Improv comedy group provides free entertainment on campus

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By Laura Lamb

Eating lunch in the Wilkinson Student Center Terrace his first semester at BYU, Kenny McNett saw the off-campus comedy troop 23 Skidoo performing. He laughed during the show and asked how to get into the group.

?Are you funny?? he was asked, deadpan.

McNett said yes, and his comedic career and journey to becoming a club president himself began.

The club, Laugh Out Loud, is only in its second semester of existence, but is already experiencing overflowing audiences and turning people away.

The club performs as frequently as possible, and shows are free because of their inability to receive fundraising approval.

?When we say it?s free, people are like ?Yeah, I?m there,?? McNett said. ?It?s pretty cool because you feel like you?re giving a chance for other people to go out and have fun who maybe wouldn?t be able to on a college budget.?

He said the club just wants to make sure everyone?s having a good time.

?People like to laugh and that is what we make people do,? said Kristina Cooper, a LOL club member.

The difference between Laugh out Loud and Divine Comedy is that Divine Comedy is sketch?it?s rehearsed, and Laugh out Loud performs improvisation.

McNett compared Divine Comedy?s style to ?Saturday Night Live,? and Laugh out Loud to ?Whose Line is it Anyway??, but kept clean.

?The audience gives more leeway for improv,? McNett said. ?They know you?re making it up on the spot, so they?re a little more giving with their laughter.?

He said if a sketch bombs there is no way out, but in improvisation people laugh anyway because you just made it up.

?With improv you can say ?Oh, you guys didn?t like that one, next,?? he said. ?But that never happens to us.?

Funnily enough, the first rule in improvisation is to not be funny.

?Don?t try and stand out, because it will be humorous because it is improv,? Cooper said. ?You don?t have to try and steal the show.?

Andrew Young, another LOL club member, said some people are just naturally funny. He said he is funny, exceedingly funny.

?I saw a show at BYU, took a workshop, and then they begged me to stay,? Young said.

He said if people practice improv, they can improve and learn the skills.

?Boring guys are great or we wouldn?t be funny,? McNett said. ?But you?ve got to like it and have that edge to do it.?

McNett said learning to be funny is also possible, but you have to have a spark or it?s hard to build a flame.

?I have had my moments of not funny,? McNett said, ?But I?ve always been the guy making jokes in the back of the room?it?s just how I deal with life.?

Club members say improv skills are applicable to life. They learn to accept others ideas, listen to people and be nicer.

At the end of every show the audience is made to shout out the Web site so they won?t forget ? ?lol.byu.edu with no www.?

The club will be performing today at Friday Night Live in the Wilkinson Center Terrace from 8:30-8:55p.m.and 11-11:30 p.m. Admission for all of FNL is $3 and dollar off coupons are at the LOL Web site.

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