a high point,” said LeClair. “The goal is to try to break out of tendencies.”
While LeClair only recently joined the group, on Saturday night hardly anyone onstage had worked with every other performer. The youngest actors were freshmen, while some of the alumni were in their 30s.
“What a unique chance to work with people that we won’t get to work with again,” said Read-Brown. “It was an honor to be able to perform at the Chapel and have a really great chance to get some fun and get everyone to experiment.”
“I thought it was hilarious and one of the great things was the interactions between the different generations,” said Bill Kaplan ’09.
There is a secret to these interactions: they are built upon a shared understanding of expectations.
“The goal of every member of Gag Reflex is to make every other person look like a genius and to expect every other person to be a genius,” said Harrower.
You can watch their collective genius in action once again when they perform with their regular 8-person lineup on October 20th, the eve of Homecoming weekend.
Saturday’s performance will remain unique, however, because of the alumni.
“It was great to see that people can still be funny even into their thirties,” Matthew Danzig ’09 said after the show Saturday. “It was so funny, I bled.”
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