“You killed three pet rocks, that’s a very hard thing to do!” she said.
If they were anywhere in earshot of the auditorium this weekend, IU students probably heard this line or one similar as comedy troupes performed at the IU Campus Comedy Festival on April 9-11.
IUCCF brought together comedy groups from across campus and other schools as well as out-of-town acts such as the Tim and Micah Project, the Deltones and ?Vienna Juvenile.
The student groups present during the festival specialize either in sketch or improvisational comedy, and many of them are used to working with just the people from their own group. As such, Thursday night presented a challenge for some.
Thursday night’s event, INProv, was a series of improvised acts in which the existing groups were mixed with members of other groups. The newly formed groups included members of both sketch and improv acts.
This proved a bit challenging for some of the performers who are used to sketch comedy.
“It was nerve-wracking,” said senior Marc Ranucci, a member of the ?University tWits.
Ranucci also said performing in front of an audience with which he wasn’t familiar added to his nerves, because the tWits usually have a niche audience.
Freshman Maggie Eickhoff, a member of the improv group Awkward Silence, said she remembers it less for the nerves and more for the challenge of working with those she didn’t know and those less experienced in improv.
Eickhoff also said she enjoyed the experience of getting to know everyone from the rest of the ?comedy community.
“This community is the best group of people I’ve ever met,” Eickhoff said. “Beautiful, hard-working, hilarious.”
Ranucci said he felt differently about the nature of Friday’s performances.
“I feel great about it,” Ranucci said before ?performances began.
Sketch night seemed to have satisfied audience members as well. Sophomore Abby Matt singled out a sketch by the group All Sorts of Trouble for the Boy in the Bubble, in which a fidgety, unwilling new president guarantees homosexuals freedom of speech and blacks all land “west of ?Mordor.”
Matt also commented positively on the presence of visiting comedy groups.
“I think it’s cool that people came from Ball State,” Matt said.
Junior Mai Ngo, who attended the show with Matt, had positive things to say about the show as well.
“I wish that more people knew about events like this,” Ngo said.
