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The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Thursday, September 14, 2017 — 3B

 
COURTESY OF COMCO

The members of Comco improv-ing

COURTESY OF MBC

The members of MBC just chillin

Joke’s on you: A look at 
three U-M comedy groups

Every Three Weekly, Comco, Midnight Book Club — three 
groups that have staked claims in comedy on the U-M campus

The origins of the Every 

Three Weekly, the University of 
Michigan’s satirical publication, 
aren’t exactly sexy. “I think a 
group of people who were not 
very good with girls started this 
thing: That’s how it came to be,” 
explained Business and LSA 
senior Suzy Weiss, co-editor of 
the Every Three Weekly. Its eye-
catching slogan — “Better than 
sex, twice as often” — and biting 
headlines attract thousands of 
readers, from curious freshmen 
to seasoned seniors.

Founded in 1997 and funded by 

the University Activities Center, 
the paper has been triweekly — 
the name is a clever spoof of The 
Michigan Daily — since 1999. Its 
creative influence is undeniably 
The Onion, but its ultimate 
source of inspiration comes from 
AP style news headlines rather 
than satire.

“Real 
newspapers 
are 

probably of a more inspiration 
than comedy websites because 
the big thing that dictates the 
Every Three Weekly is form,” 
Weiss said. “So, we’re really 
married to AP style in a print 
paper.”

Its headlines take a mundane, 

often inconsequential campus 
event or phenomenon and bend 
it to reveal unseen hilarity. For 
example, “President Schlissel 
sends 
email 
urging 
student 

body to ‘check out all the sweet 
dinosaurs’ 
at 

Natural History 
Museum.” 
The 
Ever 

Three 
Weekly 

also 
includes 

sections beyond 
campus 
life, 

such as opinion, 
national, world 
and sports news 
satire.

There 
is 
a 

systematic 
approach 
to 

the 
Every 

Three Weekly’s 
publishing 
process.

“You try and 

find a trope that 
most 
people 

can 
relate 

to. 
It 
could 

be anything from not eating 
vegetables to a girl ignoring 
you, and you didn’t want to be 
her boyfriend anyway — things 
that are sort of in the zeitgeist 
of campus,” Weiss said. “Then 
we come up with eight to 10 
headlines that we pitch to the 
room before each cycle begins, 
and based on the amount of 
laughs it gets is what gets 
written.”

The Every Three Weekly 

avoids 
writing 
about 

hypothetical 
situations 
that 

would be funny if they happened 

— or as it calls them, WIBFIs 
(wouldn’t it be funny if…).

“When something is overly 

goofy or funny, like, ‘Schlissel 
elbows freshman in the face 
to get first in line Meatless 
Mondays’ … that’s a WIBFI, 
which is something we shy away 
from,” Weiss explained.

Though eager to poke fun at 

almost everything, the paper has 
a moral code that dictates what 
gets published.

“I think a guiding principle 

of the Every Three Weekly is 
that we’re always siding with 
the victim,” Weiss said. “We 
never want to kick someone 
while they’re down.” It avoids 
topics that could never be funny, 
regardless of the direction it 
takes.

Still, the Every Three Weekly 

isn’t afraid to raise eyebrows. 
Weiss made it clear that there 
are “some things we think it’s 
our duty to lampoon, things that 
people are being overly sensitive 
about or having a reaction that’s 
a little too self-serious.” She is 
well aware that the paper’s style 
may not be for the faint of heart: 
“You 
can’t 
please 
everyone, 

and we certainly don’t want to. 
We want to offend to a tasteful 
level.”

As 
expected, 
its 
content 

occasionally stirs up controversy. 
In 2010, Briarwood Mall wrote a 
cease-and-desist to the paper for 
defamation after an article titled 
“Mall Santa tells child exactly 
what he wants for Christmas” 
explicitly mentioned the mall’s 

name. 
Weiss 

explained 
that 

today 
they’re 

able 
to 
laugh 

about 
the 

incident.

“We have this 

really 
serious 

letter that was 
written by their 
lawyer … and 
I just love the 
idea 
of 
him 

having to write 
that cease-and-
desist letter.”

