The Michigan Dady - Weekend etc. - Thursday, October 13, 1994 - 3 * MeL&44s P MelRose Place Eight comedy para-troupers go aiving 'Without A Net' Procrastinate later After my first ever week of classes, my father called and asked me what I had learned so far. I thought for a *noment,'and responded "euchre." "Is that all? That's what I'm spending my $10,000 a year on?" And in the midst of my fourth year, I begin to reflect on what I have learned over the years. A few lines of Shakespeare, a couple irregular Ital- ian verbs and (now that I'm an R.A.) how to hide beer from an R.A. But by far the most important skill I've ac- uired in college is procrastination. I always say I am not going to procrastinate. At the beginning of each term, I find out when all of my papers are due and vow to begin them a week ahead of time. That lasts about as long as my annual New Year's resolution to not shop so much. But I am an English major, and most of the classes I take don't have daily assignments. They're a little more flexible than, oh, say, engineer- Otg classes. It's more like "try to read this book by this day," but if you don't, chances are no one will notice. And we're told about papers weeks, sometimes months in advance, sup- posedly to put off procrastinators. And of late a lot of professors and TAs have taken to that "give me your topic a week before it's due" thing, another tactic to deter possible procrastina- ors, but the value of that preventative easure is negligible at best. I had my first paper due Friday for my English 350 class. My TA, a won- derful guy named Sean, requested that we discuss our topics with him before we get too attached to them. I had a great topic: unearthing the dramatic components inherent in Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. (If anyone steals it I swear I'll sue you for libel.) But ome Thursday night at 11 p.m. I was till staring at a blank computer screen. I called my friend Allison (pro- nounced Al-lee-soon) for inspiration, since she was in the same schooner I was. The following is a rough tran- script of our conversation: MelRose: Al, have you started your paper yet? Allison: What time is it due? eMR: 1 o'clock. A: What time is it now? MR: 11:30 p.m. A: Plenty of time. MR: What's your paper topic? A: Should I play solitaire or black- jack? MR: Huh? A: Never mind, I'm going to play Doom. MR: I'm having trouble with my topic. See, I had hoped to outline- 0'A: Damn! I got killed. We also had a strikingly similar conversation at 2 a.m., which lasted a good hour and a half. I guess talking :on the phone was my own form of procrastination, so I conducted an in- formal survey among Daily staffers. And I discovered a wonderful list of alternative procrastination methods: i. Cable (now in the dorms!), com- puters (games, e-mail, conferences), calling the folks (that makes it some- what less shameful), masturbation (offered by one unnamed Daily edi- tor), reading magazines (why is it I can read an "Entertainment Weekly" cover-to-cover yet can't read a single Canterbury tale without stopping?), coming to the Daily (this whole paper is merely an exercise in procrastina- tion) ortaking your Chia-pet for a walk _(on a leash). And as I sit here writing this col- umn on Tuesday at 5 p.m. - two days after my deadline - I am beginning to realize that I am a procrastinator. There, I said it. I know, there are places I can go, and people who are willing to help me. I'll go one of these days. But Ican stop anytime I want to. But maybe procrastination isn't a problem. Consider these truths: 1. Procrastination does pay. One *Daily News Editor put off studying for her Bible midterm until the night abefore, and prayed to God for help. It worked, and she received an A-. 2. Procrastination is empowering. As our illustrious film editor Alexandra Twin pointed out, if you By SARAH STEWART The cast of the newly formed com- edy improv group, "Without a Net," is all dressed up with high hopes of going somewhere. Eight white shirts, ties and blazers wander into rehearsal and a wacky night of picture taking. They'll do anything to give the Uni- versity some laughs, even if it means sacrificing the typical Sunday night comforts. In the long run, they're looking forward to sacrificing their Thursday nights to show an audience the fruits of all this rehearsing, because as far as "Without a Net" is concerned, there's no comedy on campus. The brief history of the troupe begins January 1994, when students Evan Makela and Bill Lome, named "co-conspirators of the improv mis- sion" by fellow founder and producer, Dan Abrams, came together to form "One Big Happy." Their audience throughout six shows at the U Club grew from 80 members to 140 by the last show in April. With the start of the new school year, the remaining members, Makela, Abrams and Bob Gilliam, boasting a new name and looking for a new start, auditioned 35 people to fill the spots that Barb Liss, Brooke Ingersoll, Joe Lacey, Hobey Echlin and Tena Gilbreath would ultimately hold. "Without a Net" was born. Put these eight funny people in the same room and ask them questions about something they love and you're bound to get chaos. Nonetheless, "Without a Net" does have some straight answers to what this improv thing is all about. Improv's roots are in Second City, the Chicago based troop that offers improv classes to teach the art, per- forms nightly and boasts the start of such "Saturday Night Live" greats as John Belushi, Bill Murray and Gilda Radner. "Second City was the first to per- form improvisational comedy as a theater form in its own right, instead of as an actor's exercise. We con- tinue that tradition," Makela, the troupe's director, said. Stressing the fact that neither the audience or the performers know what will come next, Abrams said, "There's quite literally nothing like live improv comedy. It's so in the moment. The audience appreciates that we're all writers, directors and performers." In one rehearsal scene, set in Zim- babwe, Makela played a surgeon and Liss a Canadian "foreigner." "From that it developed into oper- ating on Bob as an enormous frog with flatulence. And it was funny," Makela said as an afterthought. Since they have no prepared script, just a series of starter "games" to get the scenes started, "Without a Net" relies on the audience for suggestions and more importantly, support. Makela moaned as he described the "One Big Happy" show that un- luckily came right after the Michigan basketball team's overtime victory over Pepperdine. "If there's a good audience, you can do no wrong," he said. "If there's a dead audience, you can't do any- thing. After the Pepperdine game, the audience was dead." Because "Without a Net" is fueled by audience suggestions (they'll ask for anything from an object, to a fic- tional song title, to a place where two people meet) they run the risk of com- ing across that one guy in the second row who has nothing but raunchy sex on his mind. "We'd prefer it if their minds were up here," Abrams said as he held his SPECIALIZING IN BLACK HAIR CARE e Custom Hairstyling * Haircuts eSpiral Perms a Relaxers eWeaves * Braids 15% off all chemical treatment 312 Thompson St. 995-5733 hand above his head. "But we can deal with it if they're down here." Like anything else, each member of "Without a Net" seems to have their own motives for choosing to See IMPROV, page 6 Fall Lessons Every Sunday Night Main Dance Room, CCRB 7:00pm Beginning Lessons 8:00pm General Dancing Everybody is welcome! No partner necessary! It's Free! There is no pre-registration. Just show up at thebeginmnof the lessons whenever you li e. Dress is casual For More Information Call: 663-9213 * Student ID or users pass needed to enter CCRB mwe 6Y6w6m CAMPUS BARBER & BEAUTY SALON EveningHours *No appointments Those improvers sure are funny looking people. Guess they're funny. . .. * rri /ices for men and women *15% off all Joico products with this ad through Oct. 31 Great new releases on sale at a great music store, Schoolkids' A LizPhair REM CD.= CD.= $11.99, $10.99, cass.= $7.99 cass.= $7.99 on sale thru 10/23/94 Buy 2 or more CDs and get 1.00 off regular price!- 52~3 E. Liberty 994-8031 P E 4l 7 0AB . 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