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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 25, 2002)
rH E Ul\[ re ^ from pj| f ' specif, ’ Cheatham^ ' the y hand le| y was at i.” ^nox, a * s tration uji 'oject fire 4 the Yell [ ’ Texas Asa participants ] — werefct v er seen By Heather Campbell , THE BATTALION I As public relations officer for Freudian Slip, Brian Smith discovered he could do his job too well when advertising for the group’s ■erformances. I “We have to be careful that our fliers aren’t loo funny,” said Smith, a senior political sci ence major. “One of our fliers this semester §urned into a type of collector’s item and stu- ents were pulling them down to keep and |iang in their dorms. While that is flattering. Vs hard to get the word out to the student [jody when people swipe our fliers.” Freudian Slip, which originated in 1992, is THirdp.'i an improvisation humor group which performs ‘I throughout the school year. (AP)-Aji®* Nathaniel Strawn, a junior math major, said men “ l Y™B' e found out about Freudian Slip’s auditions nupcomp ^ en p er f ormet j j n high school plays. Since - including ftr™ jury dec ors are me.":;] lows! eratioosii Aggielife The Battalion Page 3 • Monday, November 25, 2002 A laughing matter r mprov humor group Freudian Slip shares behind-the-scenes experiences ts believe n: time d in a videc; trial that ck itence. d Judge let er Nov, Ilea affairs a inish. ty Districts hal has as»e: If he already 1. Texas Ca als. hen, Strawn joined the troupe and currently ;erves as director. “My basic duty is to make the troupe chal- enge itself and learn the techniques that have been passed down from the generations of improvisers that have come before us,” Strawn aid. “My real job is to figure out the best way to direct any given person.” The group puts on several shows throughout he year and performs to all different audiences. Will Steed, a member of Freudian Slip and to film ltd t junior management information systems major, said the group usually performs five or ix shows a semester. In addition to perform ing at First Yell, Aggieland Weekend and a series of A&M camps. Steed said the group has enjoyed a variety of venues. “Last August we performed at the ‘Out of Bounds’ improv festival in Austin,” Steed said. “This Christmas, we are all taking a trip to Chicago to perform at the nationally famous ‘Second City,’ home to ‘Saturday Night Live’ cast members.” To prepare for such performances. Steed said the group holds three-hour practice ses sions three times a week. Smith said the long practices help the group’s mindset when it comes to performances. “We practice forms for any upcoming shows, experiment with new improv ideas, and just try to sharpen our ‘group mind’ mentality and work toward becoming a cohesive group,” he said. “Improv requires that members of our group sense and know how someone else is going to react almost as quickly as that person. Since there is no script, reading your scene partner is paramount to a good scene.” Smith said marketing to students is an inte gral component for ensuring the success of Freudian Slip’s campus shows. “As PR officer, I am the contact for book ings by student organizations and other events in the (Bryan-College Station) area,” Smith said. “PR is really done by everyone on the troupe. We all hang fliers, pass them out before games and on campus, and write on chalkboards. I just try to coordinate it all.” Smith said advertising has increased Freudian Slip’s audience sizes and directly affects overall attendance. Smith’s involvement with the troupe has allowed him to experience many comic situations. “In any given night at a show or practice, I can be thrust into a scene as a sock hop partic ipant, mad scientist or an oppressed lemer,” he said. “The sky is the limit.” Yet some limits must be set for public per formances, Smith said. “Sometimes our scenes at practice get a lit tle out of control — something way too shady to do on a main stage — but it’s fun to go through the discovery process with my fellow troupe members,” Smith said. “That’s what improv is all about, discovery and using strong characters to find agreement and moving the scene forward.” Smith said he had first-hand experience with improvising during the Aggieland BRIAN RUFF • THE BATTALION From left: Rashaun "Bob" Fontenot, a junior English major, Nathaniel Strawn, a junior math major, and Brian "Smitty" Smith, a senior political science major practice the art of improv on Sunday night. Saturday Show. “We (Freudian Slip members) were the emcees of the event and introduced the upcom ing groups and did intermissions to allow bands to set up,” Smith said. “At one point some dance group is having trouble getting their music to play, so I jump up and start into this long presentation about Reveille and how she became our mascot. About eight minutes into it, I look at the sound booth and the guy is still shaking his head, so I keep going on. Soon, I’m talking about who knows what kind of traditions at the University.” Smith, however, had no problem continuing his impromptu presentation. “After about 10 minutes of me just rambling away, they get the sound going and I exit,” he said. “I come back down offstage and the whole troupe is just rolling laughing at me. Evidently, I spoke for 10 minutes about all sorts of Aggie stuff. My improv skills helped out there.” GIG th Calling all Aggie fans in or near Houston over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend! Your men’s college basketball team leads off a basketball triple- header Saturday, November 30 at the spectacular new Reliant Stadium. Support your Aggies against the Tigers of LSU at 1:30 pm. Then stick around for two more top college matchups: @4:00pm vs Seton Hall i @7:00pm vs UofHouston Tickets start at only $12 for admission to all three games. NOVEMBER V,