Image provided by: Texas A&M University
About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 8, 1995)
The Battalion Aggie life 3 method of Freudian Slip goes into tonight's performance with added members and a new approach Oct. 9 , 34, ch* 'na Mardi; -orpus On attracting :k Thomi listrator, Houston f( of publiti By Brad Russell The Battalion I t is called, “The Nightmare.” Members of Freudian Slip, A&M’s improvisational comedy team, bring an audience member up on stage and ask a few personal questions. The troupe then uses the information to create what might be the person’s worst nightmare. Diana Hodges, a senior journal ism major and member of the troupe, said making the skit work requires focus and what she calls a “group mind.” Eric Pagac, a junior industrial en gineering major and a member of Freudian Slip, said the secret of the group’s success is the near-ability to read each other’s thoughts. “We have been around each other so much, it’s like we can read each other’s minds,” Pagac said. The 12-member group that formed in the Spring of 1993 as an offshoot of the Aggie Players, went to Chicago over the summer to learn from Del Close, a comedy in structor. Close has trained Julia Louise Dreyfus, Mike Meyers, John Candy, Gilda Radner and scores of other comedians. The group learned how to do long- form improv, which contrasts with the group’s previous short-skit style. Although the group only received a single-day’s training, Pagac said he learned more in that one day of training than he has in several years of performing improv. Jimmy Leary, a senior industrial distribution major and member of the group, said that since the troupe started performing long form im prov, crowd response has changed. “It’s past the point of people just laughing,” Leary said. “Now when we do something, people scream. You feel like you’re at a football game. People go nuts.” After they learned the new come dy form, the group held its first off- campus performance at The Dixie Theater and had a large turnout. Hodges said her favorite stage moment came during the group’s first off-campus show. “Everything just came together,” she said. “Everyone was so focused ,and the audience just loved it.” At the end of the show, the troupe received its first standing ovation and performed its first encore. Ovations are not the audience’s only form of feedback at Freudian Slip’s performances. Since the show in volves audience partic ipation, the comedians never know what to expect. Although audi ences may expect members of the troupe to be caught off guard by some of the input, Hodges said improvi sational comedy is no place for the easily- embarrassed. “Part of the chal lenge is turning some thing crude into something totally dif ferent from what the audience expects,” she said. Leary said the troupe’s experience helps them with what could otherwise be awkward situations. “It can be a little flustering,” Leary said, “but we tend to have a good way to play it off.” In addition to tak ing acting classes to prepare for im prov situations, Pagac said the group has been reading Truth in Comedy to further its education. “Truth in Comedy is often regard ed as the bible of improv comedy,” Pagac said. As for the future of the group, several members will be graduat ing in May, but Pagac said he is hopeful that they will only be sepa rated briefly. “We would like to reorganize later as a professional improvisational comedy group and locate in Chicago or New York,” Pagac said. “That would be the ultimate for us.” Evan Zimmerman, The Battalion Freudian Slip will have their first full show of the semester tonight. Brian A < Miller, Winkle; Computing weD. Harris I in Ihe -2647 ie Bat- classi- ind of- sity lege A&M Get Connected to the World! Who? Faculty, Staff & Students What? When? A Hands-On Demonstration of Texas A&M University Computing Resources September 12-13,1995 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Where? Rudder Tower Exhibit Hall For more information, please call 845-8300. Sponsored by Computing and Information Services MSC FILM SOCIETY PRESENTS... SANDRA BULLOCK BILL PULLMAN While Were' Sleeping A story about love at second sight. SAT. @7& 9:30 Admission $2.78 w/I.D. $3 w/out I.D. Parsons with disabilities please cell 848-8478 to inform ns of jour special needs. We request notiflcation 3 working dejs prior to the erent to eneble us to assist jou to the best of our afaiUtj. Aggie Cinema Hotline: 847-8478 Rudder Bow Office: 848-1234 All films ere presented in the Rudder Theater Complex e-mail: fihns.septOmsc.tamu.edu. ATTENTION JEWISH STUDENTS: Texas A&M Hillel is here for pu ...with a full range of religious, social, cultural, and educational programs Scavenger Hunt * FREE Pizza included Sunday, September 10 6:00 P.M. Shabbat Services every Friday at 8:00 P.M. ‘Texas A&9d TtitCeC Call 696-7318 for details 1917 800 George Bush Dr. 2995 across ^ rom cam P us