In 
such 
a 

contentious 
political 
climate, 
Weiss 

explained: “It’s 
as 
important 

as ever to stay 
grounded 
in 

our moral compass and not to 
let that get shifted by the tides 
of 
so-called 
progressivism, 

so-called conservatism. I think 
if the joke’s funny, it’ll run, and 
that is our guiding principle.”

The Every Three Weekly is an 

entirely anonymous publication, 
though a list of its staff can be 
found on each issue. Weiss noted 
that compared to other comedy 
groups on campus, particularly 
improv groups, there is a crucial 
difference: 
“They’re 
about 

immediate gratification; we’re 
about never being gratified. 

It’s an anonymous paper, no 
one knows our name.” Most 
students have had a class with an 
Every Three Weekly writer and 
probably never knew it.

“It’s a lot of kids who would 

giggle 
to 
themselves 
about 

something 
and 
think 
that 

everyone else would enjoy it, not 
people who are screaming out to 
get the big laugh,” she said.

“There are very funny people 

on the paper, but I think a 
misconception is, actually, that 
if you join the E3W, you’re going 
to get … good-looking, very 
funny group,” and Weiss assured 
me that this is, indeed, not the 
case. “We’re not like an improv 
group. We have none of the 
good personality and barely any 
charisma. When you’re around 
ComCo and Midnight Book Club, 
two groups that I really love … 
they’re charmers.”

For what it may lack in charm, 

the Every Three Weekly makes 
up for in wit, 
possessing 
a 

creative 
lens 

that can make 
any trivial event 
hilarious.

ComCo, short 

for 
Comedy 

Company, 
was 

founded 
in 

the 
late 
’70s, 

making it the 
oldest 
improv 

troupe 
on 

campus. 
Jon 

Glaser, famous 
for his role as 
Councilman 
Jeremy 
Jamm 

on “Parks and 
Recreation,” is 
among 
many 

of the successful alumni who 
performed in ComCo during 
college.

Structurally, 
ComCo 

specializes in short form, a style 
distinguished by short scenes 
dictated by a theme randomly 
assigned by the audience. Since 
improv 
is 
entirely 
on-the-

spot and does not follow a 
predetermined 
script, 
the 

rehearsal process focuses on 
building skills. LSA junior Ellis 
Hyman, an improv veteran, 
wisely compared this to the way 
a sports team practices before a 
game.

“Think of (improv rehearsals 

as) analogous to a sports team. 
As a sports team, you do similar 
things you would do in a real 
game,” Hyman said. “You do 
practices, exercises, even real 
scrimmages of the full game. But 
then, what you do in practice is 
100 percent different than what 
happens on the field.”

Past improv experience is not 

necessary for ComCo. “One of 
our former alumni, Guy, who 
graduated last winter, joined 
ComCo as a sophomore, literally 
never had done improv in his 
entire life before, and now he’s 
pursuing it professionally in 

Chicago. So, we have people 
with no experience at all — never 
even been on a stage before — 
to people like myself who have 
done improv,” Hyman said.

Anyone can, and does, join 

Comco.

“It’s really varied. People 

from every major, every walk of 
life: just a random amalgamation 
of 
random 
people,” 
Hyman 

explained.

And this enhances the quality 

of their performances.

“You don’t want to have 

people of the exact same senses 
of humor because it’s going to be 
a one-man show almost,” Hyman 
said. “We’re of course looking 
for people who we like and 
enjoy, but also have a little bit 
of diversity in styles of improv, 
comedy and personalities.”

Differences in comedic style 

complement one another, making 
for a well-rounded scene.

“For me personally, I find the 

easiest humor to do is really 
energetic, movement improv,” 
Hyman said. “But someone who 
would be a little more reserved, 
maybe have more of a cynical 
sense of humor, would really 
balance well to that. I think 
we all pull different aspects 
of 
comedians 
that 
we 
like 

because there’s not one style of 
improviser in ComCo, so I feel 
like we all get inspirations from 
different styles of comedy. And 
honestly, life is so beautiful: You 
can find comedy in anything and 
everything.”

ComCo, like other short-form 

troupes, 
plays 

games with its 
audience during 
performances. 
During 
rehearsals, 
it 
practices 

these 
games 

to 
improve 

its 
quick-

wittedness and 
wordplay.

