Last Friday, the improv team independently held its final improv show of the year: Improv After Dark. Promising to provide an enjoyable, PG-13 show, the improv team prepared hilarious improv games to play in front of their significantly-sized audience. Impressively, the organized show was completely student-run, and the members of the team brought natural comedy to the stage. For mature audiences, Improv After Dark provided an amusing show which included everything that being school-sponsored prohibits.

The cast of Improv After Dark consisted of seniors Parker David, James Kaufmann, Mark Kemp, Callum Ovens, Gretchen Shull, Maddie Vonk, Brendan Wendlandt, and junior Ali Azeem. Therefore, the show symbolized the final act that the team would participate in together while providing Ali with critical improv experience since he is preparing to emerge as a leader of the team next year.

Improv After Dark 2019: Photo Gallery

Personally, the close, creative cast was my favorite part of the show. It was obvious that the cast consisted of close friends, and the cast provided a show that encouraged the audience to feel as if it were simply encroaching on one of their hangouts. The members of the cast were comfortable both on the stage and with each other, and their friendly, light-hearted relationships allowed them to humorously poke fun at each other.

I also thoroughly enjoyed the venue of the show—it was insanely adorable. Improv After Dark was held at the Strand Theatre in Lowell. The theatre was first opened in 1922, and the authentic, retro inside and decorations within it were something I have never seen before. It was the perfect venue for the improv show to occur in; it was extremely unique and personable. The environment felt intimate enough that the audience was able to build laughter off of itself, and the actors were definitely able to feed off of the instant positive feedback.

The only challenge that I met while viewing the show was an occasional inability to hear the speakers. For example, when the speakers asked for random words, objects, or phrases, and the members of the audience simultaneously screamed responses back, it was challenging to hear both the suggestions from the audience members and what words were actually chosen. However, the cast did an admirable job at circumventing this issue by repeating what words were chosen and what the game consisted of at least twice.

Overall, Improv After Dark provided some much-needed comic relief amidst an extremely stressful time in the school year. For me, it provided a relaxing, enjoyable change from what my weekends usually consist of. I was thoroughly impressed with the professionalism and organization that the student-run show provided and even further impressed with the talent of the cast.