Spring Break
Students perform improv on professional level
JESSICA BROWN
Issue date: 4/15/09 Section: Variety
Amy Roeder wasn't finding her niche at the University, so she created one, founding her own improv comedy troupe.
Improv Athens was created in 2007 by Roeder, a University graduate student with big ambitions to make big laughs. Improv comedy is composed of predetermined prompts, but the actual dialogue is performed on-the-spot.
Where: Cine
Cost: $5
She not only founded an improv group when she saw that Athens was lacking one, but also found time to perform with the world-famous sketch comedy/improv group Second City when it visited the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta last year.
Though Roeder has since expanded her résumé of comedy shows to areas outside the University, Improv Athens members such as Mario Haynes still know and love Roeder.
"She's amazing; she started this whole group. She went to grad school here, and so she held auditions," Haynes said.
Haynes is fully involved and dedicated to this rare craft, and strives to perfect it.
When Roeder decided to leave the troupe, she appointed George Akers, a senior from Atlanta, as her "second-in-command."
Akers did not necessarily hold an impressive history with improv-style acting.
"My only improv exposure before Amy was watching 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' It was always one of my favorite shows," Akers said. "This past summer I went to Chicago and did a five-week intensive at the iO Theatre."
After gaining more experience, Akers became even more dedicated to the troupe. Although Improv Athens operates at a professional level, the troupe is comprised of students at all levels.
"Typically the shows feature 'short-form' improvisation, which are the games that you would see on 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' But we also do some 'long-form,' which are longer, more drawn out stories," Akers said.
Improv Athens was created in 2007 by Roeder, a University graduate student with big ambitions to make big laughs. Improv comedy is composed of predetermined prompts, but the actual dialogue is performed on-the-spot.
IMPROV ATHENS
When: 8 tonightWhere: Cine
Cost: $5
She not only founded an improv group when she saw that Athens was lacking one, but also found time to perform with the world-famous sketch comedy/improv group Second City when it visited the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta last year.
Though Roeder has since expanded her résumé of comedy shows to areas outside the University, Improv Athens members such as Mario Haynes still know and love Roeder.
"She's amazing; she started this whole group. She went to grad school here, and so she held auditions," Haynes said.
Haynes is fully involved and dedicated to this rare craft, and strives to perfect it.
When Roeder decided to leave the troupe, she appointed George Akers, a senior from Atlanta, as her "second-in-command."
Akers did not necessarily hold an impressive history with improv-style acting.
"My only improv exposure before Amy was watching 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' It was always one of my favorite shows," Akers said. "This past summer I went to Chicago and did a five-week intensive at the iO Theatre."
After gaining more experience, Akers became even more dedicated to the troupe. Although Improv Athens operates at a professional level, the troupe is comprised of students at all levels.
"Typically the shows feature 'short-form' improvisation, which are the games that you would see on 'Whose Line Is It Anyway?' But we also do some 'long-form,' which are longer, more drawn out stories," Akers said.
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