“We practice 

a 
game, 
it’ll 

be 
totally 

different in a 
performance 
than in practice, 
but it’ll be the 
same structure 
as what we do,” 
Hyman added.

Though ComCo’s improvisers 

are also hilarious off stage, it’s 
not all about being the funniest 
person on stage.

“Improv 
isn’t 
necessarily 

about being funny. It’s about 
scene work, being a good team 
player … and being able to think 
on your feet,” Hyman said. “If 
I went on stage and started 
cracking 
jokes 
and 
wasn’t 

thinking about anyone else, it 
would be the worst scene ever.”

The first ComCo show is 

free, and the troupe assuredly 
will continue its 38-year-long 
tradition of bringing quality 
improv to students in this year’s 
performances.

Midnight Book Club, another 

improv troupe at the University, 
has become one of the most 
influential and popular troupes 
on campus. MBC’s president, 
Kevin Corbett, a Music, Theatre 
& 
Dance 
and 
LSA 
senior, 

explained the troupe’s origins: 
“A group of similarly-minded 
individuals that loved comedy 
decided 
to 
create 
a 
group, 

and since then, they started 
performing in rooms in the 
Michigan League.” MBC hasn’t 
been around as long as ComCo, 
and was founded within the 

decade.

“The first (audition), they had 

five to 10 people come on for 
the troupe. Now, we’re having 
around 100 people audition and 
having big crowds come to our 
shows in Angell Hall,” he said.

Corbett agreed with Hyman 

about the different experience 
levels, which make “college 
improv so rich … you have these 
varying levels of experience. 
It’s a culmination of ideas and 
talents, and I think it shows in 
the results.”

MBC’s sole focus is long-form 

improv, with sketches often 
spanning more than 30 minutes. 
“If you have one idea going into 
a scene, it can easily change; it’s 
very 
malleable 

because 
it’s 
a 

longer 
set 
of 

time that you’re 
working 
with,” 

Corbett said.

Corbett 

described 
an 

abstract concept 
called 
group 

mind: “It’s the 
ultimate form of 
consciousness 
that you want 
to have as an 
improviser, 
where you know 
exactly what an 
improviser 
is 

thinking. 
And, 

you kind of get 
the 
general 

sense of where a 
scene is going to go.”

For long form, considering 

the sketch can take unexpected 
turns, 
this 
is 
especially 

important.

“I think that because we’re 

such good friends and because 
we have a really great sense of 
camaraderie, our group mind is 

heightened,” he said.

MBC competes against other 

colleges, and wherever it goes, 
it’s constantly performing both 
on and off stage.

“We do love our bits and 

we do love performing both in 
rehearsal and out of rehearsal 
— performing in the sense of 
making 
each 
other 
laugh,” 

Corbett said. “That’s what I love 
about MBC, is everyone just 
loves making each other laugh, 
whether it’s in rehearsal, on 
stage or getting dinner.”

It’s that environment which 

makes MBC so great.

“It’s students that fucking 

love each other and fucking love 
comedy,” Corbett said. “Going 

into 
rehearsal 

is … my favorite 
part 
of 
every 

week. 
It’s 
so 

much fun even 
if you’re having 
a shitty day … 
you’re able to 
improvise with 
(your 
friends), 

make 
these 

hilarious 
jokes 

and 
just 
feel 

good.”

MBC 
is 

funded through 
grants 
and 

donations, 
and its shows 
are 
free 
of 

charge. Though 
consistently 
well-received by 

audiences, the troupe prioritizes 
its own enjoyment.

“We always say in MBC, let’s 

play for us,” Corbett said. “Let’s 
improvise for us. At the end of 
the day, we’re happiest when 
we’re making each other laugh; 
I think that’s what makes our 
group pretty special.”

WILL STEWART

Daily Arts Writer

The E3W is 
an entirely 
anonymous 
publication, 

though a list of 
their staff can be 

found on each 

issue

“It’s really varied. 

People from 
every major, 

every walk of life: 

Just a random 

amalgamation of 
random people.”

Although 
ComCo’s 

improvisers are 
also hilarious off 
stage, it’s not all 
about being the 
funniest person 

on stage

B-SIDE SECONDARY

