By Austin Lindner | Echo
Without elaborate lighting, decorations or props, the stage looks bare and vulnerable as over 200 students hustle into the recital hall. The audience's eager chatter reaches deafening levels as late-comers attempt to find empty seats before inevitably settling for a spot against the crowded wall.
Apprehensively waiting backstage is a small troupe without a script. They have no costumes; they have no props.
The cast has been preparing for this moment for weeks, and yet they have no idea what will happen onstage in a matter of minutes. After gathering for a quick prayer, they walk onto the stage as the crowd responds with cheers.
"Hi, everybody! We're Rice Pilaf, and welcome to the show."
And with that announcement, an hour of improv comedy begins.
While it may have nothing to do with the Middle Eastern grain dish, the Rice Pilaf comedy troupe has been a pillar of Taylor culture since the 1990s. Practicing weekly, the group offers shows about once a month in Butz-Carruth Recital Hall. Each show encourages audience feedback and participation, as the troupe takes suggestions to perform a variety of improvisational games and sketches.
In past years, Pilaf has not been a popular comedic force on campus, usually only drawing in a small group of dedicated fans. During its 2014-2015 season, however, the troupe began to appeal to a broader audience. Their Valentine's Day show in the spring of 2015 brought in a crowd of about 300, an audience larger than many of Taylor's theatre productions.
"The spontaneity of every show is a rush for me," said troupe member and senior Darius Farmer. "That's one of the things I both love and hate about Rice Pilaf-every show is different."
Farmer joined the troupe as a sophomore and is now serving as Pilaf's co-leader with fellow senior Tobi Ballantine. Prior to Pilaf, neither had any experience with improv comedy.
After auditioning for the troupe on a whim last year, Ballantine instantly fell in love with the relationship between the performers and the audience.
"It's never really recognized as an art, but that's what it is," Ballantine said. "To be on an improv team you have to be willing to be vulnerable. You learn how to forgive yourself if you have a bad show or make a couple dumb jokes. You have to be able to get off the stage and move on. It's a forgiving art."
A newfound passion for this art propelled Ballantine to enroll this summer in a basic improvisation class at the training center for The Second City, one of America's most influential comedy theatres, located in Chicago. At Second City, Ballantine discovered new methods of setting up a successful scene, as well as a variety of new games and training techniques to bring back to Pilaf.
On Sept. 9, Ballantine and Farmer joined a returning cast that includes senior Kasey Leander, junior Paul Jacobson and sophomore Paje Smiley for Pilaf's first show of the school year. The following Sunday, Pilaf held auditions to fill the remaining spots in the team.
After two days of auditions and callbacks, five new members were chosen from a group of 12, including second year MAHE student Mackenzie Lechlitner, seniors Brennan Bookmyer and Ryan Monson, sophomore Marissa Gabel and freshman Gabe Harder.
According to Ballantine and Farmer, each new member brings valuable skills to the team, from physical comedy to an assortment of characters. These talents will help the troupe handle the ever-increasing number of seats being filled by an expectant audience.
Regarding Pilaf's recent rise in popularity, Ballantine said, "I think it's just a level of seriousness. We all just really want to have a good show so we always come to practice and we make time for each other to hang out outside of Rice Pilaf so we can have chemistry."
Although Pilaf's next show is undetermined at this date, it will take place in October. Whether the 10 student-comedians are stomping across the stage pretending to be dinosaurs or creating a movie plot line on the spot, they are determined to do whatever it takes to get the last laugh.
"More than almost anything in the world, I love to laugh," Farmer said. "So having the opportunity to make other people laugh, to me, is a huge honor."
