Full Frontal Comedy had its first in-person show of the year Friday. With the pandemic preventing it from having in-person shows during the fall, this show not only marks its first show of the semester but the first show of the school year.
“It has been such a resurgence of energy,” Anna Lagrange, IU sophomore and Full Frontal member, said. “It’s so great to have our friends from different comedy troops come out and support us as well as old members.”
Lagrange said Full Frontal Comedy enjoys seeing people come back to watch them perform, and they feel the audience is as much a part of the troop as they are.
For three of its members, IU freshmen Kathryn Peterson, Jacqueline Preston, and Erik Waker, it was their first time performing for the group in front of a live audience.
“It was very exciting to share, like what we had worked on, because we spent all last semester practicing without shows,” Preston said. “I knew that the space wouldn't be as filled up, but it was still really exciting to see people and have like a live audience.”
Troop leader and IU senior Josh Levy said he prioritized troop safety before he organized a safe way to bring back a live show to the audience.
“That’s one of the best parts of doing comedy at all, just like making people laugh, especially during these times,” Levy said.
The group would spend several hours together before the show to cultivate the energy and camaraderie required to do improv, Levy said.
During the shows, the troop performs comedy skits and scenes on the spot. Levy said one skit the troop likes to perform is a montage, which involves members performing scenes about a topic suggested by an audience member.
“There is always a worry that if you have a low energy montage or a weird vibe, it can be really hard to recover,” Levy said. “But it started high energy and it stayed high energy and it really connected with the audience all the way through.”
Many regular audience members came back to enjoy the troop’s first comedy of the year. Mitch Toher, an IU senior in the audience for Friday’s performance, said this was the first live show on campus he’s been to this semester.
Toher said that he’s been to Full Frontal’s shows many times over the years and he’s gotten to know some of the performers.
“It is kind of just an escape, it’s a little bit of a release,” Toher said.
Full Frontal Comedy plans to perform again at 9 p.m. Friday in Ballantine Hall room 013.
