This Saturday, I had the pleasure of attending Improv Central, provided by FHC’s theater department in the auditorium. Although this show was neither a play nor a musical, I was entertained throughout it all. 

Normally, when I attend any performance, I would expect all performers to be onstage at first, but that was not the case here. Instead, the show starts off with eight out of the ten cast members greeting each other on stage, followed by senior Katelynn Heilman and sophomore Charlie Molitor being spotted in the audience. 

The introduction to the show was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before and only added to the witty aspect of it. This, along with the multitude of games such as Four Square and the audience’s participation, only made it that more lively for me throughout the show. 

What I liked about the performers getting feedback from the audience was that they tried to incorporate everyone. They made sure to get it from all three sections of the audience versus one, and they even called some audience members on stage, making it that much more inclusive. 

From sophomore Jake Barnes being stabbed with a wet noodle at Culver’s to junior Paige Harsevoort and sophomore Sully Lower going on their first date reminiscing on family photos, there wasn’t a moment when the audience wasn’t laughing or screaming out answers. 

One game that stood out, in particular, was the Alphabet Game because the first time I saw the game played was in the pilot episode of Nickelodeon’s Victorious. It was impressive to see my fellow classmates come up with lines so quickly because I can only imagine how challenging it can be to improvise on stage when hundreds of people are watching. 

The game that was the most amusing for me to watch was Forward and Reverse. If “forward” is yelled during the scene, they continue improvising, but if “reverse” is yelled, they repeat the last line in the opposite fashion. It was entertaining seeing senior Abby Cumings greet senior Payton Dailey at the moped shop, mainly because the scene was more entertaining to watch the more and more it was repeated.

Nevertheless, out of all the games that the performers played during the show, my favorite one would have to be the Symphony of Complaints. In this game, improvisers are given something to complain about and orchestrated to either yell their complaint or simply whisper it depending on what the conductor says.

It was nice to hear words get louder and softer for a change rather than hearing music do that. While Paige and senior Ella Hunnewell were complaining about Fortnite and running, Payton and Abby were standing there in silence. 

This being my first time watching Improv Central, all in all, I would say that it was a success and the perfect way to spend my Saturday night.