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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