Divine Comedy gives clean laughs

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    By Tiffany Bird

    Many fans know the exceptional talents in the little organization consisting of 11 cast members and three crewmembers, called Divine Comedy.

    However, not many people have explored the world behind the stage. This is your ticket to see inside Divine Comedy: What happens behind the scene.

    The idea sparked when Randy Davis and his friends wanted to perform sketch comedy for other friends about 11 years ago.

    It was an attempt to provide clean entertainment for people looking for good quality comedy.

    “The main mission of Divine Comedy is to provide clean, intelligent, funny humor,” said Peyton Buhler, the president of Divine Comedy. “That”s something there really isn”t a lot of.”

    As the group loses members, new cast members are selected through an audition process.

    Yet, being a member of the cast is not easy. It requires many sacrifices.

    “Being in the group is like being hit by a semi filled with pillows,” according to the Divine Comedy Web site. “It hurts a lot more than you would think. We spend over 40 hours in rehearsal for each show that we do.”

    The group meets twice a week for a two-hour practice to work on the sketches.

    The comedy troupe practices for the shows they perform three times a year. The week of a performance, the group meets every night for three hours. On show days, they work from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m.

    Individual cast members are required to write two to three original sketches a month. To prevent familiarity or reruns, Divine Comedy performs fresh new sketches each show (with the exception of the “Best of Divine Comedy” show).

    “It”s a lot of work,” Buhler said. “It”s more than a full-time job, but it has its rewards when you perform. That”s when it pays off.”

    All this work and time is spent voluntarily. Cast members do not get paid or receive benefits. On top of being full-time students and members of Divine Comedy, a majority of the cast also have other jobs.

    “Last year I was like, I really don”t know why I am doing this,” said Alex Kirry, a member of Divine Comedy since fall 2003. “Then it started getting really hectic right before a show, I was thinking that I couldn”t do this anymore. But as soon as we did a show, it filled up. The stuff that we came up with really did work; people really laughed at it. That”s when it becomes really fun. And that”s why I am doing this, because people are having fun and I was having fun, too.”

    Divine Comedy does turn a profit from its shows, but it goes towards organization expenses.

    Buhler said the majority of the money goes back to putting on other shows.

    “The shows are very expensive,” Buhler said. “It costs thousands of dollars to put on. It”s between $4,000 to $6,000.”

    The expenses include advertising, scheduling the room and the facilities for the room, permission to use the projector, permission to use the sound system, costumes, props and hiring. People are hired to sell tickets, collect tickets, run lighting, run sound and much more.

    While the practices and preparation for the shows continue, members of Divine Comedy are also experiencing changes within the group.

    Just as fast as actors change costumes between scenes, Divine Comedy is back in action with changes of their own.

    “Divine Comedy used to be a club that operated under BYUSA,” explained the Divine Comedy Web site. “As Divine Comedy”s popularity

    grew, BYUSA became increasingly uncomfortable with us until they eventually invited us to leave.”

    This request from BYUSA was one of the major changes that happened to Divine Comedy during the summer of 2002.

    “Two great things came of this: A seemingly limitless supply of BYUSA jokes and a new sponsorship through the Theatre Media Arts Department,” according to the Web site. “Divine Comedy now shares the same organization status as Living Legends and other well-known BYU sponsored groups.”

    Buhler attended meetings throughout that summer to make the transition from a club to an organization.

    “We got too big,” Buhler said. “BYUSA requested that we leave them. Citing that we were exclusive because we don”t let everybody be in Divine Comedy. To quote BYUSA, they said we did not fit their mission statement.”

    At that turning point of Divine Comedy, the group looked to the Theatre and Media Arts Department for support.

    “We went over to the Theater and Media Arts Department thinking that they would be more understanding to the type of art that we perform, and they were,” Buhler said. “They welcomed us with open arms and it”s been great ever since.”

    The transition had several different outcomes for Divine Comedy.

    “The biggest change is now that we are in the Theatre and Media Arts Department, they take care of all our finances,” Buhler said. “So we don”t have to worry about any of the money. It”s all taken care of with an accountant with the department.”

    Another result of this conversion is a savings account the organization set up to give money back to the department.

    “The main thing that we are doing now is we take all our excess funds and we are setting up an endowment for the Theater and Media Arts Department,” Buhler said.

    The endowment will most likely be used as scholarships for students in the department.

    Giving back to the school is not the only thing that makes this comedy troupe popular. Their strength comes from the diversity of the cast members.

    “One thing that makes Divine Comedy good is diversity,” Buhler said. “We have different senses of humor among us. And for our show, there will be different types of humor. There is something in there for everybody.”

    Buhler said normally 3,000 people come to the shows on a weekend and with that many people coming to a show, it is almost impossible to please every person in the audience.

    There are times when Divine Comedy received negative feedback from people in the audience on certain skits that offended them.

    For those audience members, Divine Comedy encourages them to give feedback.

    “We do [get complaints] and most of the time people don”t get what we are trying to say,” Buhler said. “Sometimes our skits are very satirical and just because we are portraying something doesn”t mean we are advocating something. Give us feedback. We read every single e-mail that people send.”

    The Theater and Media Arts Department do not approve the scripts. Instead, each cast member has veto power if they feel the skit is inappropriate.

    “We are completely self-censored,” said Dave Hedengren, another member of Divine Comedy. “We don”t make fun of doctrine, apostles or mention the Lord in our skits. We make all of our skits with our audience in mind.”

    One of the suggestions the audiences gave was the demand for Divine Comedy t-shirts and DVD copies of the shows.

    To tailor to the audiences” requests, Divine Comedy will be selling t-shirts at their first show. The group is also working on an audio CD of skits that will be for sale at the second show this year.

    Tickets for the first show go on sale Monday.

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