The Battalion
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Freudian Slip goes into tonight's performance
with added members and a new approach
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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
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Computing
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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
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800 George Bush Dr.
2995 across ^ rom cam P us